Detroit's lineup has also gone cold at the wrong time, getting shut out twice by the Phillies before salvaging the Angels series with a 7-0 win sandwiched between two low-scoring losses. Chicago, meanwhile, just steamrolled Minnesota 10-1 to close a series and has won 4 of its last 5, riding momentum into the Tigers' visit.
Flaherty's turnaround is the real story here — over his last three starts he's allowed just 2 earned runs across 16.2 innings with 20 strikeouts, a stretch that would make any team nervous facing him, let alone one still finding its rhythm post-IL. Taillon's counting on rust shaking off fast, because Detroit's lineup has shown it can hang punches when a starter's still finding his groove.
Chicago's bullpen has taken its own hits lately with Daniel Palencia, Hoby Milner and Ethan Roberts all out, so however deep Taillon can stretch tonight matters more than usual. First pitch is 7:05 PM CT at Wrigley, with a Cubs club that's clearly playing better baseball right now trying to keep the pressure on for a division chase that's still 6 games out of reach.