A shirtless Mike Tauchman helps deliver signature victory for Cubs over rival Cardinals
For the second summer in a row, Mike Tauchman delivered another iconic moment for the Cubs — and again it came against the Cardinals.
Tied 4-4 with 2 outs in the 9th and the game-winning run (Dansby Swanson) at second, Tauchman delivered an opposite field double that lifted the Cubs to a walk-off win — and a visual Cubs fans won’t soon forget.
After rounding first, Tauchman extended his arms out in celebration as the Cubs bench charged towards him. Seiya Suzuki, Nico Hoerner and Pete Crow-Armstrong rushed to rip the jersey off Tauchman and he did not object, basking in the moment.
Tauchman then did a postgame interview with Elise Menaker and was given a celebratory Gatorade bath from David Bote and Patrick Wisdom. Tauchman completed the rest of his interview shirtless.
“I mean, guys are crazy,” Tauchman said. “That was fun. It was an awesome inning. Probably one of our better innings of the year. Really good at-bats there. It’s fun.”
Prior to Tauchman’s heroics, the Cubs also received a solo homer from Cody Bellinger in the 9th inning as well as a 2-out RBI double from Dansby Swanson to erase a 2-run deficit against Cardinals All-Star closer Ryan Helsley.
“That was fun,” manager Craig Counsell said. “The 9th inning against a really good closer, the Belli home run and then 3 straight 2-out hits. Not easy to do. Guys put together great at-bats. Dansby and Tauch both 0-2 and came back and worked it after 0-2 and got a pitch to hit.”
[WATCH: Cubs complete 9th-inning rally to beat Cardinals]
The win pushed the Cubs’ record to 53-58 on the season and started August off on the right foot.
“It’s a great feeling,” Tauchman said. “You always want to come through for the team and we’ve battled a lot of adversity this year. It’s no secret we’re not where we want to be right now.
“It’s a good start to the month. All we can do is play our best baseball right now. Good team win. Obviously that’s a team that’s in front of us in the standings over there. So we want to be competitive this series and play well at home here.”
Tauchman also made special mention of Nico Hoerner’s impact on that 9th-inning rally.
With 2 outs and the Cubs still trailing by a run, Hoerner smacked a single up the middle. He then stole second base against Helsley, who is quick to home plate.
That proved to be crucial, as it allowed Hoerner to score on Swanson’s hustle double down the left-field line.
“[Helsley is] like [1-second] flat to the plate and Nico stole that base,” Tauchman said. “That’s really, really hard to do and that takes a lot of guts to even do something like that. And that was such a huge, huge play for us. I just want to make sure that that’s out there.”