The Cubs came pretty close to becoming the first team to sweep the impressive Orioles in a series of any length since May 2022.
Instead, the visiting Orioles, one of the best teams in baseball all season, clapped back with a three-run sixth inning to erase a deficit and salvage the finale of a three-game set with a 6-3 victory at Wrigley Field.
It wasn’t the way the Cubs hoped to wrap up a homestand on which they went 5-1 rather than 6-0, but they can’t complain. They head to Pittsburgh — and then to London to face the Cardinals — only four games back in the National League Central, a fortunate spot to be in for a team that’s still five games below .500 at 33-38.
‘‘The way we’ve been playing now vs. some of the stretches that were tough for us, the play isn’t that much different,’’ second baseman Nico Hoerner said. ‘‘I think it’s just that we’ve been winning some big moments here and there and creating momentum for our group. But I think this homestand [was] significant just for our belief in what we can do and, obviously, for the standings themselves. Hopefully, that kick-starts us into the schedule ahead of us.’’
Mike Tauchman continued to spark the Cubs, making a perfect one-hop throw from center field to nail a runner at home to end a scoreless top of the first, then homering — for the first time with the Cubs — on right-hander Dean Kremer’s first pitch in the bottom of the inning.
Cubs starter Jameson Taillon gave up a pair of runs in the fourth, but Christopher Morel got them back with a 417-foot laser — 112.7 mph off the bat — into the bleachers for a 3-2 lead. There was luck involved, too, with Cody Bellinger having reached on a three-base error by right fielder Ryan O’Hearn to set up Morel’s two-out chance. Morel, still a handful of days shy of 24 years old, became the fourth Cubs player since 1901 to hit 13 home runs in his first 31 games of a season.
But Taillon did what he repeatedly has done in the course of his 12 starts with the Cubs, and that’s fall short of what his team needs from him. For the 11th time, he failed to make it through six innings and — with zero help from reliever Anthony Kay — took his fifth loss, his ERA reaching 6.71.
‘‘Kind of just the story of how my year has been so far,’’ Taillon said. ‘‘Just keep putting in the work until the results come.’’
The Cubs’ interleague record dropped to 12-12, and their all-time mark on Father’s Day fell to 30-31.
Still, they’re playing a lot better than they were. That’s the main thing.
‘‘What we did this homestand was nice to do,’’ manager David Ross said. ‘‘We played our brand of baseball — pitching, timely hitting, running the bases, defense. Those types of things we can bring every day, and then you see [what happens] when the offense shows up.’’
NOTES: X-rays were negative for rookie catcher Miguel Amaya, who was hit in the lower part of his right hand — where the palm meets the wrist — by a 96 mph fastball from Orioles reliever Mike Baumann in the seventh. Amaya stayed in the game but soon was lifted for a pinch runner.
‘‘It’s swollen,’’ Amaya said at his locker, ‘‘but it feels better than it did when it happened. It’s all good.’’
• With his 54th consecutive errorless game, Dansby Swanson tied Don Kessinger’s 1969 streak for the second-longest by a Cubs shortstop since 1901.
ON DECK
CUBS AT PIRATES
Monday: Drew Smyly (6-4, 3.59 ERA) vs. Osvaldo Bido (0-0, 2.25), 6:05 p.m., Marquee, 670-AM.
Tuesday: Marcus Stroman (8-4, 2.45) vs. Johan Oviedo (3-6, 4.40), 6:05 p.m., Marquee, 670-AM.
Wednesday: Kyle Hendricks (2-2, 3.18) vs. Rich Hill (6-6, 4.31), 11:35 a.m., Marquee, 670-AM.
