Jameson Taillon tossed six strong innings and Isaac Paredes drove in two runs as the Chicago Cubs avoided a three-game sweep against the visiting New York Yankees with a 2-1 win on Sunday.
Taillon (10-8) allowed one run on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts. Nate Pearson pitched two scoreless innings before Porter Hodge recorded his fourth save.
The Yankees (82-61) brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning after Anthony Rizzo drew a two-out walk. Pinch-runner Duke Ellis stole second base before Anthony Volpe struck out.
New York went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven baserunners.
After being shutout in back-to-back games to begin the series, Chicago (73-70) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning against Gerrit Cole (6-4).
With two outs and a runner at first, Cody Bellinger reached on a fielder’s choice and Dansby Swanson moved to second base on a fielding error by second baseman Gleyber Torres.
After Mike Tauchman walked to load the base, the Cubs capitalized on the error when Paredes delivered a two-run single to center field.
Cole escaped further damage by striking out Pete Crow-Armstrong on four pitches.
Chicago was held to three hits in the victory and had a combined total of eight hits and two runs in the three-game series.
New York scored its lone run in the second inning. Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a one-out double, moved to third on Rizzo’s single, and scored on Volpe’s sacrifice fly.
Pitching on his 34th birthday, Cole yielded two unearned runs on three hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out seven.
Yankees star Aaron Judge went 1-for-3 with a walk in his 12th straight game without a home run, which is his longest streak of the season.
Cubs left fielder Ian Happ made three stellar plays in the field, including a diving catch on Volpe’s sacrifice fly in the second inning.