Sunday was a great afternoon at the ballpark for Chicago Cubs fans.
The team picked up a huge 2-1 victory over the New York Yankees, as patrons were treated to a great pitchers' duel between Jameson Taillon and Gerrit Cole.
The Cubs veteran fired six innings of one-run ball, scattering six hits and one walk as he struck out six. That was just enough to outduel his counterpart.
The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, Cole, threw six strong innings of his own. He wasn’t charged with an earned run, but two came across the plate against him, as he struck out seven, allowed only one walk and gave up three hits.
Given how good of friends the former Pittsburgh Pirates top prospects are, it is fair to assume they were both giving it a little extra on Sunday afternoon.
It was the first time they opposed each other, as Taillon now has the upper hand over his former teammate. Before the game, each spoke glowingly of the other, as the two basically grew up together in the minor leagues.
“When I got drafted and went to Pirates City, Jamo was one of the first five people I met in professional baseball,” Cole said via Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. “There’s just a bond that you form with somebody like that. He’s got two brothers, but we’re kind of brothers in that regard. We’ve known each other for a long time, watch each other pitch all the time, root for each other, help each other out and spend a lot of time together.”
“I feel like we bonded over that,” Taillon said. “Being young and having a lot of pressure and expectations, there’s not many people that can understand what you’re going through when you’re that age. Put under that spotlight and on that platform.”
Taillon and Cole have a beautiful friendship off the field that was built during their minor league days and grew when they became teammates again in the Majors.
A trade to the Houston Astros cut short their time together with the Pirates, but as fate would have it, they reunited with the Yankees after Taillon was traded there by Pittsburgh in 2021.
There, they were teammates for two years before the No. 2 pick in the 2010 MLB draft signed with Chicago as a free agent after the 2022 season.
That all led to this head-to-head matchup on Sunday.
Taillon surely won't ever let his friend forget this one, as he possesses the ultimate one-up even if his resume isn’t as decorated as Cole’s.
