Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The Cubs made some franchise history Friday night
The Chicago Cubs first played professional baseball in 1876, debuting as the Chicago White Stockings in the National League.
That covers nearly 22,000 games and four different team names. After playing as the White Stockings for a few years, they became the Chicago Colts, and then the Chicago Orphans, before becoming the Cubs in 1903.
That is a long time. But they did something on Friday night they have never done before.
They beat the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
Entering Friday night’s game, the Cubs were 0-for-12 against the Yankees in New York, which includes both the 1932 World Series and the 1938 World Series. The Cubs were swept in the 1932 World Series, losing both Game 1 and Game 2 on the road. They suffered an almost exact fate in 1938, as they were swept again by the Yankees, this time losing Games 3 and 4 on the road.
The teams did not meet again until the advent of interleague play, with the Yankees winning three games at home against Chicago in both 2005 and 2022. They also won a pair of games at Yankee Stadium against the Cubs in 2014.
However, records and streaks are made to be broken, and this one fell too on Friday night. Perhaps with a surprising hero for the Cubs. Chicago called on Jameson Tallion to get the start on the bump, and the former Yankee was 2-6 on the year with an ERA of 6.93 entering the game on Friday night. But Tallion went eight innings on Friday night without allowing a run and gave up just a single to Gleyber Torres in the first inning.
That meant that Tallion made a little history of his own, as he joined some elite company with that effort:
Jameson Taillon is the first pitcher with at least 8 IP & 1 or fewer hits allowed on the road at Yankee Stadium since the Orioles’ Daniel Cabrera in 2006.
Only 2 other pitchers have done this since 1990, Bartolo Colon in 2000 & Pedro Martínez in 1999. pic.twitter.com/dTdKtz2bQA
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 8, 2023
Cody Bellinger homered in the third off Carlos Rodón, who was making his debut for the Yankees after dealing with forearm and back injuries dating back to spring training. They tacked on a run in the fifth, and another in the seventh, en route to their 3-0 win.
A win which made some franchise history.
