Paul Sullivan: Jacob deGrom dominates Cubs in 3-0 win. Is the Rangers star a Hall of Famer?

DeGrom might not have enough career wins to be a Hall of Fame lock, but with changes in the game reducing the importance of win totals, his strikeouts and career ERA could get him over the hump.

“I think he’s got it,” Taillon said, pointing to the 1,900 strikeouts in 1,578 1/3 innings. “Mind-boggling. I’m a fan of all that and heard he’s a great dude and teammate. Just one of those guys, it’s kind of amazing what he can do. Also a two-time (Tommy John) guy (like Taillon), so I follow guys like that a little closer.”

Taillon allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings, an RBI groundout to first by Alejandro Osuna in the fourth when Joc Pederson was ruled safe on a swipe tag by catcher Carson Kelly.

The Cubs challenged the call, but replays were inconclusive after a long review and the call stood.

“I tried to keep it close, and we were in it to the end,” Taillon said.

DeGrom came in having limited lefties to a .156 average, and Cubs lefties went 1 for 11 against him with seven strikeouts.

The closest the Cubs came to scoring off deGrom was Happ’s seventh-inning foul ball that landed in the right-field seats, a few feet to the right of the foul pole.

“That would’ve been nice,” Happ said. “That’s why he’s really good. I got one pitch in that at-bat to hit, made a good swing on it, and in that situation he threw me four straight heaters. He went right back to it, wasn’t afraid of it. He’s a special talent.”

Happ struck out on the next pitch — a 98 mph fastball — and saw his career-high 30-game on-base streak snapped. All three of his strikeouts against deGrom came on four-seamers.

Moisés Ballesteros, another lefty hitter, struck out three times against deGrom on 98, 96 and 97 mph fastballs and failed to make contact on any of the eight four-seamers he swung at.

Daniel Palencia served up a two-run home run to Evan Carter in the eighth to give the Rangers some breathing room, and the Cubs limped out of Texas for a much-needed day off.

Elite matchup in Atlanta

The Cubs resume their nine-game trip Tuesday with a three-game series in Atlanta, a matchup of teams that have two of the three highest winning percentages in the majors.

The Braves (28-13) entered their 7-2 victory Sunday against the Dodgers leading the majors in hitting (.271) and runs scored (221) and tied for second with the Dodgers in ERA (3.17) behind the New York Yankees (3.12).

The Braves are expected to hold tributes to former owner Ted Turner and Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox, both of whom died this past week while the team was on the road.

“I was fortunate enough to play with J-Hey (Jason Heyward), who had nothing but unbelievable things to say about Bobby Cox,” Happ said. “So I’m sure there will be a lot of tributes in Atlanta, and it will be special to be there for that. It’s always a good series against them. They’ve been a good team for so long.”

As expected, the Cubs will give Ben Brown another start Thursday after his four no-hit innings Friday against the Rangers. Colin Rea and Shota Imanaga will start the first two games of the Braves series.

Manager Craig Counsell said it’s likely the Cubs would follow the current rotation order for the City Series next weekend at Rate Field, which means Edward Cabrera, Taillon and Rea would face the White Sox, in that order. But Counsell added that he hasn’t really thought about that series yet, shrugging off what’s traditionally one of the most anticipated series of the year.

Bregman gets a breather

Counsell sat Alex Bregman for the first time Sunday, giving a breather to the struggling third baseman who has yet to get into a groove as a Cub after he was their big offseason signing. Matt Shaw got the start at third.

Counsell said he was “going to cycle through some off days” for players and it was “Alex’s turn.”

What has he seen from Bregman?

“He’s been in a little bit of a rut these last four, five days, so this is a good time for it,” Counsell said. “He’s chasing a little bit more than normal for sure, and that’s the thing he’s always so good at.”

Bregman said after Saturday’s 6-0 loss that he has gotten off to slow starts before and the numbers will be there when all is said and done.

“Continue to work at it, continue to grind away and be confident in the fact it’s going to happen,” he said. “At the end of the year, be right where we want to be.”

Too much examination?

Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong seemingly has been going to left field more often.

Or maybe not.

“I think you guys re-examine Pete’s swing way too much,” Counsell said when asked about it. “I know he’s an interesting player. I think the ball is going to the opposite field. I don’t think there is anything in his swing that’s causing that.”

Informed that readers are particularly interested in Crow-Armstrong relative to other Cubs players, Counsell joked that the only time people read a story with his name in the headline as a player was when he appeared in The Onion. He was referring to a 2009 article in the satirical newspaper with the headline: “Turns Out Craig Counsell Was Actually Best Baseball Player Of Steroid Era.”

In the story, the late Milwaukee Brewers announcer Bob Uecker was quoted as saying: “I swear I heard him foul tip a Roger Clemens fastball.”

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