ATLANTA — After the first pitch of their game Wednesday night, the Chicago Cubs had already scored more runs than they had in their previous two games combined.
They added some more, and that was plenty for Javier Assad.
Mike Tauchman homered on the game’s first pitch to finally get the Cubs on the scoreboard, then Assad delivered another fantastic start, as Chicago avoided a sweep with a 7-1 victory over the Braves in Atlanta.
The Cubs were shutout in each of the first two games of the series, but Tauchman ended that right away Wednesday by taking the first pitch of the game from Braves starter Charlie Morton to the opposite field, just over the wall in left.