Mike Tauchman hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning and Jameson Taillon retired his final 16 batters to win his fourth straight start as the surging Cubs beat the New York Mets 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Cody Bellinger also went deep and Yan Gomes had an RBI double for the Cubs, who won for the 16th time in 21 games. They moved within 1 1/2 games of first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central and just ahead of Cincinnati in a crowded wild-card race for the league's final playoff spot.

Pete Alonso hit an early two-run homer for the sinking Mets that culminated in an amusing back-and-forth trot around the bases because of a replay review. New York has lost seven of eight since trading Justin Verlander and other veterans at last week's deadline.

Alzolay worked a one-hit ninth for his 15th save in 16 tries. He started a 1-6-3 double play on Daniel Vogelbach to close it out.

Taillon (7-6) allowed three hits in seven innings and improved to 5-0 with a 2.17 ERA in his past six outings. He struck out seven, walked none and did not permit a baserunner after Omar Narváez's two-out double in the second.

Cubs: RHP Kyle Hendricks (4-6, 3.98 ERA) pitches Wednesday night in the finale of the three-game series. 

Mets David Peterson (3-7, 5.65 ERA) has a 2.05 ERA in 10 games, four starts, since returning from Triple-A Syracuse on June 27. The last time he faced the Cubs, he got only one out and was charged with five runs and three walks in a loss at Citi Field in September 2022.