PHOENIX — Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon was aiming for the outside edge of the strike zone with a first-pitch cutter and a fifth-pitch slider to the Diamondbacks’ Eugenio Suarez in separate at-bats Friday.
‘‘Obviously, he hits mistakes, but he also has good coverage on breaking balls middle-down,’’ Taillon said after the Cubs’ 8-1 loss.
He was hoping to get Suarez to roll over a pitch breaking away from him, but he would have settled for those two landing ‘‘anywhere but there.’’
Instead, both pitches hung over the middle of the plate, and Suarez blasted a pair of two-run home runs to account for half of the Diamondbacks’ runs.
Those two long balls were the most obvious sign that Taillon, who allowed six runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings, was searching in his season debut.
‘‘Both of them kind of just backed up and really didn’t have the shape I wanted, either,’’ Taillon said. ‘‘So it’s hard to get your lines right when your pitches aren’t really doing what you want them to.’’
Taillon’s consistency — 12-8 with a 3.27 ERA — was a big part of why the Cubs’ rotation was so successful last season. It posted the second-best ERA (3.77) in the National League, trailing only that of the Braves. He’ll need to recapture that steadiness for the Cubs to end their four-year playoff drought.
The first step for Taillon is identifying why he was so off.
‘‘We definitely will,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s the beauty of being back into the routine of the season. There’s going to be things that you need to make adjustments on and address. And, unfortunately, mine’s after [the first start]. But I’m confident we’ll do it.’’
Taillon pushed back on the notion that the Cubs’ trip to Japan for two season-opening games against the Dodgers in Tokyo, which interrupted spring training and had the players battling jet lag both ways, might be to blame for his struggles.
‘‘I would just say it’s probably a little more about timing and stuff like that, less about flying and all that,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ve had plenty of time to get that out.’’
Taillon had a unique lead-up to his first regular-season start. He started the Cubs’ second exhibition game in Japan, then six days later made his last spring appearance.
‘‘He tunnels his pitches really well and can throw any pitch in any count,’’ said Carson Kelly, who caught all of Taillon’s spring starts. ‘‘He’s a true pro. So we’re going to shake this one off and come back tomorrow.’’
The Diamondbacks rolled out a starting lineup of mostly left-handers and switch-hitters against Taillon, whose splits even last season favored left-handed batters. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Suarez were the only right-handed batters in the lineup.
‘‘To the lefties, I wasn’t landing my curveball particularly well,’’ Taillon said.
That meant the lefties could look to hit his fastball and cutter, making it easier for them to be on time. The 14 curveballs Taillon threw generated one swing-and-miss, one called strike and three foul balls, according to Statcast.
‘‘And then to the righties, I just hung some pitches,’’ Taillon said.
Well, two in particular.
‘‘It just wasn’t a very good game,’’ Taillon said. ‘‘I feel like they hit every mistake — hit some good pitches, hit some horrible pitches. It made a recipe for a bad night.’’