CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs rallied for two runs in the eighth inning to claim a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field on Saturday afternoon, overcoming reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes after his exit and moving a half-game ahead of the Phillies for the NL's top Wild Card spot.
Rookie Pedro Ramírez led off the eighth with a double against Pirates reliever Gregory Soto, who retired the next two batters before losing command. Soto hit two batters and issued two walks to force in two runs and hand Chicago the lead. The Cubs' bullpen covered the final 10 outs to seal the win. "We had a lot of good at-bats. We saw pitches and we made them work," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. "Nobody tried to be the hero. They just tried to win the pitch. That's good offense."
Clay Holmes cruised for five scoreless innings, generating seven groundouts and six strikeouts, before Pittsburgh broke through in the sixth. Brandon Lowe singled and Bryan Reynolds reached on a fielding error by shortstop Nico Hoerner, setting up Ryan O'Hearn's three-run homer on a 2-0 cutter left up and in for a 3-2 Pirates lead. Holmes allowed three of the next four batters to reach before exiting. "I just made one bad pitch there in the sixth inning," Holmes said. "That's a pitch I probably wish I could have back -- just knowing the score of the game, just my strengths, what I'm able to do." Holmes tied a career best with 16 whiffs in a 100-pitch outing, allowing three runs, two earned, over 5 2/3 innings.
Jacob Webb delivered the key relief appearance, entering with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth to face Oneil Cruz and inducing a groundout on two pitches to keep the deficit at one. He added a scoreless seventh. "To be honest, it wasn't the ideal situation I wanted to put him in for his next appearance. ... I'm really happy for Jacob. He pitched great -- earned it today," Counsell said. The outing was a bounceback for Webb, who had allowed nine runs with three homers, three blown saves and two losses in his previous six appearances after a mid-summer run of 24 straight scoreless outings. "What Webby did today was huge," Holmes said. "That was probably the game there." Lefty Ryan Rolison (1 2/3 innings) and Ryan Zeferjahn (one-third) finished the game. "The bullpen held it down," Webb said. "That's what we need to be doing every time."
Skenes had never allowed a run at Wrigley Field in three prior outings spanning 16 innings, but Michael Busch ended that streak with a two-out solo homer on a 1-0 fastball in the first, and Ramírez added a leadoff blast on a 94.8 mph four-seamer in the third. Skenes went seven innings, scattering four hits with four strikeouts and one walk, with the two solo homers accounting for all the damage. With the win, Chicago moved a half-game ahead of Philadelphia pending the Phillies' night game against the Braves, holding the tiebreaker after winning the season series.