The Cubs did what they could to hold their ground against Pirates ace Paul Skenes and then felt the tide shift after the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner was out of the game on Saturday afternoon. The North Siders scored two runs in the eighth inning -- with the help of a wild showing from Pirates reliever Gregory Soto -- to claim a 4-3 victory at Wrigley Field. The Cubs’ embattled 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.” In the eighth, rookie Pedro Ramírez led off with a double against Soto, who retired the next two batters before experiencing a lapse in command. Soto hit two batters with a pitch and issued a pair of walks, forcing in two runs to give Chicago the lead. With the win, the Cubs moved a half-game ahead of the Phillies for the NL’s top Wild Card spot, pending the outcome of Philadelphia’s night game with the Braves. If even in the standings, the Cubs boast the tiebreaker over the Phillies, having won the season series between the clubs. Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game: **1\. Holmes cruises until sixth** For five innings against the Pirates, Clay Holmes was on top of his game on Saturday afternoon. The veteran sinkerballer was generating groundouts (seven in that stretch) and racking up strikeouts (six) to keep Pittsburgh off the scoreboard. The Pirates finally broke through in the sixth, when Brandon Lowe led off with a single and Bryan Reynolds followed by reaching via a fielding error by Cubs shortstop Nico Hoerner. That blunder created a window of opportunity for Pittsburgh, which capitalized on the moment.
