10

Hey hey! The Cubs came back to beat the Bucs 4-3 on Saturday behind a 2-for-3 day from Pedro Ramirez (HR, 2B, 2 R) and 3.1 scoreless relief innings from the 'pen!

 

Clay Holmes went 5 2/3 innings (6 K, 2 ER), giving up a three-run homer that gave Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead. But Ramirez led off the 8th with a double, and two hit batsmen and two walks later, the North Siders regained the lead. Michael Busch also homered for the Men in Blue.

In relief, Jacob Webb, Ryan Rolison, and Ryan Zeferjahn held the Bucs to just one hit.

Cubs Magic Numbers:

Division:  24
1st Wild Card & Home Field:  13
Wild Card:  10

See this post for CMN calculation details. 

Here's how the Cubs' remaining schedule shapes up: 

1 vs. 74-75 Pittsburgh
3 vs. 86-61 Atlanta
3 at 69-77 Cincinnati
3 vs. 72-75 Miami
3 at 80-67 Boston

The Cubs currently hold the top Wild Card berth and its benefit of home field for all NLWCS games, with a 1/2 game lead over the Phillies going into Saturday night's action.

 

The North Siders sit 3.5 games ahead of Arizona for the final Wild Card berth, and they hold the tiebreaker there as well with a 4-2 record against the Diamondbacks.

 

And in the Central, the Men in Blue are 9.5 games back of Milwaukee, who have the best record in MLB.

149 games down, 13 to go.

Go Cubs go!

 

Hall of Famer and Cubs Legend Ron Santo