![\"Cubs](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CTC-Z-CUBS-RAM.jpg\")
Cubs pinch hitter Pedro Ram\u00edrez sliding safely into home to score on Pete Crow-Armstrong’s triple in the seventh inning against the Yankees on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, at Wrigley Field. (Melissa Tamez\/AP)<\/p>\nThe Chicago Cubs roster is under the microscope these days.<\/p>\n
The MLB trade deadline is at 5 p.m. Monday, and what president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and his front office do between now and then to augment this group is a constant thought in the brains of Cubs fans.<\/p>\n
But, as Saturday\u2019s 5-2 win over the New York Yankees at Wrigley Field showed, sometimes it\u2019s the unheralded players and moves that play as prominent roles as the flashier ones.<\/p>\n
Nico Hoerner delivered the game-tying solo home run in the seventh inning, and Pete Crow-Armstrong continued his incredible season with a go-ahead triple later in the frame. But it was the performances of two players \u2014 left-hander David Peterson and infielder Pedro Ram\u00edrez \u2014 who weren\u2019t with the Cubs at the start of the season that put them in a position to win the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a time of year when definitely need everybody involved, and having guys like Pedro that are versatile and are playing well is really important,\u201d Hoerner said after the win.<\/p>\n
Two batters after Hoerner\u2019s blast in the seventh, Ram\u00edrez coaxed a two-out, seven pitch walk. It turned the lineup over and brought Crow-Armstrong, who continues to fortify an MVP case, to bat.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s two outs, nobody on base, you think, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s whatever,\u2019\u201d Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of Ram\u00edrez\u2019s plate appearance. \u201cBut it gets Pete up there, who knows what can happen? Pete hits the ball in the right place, it\u2019s a little tricky down that line, so it\u2019s a big at-bat. It\u2019s a big at-bat and ultimately, it\u2019s the difference in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Yankees brought left-hander Brent Headrick to face Crow-Armstrong, but the Cubs star took an 84.1-mph slider low and away to right field for a triple that gave them the lead. Crow-Armstrong would score on Seiya Suzuki\u2019s single a batter later.<\/p>\n
Ram\u00edrez\u2019s walk, though, continued a strong stretch for the rookie at an important time for his team. The Cubs\u2019 win Saturday was their ninth straight game and just past the halfway point of a stretch of 17 games without an off day.<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old is a versatile weapon for Counsell off the bench. His ability to play across the infield is vital during the grueling stretch. Since the 17-game span began, Ram\u00edrez has made six starts and played five positions.<\/p>\n
Cubs pinch hitter Pedro Ram\u00edrez sliding safely into home to score on Pete Crow-Armstrong’s triple in the seventh inning against the Yankees on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, at Wrigley Field. (Melissa Tamez\/AP)<\/p>\n
That allows Counsell to rest Hoerner or Alex Bregman. And it allows Hoerner not to be taxed and be able to come up with a crucial blast down the left-field line. The home run was a bit of a surprise, not just because it was just Hoerner\u2019s sixth of the year, but the winds at first pitch were blowing straight in at 21 mph, seemingly making Wrigley Field a pitcher\u2019s paradise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the wind blowing straight in, I didn\u2019t know if it would stay fair or what would happen with the ball in the air,\u201d Hoerner said. \u201cI definitely hit it well enough for it normally to be a home run, but that\u2019s not always the case here. So I was fortunate it stayed fair and got out.\u201d<\/p>\n
A hard, line-drive home run that cut through the howling wind was really the only blemish on Peterson\u2019s night. Spencer Jones hit a 106-mph blast to left field that traveled 370 feet to give the Yankees the lead in the seventh inning, the last hitter the left-hander would face. It looked as if it would put a sour note on another terrific outing by him.<\/p>\n
He matched a season high with eight strikeouts \u2014 he also struck out eight Yankee hitters on May 16 \u2014 and allowed just one earned run with no walks in 6 1\/3 innings. Peterson induced 11 whiffs in the outing, the most since he joined the Cubs and second-most this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think tonight I felt really good about our approach,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cFelt really good in my mechanics and just felt like I could execute. That was the biggest thing was just being able to put the pitches where we wanted them and be able to get the ground balls, some soft contact and just get deep into the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Cubs](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CTC-Z-CUBS-YANKEES.jpg\")
Cubs starter David Peterson delivers against the Yankees in the first inning Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, at Wrigley Field. (Melissa Tamez\/AP)<\/p>\n
Peterson has been a lifeline to the Cubs since they acquired him from the New York Mets on June 25. He has a 4.36 ERA in six starts with the Cubs, a number that\u2019s inflated by a 10-run blowup in his second outing with the team. He owns a 1.52 ERA in his last four starts.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was excellent,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cWe got him in a good place and getting into the seventh inning is really important for where we\u2019re at right now. It\u2019s really important with the number of games we have kind of consecutively with where our bullpen\u2019s situated and how the opposing team can maneuver, really important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peterson and Ram\u00edrez have been unexpected key cogs of late for the Cubs. And more, especially on the pitching side, figure to join in the next few days, especially as the Cubs search for more arms to finish the season and pitch deep into the playoffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe starting-pitch depth I feel like at the beginning of the season, going into the year, we\u2019re like, \u2018Wow, we have so much depth,\u2019 and then it goes fast,\u201d Hoerner said. \u201cIt\u2019s just taken so many bodies and people that have kind have stretched their roles. But you also find a lot of good qualities in guys within those kind of challenging times. So hopefully we\u2019re able to kind of come out of that with a better sense of our strengths and get healthier, and that\u2019s when you really hit the ground running.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andy Martinez is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Cubs roster is under the microscope these days. The MLB trade deadline is at 5 p.m.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":975240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[2730,960,1271,1816,8336,5386,1818,2228,13715,273103,1277],"class_list":["post-975239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-alex-bregman","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-craig-counsell","tag-david-peterson","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-nico-hoerner","tag-pedro-ramirez","tag-pete-crow-armstrong"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117024807308414550","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/975239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=975239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/975239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/975240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=975239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=975239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=975239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}