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Off the back of a three-game skid, the Cubs needed desperately to get back in the win column and avoid making a slow start to May even worse. 

A rollercoaster of a 6-5 win behind a clutch bullpen and a rejuvenated offense showed Chicago was determined to not let that happen. 

Here are three takeaways as the Cubs (23-17) evened things up with the New York Mets (25-15) at Citi Field.

Cade parade

Cade Horton’s MLB debut was the talk of the town Saturday night. 

Horton was rendered available to come out of the bullpen, with Brad Keller scheduled as the opener in a game that would have been Shota Imanaga’s start had he not hit the IL. 

The Cubs’ No. 2 prospect made his grand entrance in the second inning, striking out the first MLB hitter (Brandon Nimmo) he faced. 

All in all, Horton’s four-inning outing was very solid as he struck out five and allowed four hits, finishing the game with his first win after Porter Hodge closed things out. The only blemish on Horton’s line was Brett Baty’s two-out, three-run home run in the fourth inning. 

Read the full analysis on Horton’s debut here.

Putting it all on the ‘pen

With their regular starter (Imanaga) unavailable, the Cubs opted to roll with a “bullpen game” to shut down the Mets on Saturday night. 

Keller entered with authority behind an early 2-0 lead, striking out both Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso. Between them was Soto’s flyout, which looked to be a double off the bat had Pete Crow-Armstrong not tracked it down with ease.

Following Horton’s four innings, Drew Pomeranz worked around a leadoff single to set the next three Mets down in order. 

Daniel Palencia followed, striking out the leadoff man but allowing the next two batters on. With the Mets’ big boppers due up, Palencia locked in to punch out Soto and retire Alonso with a groundout. 

Things got sticky for Julian Merryweather, who became Baty’s second victim of the day on a two-out, two-run shot. It trimmed a 6-3 Cubs lead to just a lone run.

In one of his biggest spots of the season, it came down to Hodge to set down New York’s nine, one and two hitters in the ninth inning.

Jeff McNeil walked to lead things off. Up came Lindor, who grounded softly back to Hodge in a crucial double play that cleared the bases and brought Soto up.

On the brink of a huge save, Hodge, who fell behind 3-1 to Soto, got the slugger to ground out and end both the threat and the game for the Cubs.

1nstant impact 

In the absence of Ian Happ, who sat out Saturday’s game as a precaution from an oblique issue he suffered Friday, Craig Counsell turned to Pete Crow-Armstrong to take over the leadoff spot. 

In typical Crow-Armstrong fashion, the center fielder got the Cubs rolling right away with a single in the top of the first inning. Not long after, he grabbed his 13th stolen base of the year and advanced to third base on an errant throw from Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez. Crow-Armstrong completed his tour, scoring on a Seiya Suzuki single to put the Cubs up 1-0 early and keep the pressure on Mets ace Tylor Megill. 

Evidently, Crow-Armstrong’s position in the batting order doesn’t at all affect his defense. He made another incredible catch look easy in the bottom of the first, tracking down a Juan Soto fly ball that was 101 miles per hour off the bat and had an expected batting average of .580, per Baseball Savant. Crow-Armstrong remains the best in MLB at tracking down tough balls with ease, and he’s made a league-leading eight outs above average. 

The Mother’s Day series finale is an early one as the Cubs’ Matt Boyd (3-2, 2.75 ERA) will take the mound opposite the Mets’ Griffin Canning (5-1, 2.50 ERA). The first pitch is slated for 11:05 a.m. CT and will be the first installment in Roku’s Sunday Leadoff series.