BOX SCORE

CHICAGO — It was an unforgettable Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field as the Cubs took on the Baltimore Orioles clad in blue No. 23 jerseys to honor late Cubs legend Ryne Sandberg.

Amid all the fanfare, the Cubs (64-46) were riding a comfortable 3-0 lead until it was erased by an Orioles (51-60) four-spot in the top of the eighth inning.

The Cubs were thus left with limited time to claw back, and the stars didn’t align as it ended in a 4-3 loss to Baltimore.

Here are three things we learned from a day of mixed emotions at the ballpark:

Mr. Reliable

Death, taxes and a Nico Hoerner hit with runners in scoring position. 

That’s how automatic Hoerner —  whose 41 hits in those situations lead the Cubs and rank second in MLB — has been this season. 

The Cubs’ omnipresent second baseman (though he was playing shortstop Saturday) continued that RISP dominance when he smacked a double down the left field line to drive in the Cubs’ first run in the second inning. The hit probably could have scored two, but it disappeared into the ivy as Orioles left fielder Colton Cowser threw both arms up in the air. 

Hoerner didn’t stop there. In his next at-bat, he collected his second RBI of the game, cashing in Willi Castro’s one-out triple. 

Hoerner this season is hitting an MLB-second-best .383 with RISP. A single in the sixth made it two three-hit games in his last four. 

The 28-year-old is slashing .294/.340/.386 (.723 OPS) with four home runs and 46 RBI this season. That includes a .391/.444/.565 (1.009 OPS) clip in his last seven games. 

Instant impact 

Acquiring Willi Castro from the Minnesota Twins was perhaps the biggest move the Cubs made at the trade deadline on Thursday, even before he made his debut with the team in Saturday’s game. 

Castro, a renaissance man on the field, has played significant time at five different defensive positions this season and also represents a crucial, switch-hitting bat that the Cubs needed before adding him. 

Castro got to work Saturday when Cubs manager Craig Counsell gave Dansby Swanson a scheduled off-day. The 27-year-old Puerto Rican slotted in at second base while Hoerner shifted to shortstop. 

Castro got involved almost as quickly as he possibly could, fielding a hard-hit grounder on Boyd’s first pitch of the game to record his first putout as a Cub. 

His involvement only expanded from there. Castro, who was hitting sixth in the order, dumped a single into left field for his first hit of the game. He came around to score on Reese McGuire’s sacrifice fly. 

In the fourth inning, Castro hit a soft, sinking line drive to right field that got under the glove of Orioles right fielder Dylan Carlson and skipped toward the warning track. Castro turned on the wheels, ending up on third base with a one-out triple. He then scored again on Hoerner’s single. 

Castro got a chance to show his true defensive chops in the sixth inning with a nifty shovel throw with his glove to get Jackson Holliday out at first base. 

Back in business

Matthew Boyd took his nightmare start in Milwaukee earlier this week and used it to fuel his next one. 

Boyd, who allowed a season-high five earned runs in the Cubs’ 8-4 loss to the Brewers on Monday, shook it off and let nothing from that night follow him back to Wrigley Field. 

The Orioles have a dangerous top of their batting order, but that didn’t faze the Cubs’ All-Star lefty at all as he allowed just four hits across seven scoreless innings of work. He added eight strikeouts to his final line, marking the fifth start this season in which he’s punched out eight or more. 

Another thing Boyd has cashed in on eight times this season is his signature pickoff move — the 34-year-old nabbed Jordan Westburg at first base in the fourth inning, which was his MLB-leading eighth successful pickoff of the year. 

Even with his struggles against Milwaukee, Boyd’s ERA on the season still stands at 2.34 — a mark good enough for second-best in the NL behind Paul Skenes and fourth-best in all of MLB. 

Sunday’s series finale will feature Colin Rea (8-5, 4.25 ERA) on the mound for the Cubs. Chicago hitters will face Orioles right-hander Brandon Young (0-5, 6.63 ERA).

Coverage begins at noon on Marquee Sports Network.