PITTSBURGH _ The Cubs were officially eliminated from postseason contention Wednesday night, shortly before reliever David Phelps threw the second of two wild pitches in the eighth inning that led to a 4-2 loss to the Pirates, their eighth consecutive defeat.
The elimination became official when the Brewers beat the Reds 9-2 to clinch at least the second National League wild-card berth.
A frustrating season for the Cubs (82-76), who were only two games out of first place in the NL Central on Sept. 17, continued in the eighth when relievers Brad Wieck and Phelps issued consecutive walks and Phelps followed with two wild pitches and allowed a sacrifice fly by Erik Gonzalez to seal the loss.
With the likelihood of elimination, manager Joe Maddon went through on his plan to pull first baseman Anthony Rizzo in the third. Rizzo had been playing with a sore right ankle that originally put his season in doubt.
Second baseman Ben Zobrist was lifted for a pinch runner in the eighth.
Jon Lester pitched six innings of two-run ball and finished his 2019 season with a 13-10 record and 4.46 ERA _ his highest since 2012, when he had a career-worst 4.82 ERA with the Red Sox.
Lester allowed 205 hits in 171? innings, his lowest total in a full major-league season. Lester missed two starts in April because of a hamstring injury and finished with 31 starts, the 12th consecutive season he has made at least that many.
Lester caught a break in the second when Pablo Reyes was thrown out at the plate on a strong throw by left fielder Kyle Schwarber.
But the Pirates broke through for two runs in the fourth on a double by Gonzalez and a single by Jake Elmore.
The Cubs staked Lester to a 1-0 lead in the second on a triple by Willson Contreras and a single by Ian Happ, making his second start at third base in place of the injured Kris Bryant.
Lester was facing another loss until Happ led off the seventh with his second home run in five games.
Lester was lifted for a pinch hitter later in the inning, but David Bote grounded into a double play.
