CHICAGO — In the supposed dog days of August, the Chicago Cubs returned to Wrigley Field with a record 20 games above .500 and the Milwaukee Brewers in their sights. Mr. T threw a ceremonial first pitch and led the seventh-inning stretch as a crowd of 40,374 gathered for Friday afternoon’s matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals, a historic rival. And roaring sounds from the sky echoed throughout the ballpark during the practice runs for this weekend’s Chicago Air and Water Show.With momentum on their side, the Cubs are grappling with an issue that would have seemed unthinkable while injuries kept piling up throughout this season: too many good pitchers and not enough open spots.“It’s certainly better than the alternative,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “Absolutely.”Good teams are supposed to have this level of internal competition, rolling roster crunches across the 162-game schedule that force the coaching staff and the front office into difficult decisions. There will be more setbacks and unforeseen problems, but the Cubs are nearing that point where everything takes on a different sense of urgency.Those pressure situations suit Clay Holmes, an All-Star closer with the New York Yankees who remade himself into an Opening Day starter for the New York Mets. And given Kevin Gausman’s impressive resume, Holmes wasn’t even the most accomplished pitcher the Cubs acquired at the trade deadline.In his first career start at the Friendly Confines, Holmes showed why the Cubs gave up top-100 prospect Jefferson Rojas in a deal with the Mets, taking a perfect game into the sixth inning of Friday’s 3-0 victory over the Cardinals.Why are baseball catchers getting hit in the... groin so much more often?Tifo Sports“That’s what you imagine,” Holmes said. “Pitching at Wrigley with a Cubs uniform on, in a Friday day game, it’s special. It’s iconic. To do it with this team — and these guys that have been so great at welcoming me in — was a lot of fun.”Holmes projected to be such a good fit for this defense and at this moment that Jed Hoyer’s baseball operations group looked beyond his option to become a free agent after this season, as well as the fractured fibula that sidelined him for almost three months.As expected, Holmes looked rusty in his first major-league outing since both the May 15 injury and the Aug. 3 trade deadline. He had made three rehab starts with three of the Mets’ minor-league affiliates this summer. But Saturday’s performance on the road — he allowed four runs in four innings and took the loss against the Kansas City Royals — indicated he wasn’t totally in rhythm yet.Known for his heavy sinker, extensive pitch mix and ability to generate weak contact, Holmes kept the Cardinals off the bases until the sixth inning, when José Fermín lined a one-out single into right field. Over 6 2/3 innings, Holmes gave up only that hit, plus a walk to Jordan Walker, the 22nd and final batter he faced. He exited the game to a standing ovation.