CHICAGO — Caleb Williams stole the show from Jameson Taillon on Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field, earning his first standing ovation in Chicago after being shown on the video board during the top of the seventh inning of the Cubs’ 6-5 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Taillon allowed two hits over six shutout innings before being replaced in the seventh with a 5-0 lead. The mere sight of Williams, wearing a Cubs jersey and sitting with several Bears teammates in a right-field suite, was perfectly timed for a town thirsting for a winner.

But moments after the standing-room-only crowd of 40,505 saluted the new Bears quarterback, the Cubs bullpen began to crumble, a recurring theme that changed the mood from celebratory to fidgety in a nanosecond.

It was a vintage Chicago scene as fans endured a roller coaster of emotions on a warm spring afternoon that hinted at the coming of summer.

In the end, the Cubs managed to hold on for a 6-5 win, giving Taillon his third victory and manager Craig Counsell first blood in his first head-to-head matchup against Brewers manager Pat Murphy, his longtime friend and former bench coach who was suspended for Friday’s series opener.

Hector Neris survived a shaky ninth inning for his sixth save, helping panicky Cubs fans step off the ledge, at least for the time being.

The Cubs bullpen will be suspect until further notice, making the rotation more important than ever. The cast of characters seems up to the challenge.

Taillon’s ERA is 1.13 after four starts, while Shota Imanaga (5-0) leads the majors with an 0.78 ERA, the fourth-lowest mark after six starts by any pitcher since 1912. And Javier Assad, who starts the rubber game Sunday, has a 1.97 ERA.

With ace Justin Steele returning from his hamstring injury Monday against the San Diego Padres and youngsters Hayden Wesneski and Ben Brown dealing, the starters have helped relieve the stress from all of the other issues.

“We’re pretty solid,” Taillon said. “Getting Steely back is huge. Everybody saw what he did last year and he was off to a scorching-hot start there in that opening-day start (in Texas). We’re all really excited, and then when you add someone like Steely back, that’s huge no matter who he is replacing or what’s going on.

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