Eric Sogard’s heads-up play gets the Chicago Cubs started, and a gutty Craig Kimbrel finishes off a 3-1 win over the New York Mets

Chicago Cubs second baseman Eric Sogard eyed the defensive positioning of New York Mets third baseman J.D. Davis as he broke from second base.

Sogard noticed how deep Davis set up with two outs in the third inning Tuesday, and when Willson Contreras’ ground ball caused Davis to move closer toward the outfield grass, the veteran Sogard knew it would be an extremely long throw.

Sogard read the situation perfectly. First baseman Pete Alonso couldn’t handle Davis’ low throw in the dirt, allowing Sogard to score easily.

His instinctual play resulted in the Cubs’ first run in a 3-1 win at Wrigley Field.

“It was a throw I was going to go on regardless,” Sogard said.

Sogard initially wasn’t in the lineup but replaced David Bote, who was scratched because of an upset stomach. He went 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs and an RBI single.

Jake Arrieta’s sacrifice bunt advanced Sogard after his leadoff walk in the third, which put him in position to score on Davis’ throwing error, one of two he had in the game.

Sogard came through again the next inning, this time at the plate. Jason Heyward’s two-out steal positioned him for an RBI opportunity, and he cashed in with a single to center. Sogard scored later in the fourth on Contreras’ bases-loaded walk — the Cubs’ third consecutive walk against Mets starter Taijuan Walker.

“The baserunning was big,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “We’ve got to push guys into scoring position and get some guys up there and get those big hits. We took advantage of some of the miscues they had and put ourselves in a situation where we had to push the envelope a little bit, and the guys did a really good job.”

On a chilly night at Wrigley, the little things matter, especially for a scuffling offense. The Cubs displayed patience against Walker, drawing six walks in the win.

“It’s huge for us,” Sogard said. “We’ve got to be able to win in more ways than just hitting six homers in the game. So it was great to be able to do that tonight, and got to give a lot of credit toward our pitching to really give us the opportunity to keep the lead.”

Closer Craig Kimbrel escaped a bases-loaded situation in the ninth, getting Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor to ground out to first on a first-pitch curveball to end the game. Kimbrel struggled with his fastball command but got four whiffs and two called strikes with his curve to avoid damage.

Kimbrel surrendered his first hit of the season (7⅓ innings) on pinch hitter Luis Guillorme’s single, which loaded the bases.

The poise Kimbrel showed in the ninth caught Ross’ attention.

“Coming in and having the (two) walks, not having probably the best feel out there — whether that’s the weather or something else — but still being able to throw his breaking ball for strikes stood out to me,” Ross said. “Not having the fastball command and he only had a couple borderline pitches that didn’t go our way, and he still remained calm and continue to execute pitches. I thought it was really nice in handling a little adversity.”

Arrieta gave the Cubs what they needed, limiting the Mets to one run in five innings and lowering his ERA to 2.86. His final inning proved to be his most challenging, but he survived a leadoff homer by Davis and stranded runners on the corners. He didn’t have the best grip for his curveball with the cold conditions and slick baseballs that he attributed to being rubbed up too much.

The circumstances prompted him to incorporate his changeup more. Arrieta threw 13 changeups Tuesday after using seven over his previous three starts.

“That’s how it goes,” he said. “That’s why, as a starter, it pays off to have more than three pitches at your disposa.l In case you have an issue with one or two, you have something else to go to. So I was able to use the changeup in big spots and keep them off balance.”

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