Jon Lester carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and wound up with his second complete game in a 2-1 win over the Giants. The Cubs jumped out to an early lead with a two-run third inning off rookie Albert Suarez, and held on for their fifth straight win. The Cubs are now 40 games over .500 at 87-47.
At the plate: Back-to-back RBI doubles by Javier Baez and David Ross brought home the first run in the second, before Dexter Fowler lined a run-scoring single to center.
On the mound: Lester had a no-hitter with two outs in the seventh before Hunter Pence hit a solo home run. Lester allowed three hits in his complete game, improving to 15-4. Lester struck out Brandon Crawford with the tying run on first to end it.
In the field: Lester made a nice grab of a sharp line drive off Eduardo Nunez’s bat in the second, and Kris Bryant made a diving grab at third to rob Brandon Crawford to keep the no-hitter intact in the fifth. Fowler made a sliding catch to rob Kelby Tomlinson in the sixth, then replaced his divot.
The quote: Joe Maddon on Saturday’s matchup between Jake Arrieta and Madison Bumgarner. “It’ll be an interesting day, I can’t deny that.”
Next up: Vs. Giants, 1:20 p.m. Saturday. CSN.
http://embed.sendtonews.com/player2/embedcode.php?fk=1K5jh214&cid=4591
