CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs went out and got Jon Lester for these moments. And he delivered in a big way Friday night.
Lester outpitched Johnny Cueto with eight sparkling innings, Javier Baez homered in the eighth and the Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants 1-0 in a tense Game 1 of their NL Division Series.
Lester retired his last 13 batters in a dominant performance, but the game was scoreless when Baez sent a towering drive into a stiff wind. With a raucous crowd of 42,148 and every player anxiously tracking the flight of the ball, left fielder Angel Pagan ran out of room as it landed in the basket that tops the ivy-covered walls at Wrigley Field.
Baez thought it was gone as soon as the ball left the bat.
“I forgot about the wind,” he said. “The wind’s blowing straight in, and I hit it really good. Good thing it just barely went.”
Aroldis Chapman allowed Buster Posey’s two-out double off the ivy in the ninth before Hunter Pence bounced to second for the final out, wrapping a bow on Chicago’s first meaningful game in weeks.
“That’s an awesome baseball game. Playoff baseball,” Lester said. “That was a fun game to be a part of, and obviously really happy to be on this side of it.”
Cueto was outstanding, following Madison Bumgarner’s four-hitter in San Francisco’s wild-card win at New York with his own impressive gem. The right-hander, deftly varying his delivery to keep the Cubs off balance, struck out 10 and allowed three hits in his second straight complete game in the postseason.
“It was a great ballgame,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “One pitch. . . . I expect these games to be like this.”
Baez’s homer stopped San Francisco’s postseason scoreless streak at 23 innings dating to the World Series in 2014. The Giants also won it all in 2010 and 2012, leading to talk of even-year magic for Bochy’s club. Dodgers 4, Nationals 3
In Washington, Clayton Kershaw earned a rare postseason victory, and rookie Corey Seager and Justin Turner homered off Max Scherzer on Friday night, leading Los Angeles past Washington in Game 1 of their NL Division Series.
Kershaw, a lefty who owns three NL Cy Young Awards, worked around eight hits with the help of seven strikeouts, and exited after allowing three runs in five innings. He improved his career record in the playoffs to 3-6 even though his ERA rose to 4.65.
Four Dodgers relievers combined to allow one hit over four scoreless innings, with closer Kenley Jansen earning his first five-out save since April 13.
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