Lester pitched 6 2/3 no-hit innings and allowed only three hits in a complete game as the Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants 2-1.
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“We were getting some things going but the boys needed a break and have one of those hard-hit balls fall in”, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.
Lester’s bid for a second career no-hitter ended when Hunter Pence homered with two out in the eighth. Brandon Crawford followed with a double, and Lester (15-4) got Eduardo Nunez to line to third. His 2.61 season ERA ranks fourth in baseball, joining Hendricks (first) and Arrieta (sixth) among MLB leaders. “You can nitpick it all you want, I love that game. But we couldn’t get a ball to fall”.
BREWERS 7, PIRATES 4: Struggling rookie Orlando Arcia had three hits, including a tiebreaking single in Milwaukee’s four-run eighth inning, to extend Pittsburgh’s losing streak to five games.
In Oakland, Rick Porcello didn’t allow a baserunner until Jake Smolinski’s one-out double in the sixth on the way to his majors-leading 19th victory.
Bumgarner has a 6.35 ERA in his last three starts, while opponents are hitting.303 in that span.
Tyler Skaggs (3-3) allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings for Los Angeles, striking out seven and walking one. He threw 102 pitches, struck out four and walked two as the Cubs (87-47) won their fifth straight.
Carrasco (10-7) had the 10th double-digit strikeout game of his career and the third this season.
“It’s pretty incredible”, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. Jake then threw two good innings before a two-out single, a stolen base and a wild pitch put Panik on third, where he scored on a single by Nunez.
Lester struck out Crawford looking with a runner on first for his fourth strikeout to end it on his 102nd pitch.
Third baseman Kris Bryant made a diving, backhand grab of Crawford’s liner to lead off the fifth and Dexter Fowler made a sliding catch of Kelby Tomlinson’s liner to center an inning later. Cubs setup man Hector Rondon (triceps) said he was feeling good after he threw a 22-pitch simulated game Saturday.
REDS 9, CARDINALS 1 (at Cincinnati) – Zack Cozart hit a pair of doubles during run-scoring innings that included St. Louis misplays, and Cincinnati pulled away to a victory that left the Cardinals treading water in the playoff chase. Brownie hit the double. “Then we went back to hitting line drives”. “They just happened to be there”.
With Lester settling for the three-hitter, the most recent Cubs no-hitter at Wrigley Field remains the one tossed by Milt Pappas on September 2, 1972 – 44 years ago to the day Friday.
It’s almost impossible to get to him early: In the first three innings of his starts this season, Arrieta has allowed a 1.73 ERA, second in Major League Baseball to Kyle Hendricks (1.44).
Bumgarner (14-8) allowed two runs and five hits in his fourth victory in his last five starts.
“It’s not very common with our group of guys”, Arrieta said of the mistakes.
METS 3, NATIONALS 1: Curtis Granderson and James Loney came through with big hits to back Robert Gsellman, and NY got another gritty start from an unheralded rookie in its banged-up rotation. “He regrouped and found a way to keep it close for us”. Brown tested negative for strep throat. RHP Matt Cain (back) was activated off the disabled list and became the 12th reliever thanks to expanded rosters.
The Cubs will look to win the series tomorrow in the finale of a four-game set against the Giants. The solo shot was the only Giants run versus Lester, who held the Giants to three hits.
Giants 1B Brandon Belt dropped Ben Zobrist’s two-out popup in the first to stop the longest errorless streak in franchise history at 17 games.
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Chicago Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo reacts after being tagged out at second base while trying to advance on a Dexter Fowler sacrifice during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016, in Chicago.
