Lester took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and dominated the San Francisco Giants Friday in a 2-1 Cubs victory in front of 40,818 fans at Wrigley Field.
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It coincided with a Major League Baseball initiative that had players and umpires wearing gold sweatbands to raise awareness for childhood cancer. “I just got frozen, just bad base-running play on my part”. Rizzo and Lester are cancer survivors, and numerous Cubs spent time in the dugout beforehand with children who battled cancer. As I’ve said in past articles, the versatility this lineup possesses is going to be critical come the postseason. San Francisco doubled their lead in the fourth on a Eduardo Nunez RBI single.
RED SOX 11, ATHLETICS 2: 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, and Boston routed Oakland yet again.
“I thought he did a very nice job”, Bochy said. “Still, you’ve got to generate some offense”.
“I will say we hit some balls right at them, too”. Some balls we did hit well were right at them.
Hill (11-3) allowed one hit, struck out eight and walked two in his second start since the Dodgers acquired him from Oakland at the August 1 trade deadline. Chicago totaled seven hits and three walks with Arrieta and Javier Baez driving in runs while Baez and Ben Zobrist scored. The Cubs have won five consecutive to improve to 87-47.
Christian Yelich continued to thrive in the cleanup spot when he homered for the third time in as many games and finished with three hits, three RBIs and two stolen bases as the Miami Marlins beat the New York Mets.
“The only thing that’s been amiss is command issues on occasion”, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said recently.
David Ross and Dexter Fowler had RBI hits in the second off Albert Suarez (3-3).
Lester walked Buster Posey with two outs in the first inning and followed by setting down 18 straight by getting some help.
Joe Panik called Crawford “a modern-day Rickey Henderson” after Crawford’s swiftness and smartness gave the Giants their decisive run in the sixth inning, and the game ended on a defensive sequence in which several Giants made heads-up plays.
“Riz told me I was gonna pitch a no hitter today”, said Jon Lester who threw a complete game 3 hitter as the Cubs blanked the Giants 2-0. Bumgarner pumped a fist after winning a 10-pitch battle with Matt Szczur, striking him out on a slider to strand two runners in scoring position and preserve a 3-2 lead.
“I think the big thing was they were aggressive”, Lester said. “So I wanted to fade a changeup off because the at-bat before he chased some balls really, really far off”.
Pedro Alvarez and Chris Davis hit two-run homers in the second inning and Manny Machado added a two-run shot in the fourth.
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).
The surging Cubs had won five in a row before the offense cooled off in Saturday’s defeat to visiting San Francisco. The Cubs have claimed the first two games between the potential National League playoff opponents.
Pinch hitter Ramon Cabrera’s two-run single in the seventh inning put the Reds ahead 4-1.
Lester won his sixth decision in his last nine starts and has allowed one run or fewer in his last four appearances.
Texas’ Rougned Odor homered for the third straight game in a seven-run fourth inning that lifted the Rangers over Houston 10-8.
In Kansas City, Eric Hosmer hit his career-high 20th homer, Yordano Ventura pitched into and out of trouble and the Royals snapped a three-game skid.
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RAYS 8, BLUE JAYS 3: Alex Cobb went five solid innings during his first start in two years, Logan Morrison hit a go-ahead two-run homer, and Tampa Bay beat AL East-leading Toronto at St. Petersburg, Fla.
