Jon tops Johnny with complete game
Who’s afraid of Johnny Cueto? Cubs front- office officials and manager Joe Maddon said they were last fall, when the All- Star pitcher loomed as a possible Game 5 starter in the National League Division Series against the Giants. But the Cubs rallied in the ninth inning in San Francisco to close the best- of- five series in Game 4.
Of course, those fears got back to Cubs starter Jon Lester, who was prepared for the showdown.
‘‘ I mean, I’m not too shabby, right? I’ve had a decent career,’’ said Lester, who dominated the Giants in a 99- pitch, completegame performance Tuesday to beat Cueto 4- 1 in a rematch seven months in the making.
Lester couldn’t hold the straight face long before breaking into a smile.
‘‘ Nah, nobody wants to face a guy like that. He was throwing the ball really, really well at the time,’’ said Lester, who beat Cueto 1- 0 in the first game of that NLDS. ‘‘ I know what I can do on my side of the ball and all that stuff. But that would have been a tough game.’’
Lester struck out 10, walked none and gave up only four hits — three of which came in the fifth inning, when he was working with a 4- 0 lead. He retired the last 13 batters he faced after that and faced the minimum three batters in every inning but the fifth ( getting a double play along the way) for the Cubs’ first complete game of the season and the 15th of his career.
‘‘ That’s classic Jon Lester,’’ said Kyle Schwarber, who became the first hitter to clear the rebuilt rightfield bleachers with a home run that put the Cubs up 1- 0 in the first.
‘‘ Schwarber set the tone,’’ Maddon said. ‘‘ Whoa. It got small fast. It’s almost like when we used to watch ‘ Star Trek,’ and the Enterprise would just fly by the screen and get really small. It kind of had that Enterprise- esque look to it.’’
Jason Heywardadded a first- pitch shot into the right- field basket with one out in the second, and Anthony Rizzo followed Kris Bryant’s leadoff single in the fourth with a two- run shot into the right- field bleachers, as the Cubs won for the fifth time in their last seven games.
But the night belonged to Lester, who improved to 12- 0 with a 1.55 ERA in his last 16 home starts. It’s the longest such streak by a Cub since Jon Lieber won 13 in a row in 2001- 02.
‘‘ Complete games now are few and far between,’’ he said. ‘‘ It’s a hard thing to do, especially in the National League. There’s always that gratification to finish it and walk off and shake everybody’s hand as they come off the field.’’
NOTES: The Cubs revved up their bullpen shuttle again, optioning lefthander Zac Rosscup to Class AAA Iowa after a 10- pitch appearance in his only day with the club. Taking his place was right- hander Felix Pena, who was recalled from Iowa.
Ian Happ failed to reach base via hit or walk for the first time in his nine games.