Lester delivers when needed

Jon Lester is 34, which sounds a lot older measured in pitcher’s years. He’s a little more than 10 years and almost 35,000 pitches removed from being the wunderkind cancer survivor who no-hit theRoyals on a chillyMaynight atFenway Park.

But the Cubs need him as badly these days as any team ever has, and he’s sure not letting them down.

Lestermowed down the Reds for seven innings Saturday afternoon, refusing to blink when the afternoon shadows were making it tough for his teammates to hit. The result, with help from four relievers and several other teammates, was a 1-0 victory that moved the Cubs a little closer to their third consecutiveNational League Central title.

“We do a good job of zoning in on guys’ weaknesses,” Lester said. “I’m a com- pletely different pitcher than Iwas before I got here, even two years ago. I’ll take this me over the youngerme any day.”

Lester no longer can reach back for a big fastball when he needs to put away a hitter, but his four-seamer averaged 92 on Saturday — still plenty to keep hitters honest. His sequence of pitches is a secret of his success.

“Back then I didn’t have a rhyme or reason why things worked,” Lester said. “It was ‘here’smy fastball, here’smy cutter, and I’ll throwyou a curveball when I feel like it.’ NowIhave a rhymeanda reason. Wespend time talking about it, and I go out and try to execute it. It’s a lot more fun.”

This makes it 11 straight years that Lester (16-6) has made at least 30 starts, a notable feat. But the bigger significance is Lester joined Friday winner ColeHamels in providing innings when short outings would have shredded the overworked bullpen.