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Lester, Cubs edge Giants in NLDS opener at Wrigley

 
Cubs starter Jon Lester delivers during Chicago's 1-0 victory over the Giants in Game 1 of their NLDSseries at Wrigley Field. [Getty Images]
Cubs starter Jon Lester delivers during Chicago's 1-0 victory over the Giants in Game 1 of their NLDSseries at Wrigley Field. [Getty Images]
Published Oct. 9, 2016

CHICAGO — Jon Lester outpitched Johnny Cueto with eight sparkling innings, Javier Baez homered in the eighth and the Cubs beat the Giants 1-0 in a tense Game 1 of their NL Division Series on Friday night.

Lester retired his last 13 batters in a dominant performance. The game was scoreless when Baez sent Angel Pagan scrambling to the leftfield wall with a towering drive. With a raucous crowd of 42,148 and every player anxiously tracking the flight of the ball, 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."

Cubs relievers in the bullpen in foul territory down the line broke into cheers as Baez rounded the bases with the delirious crowd in a frenzy. Baez then came out of the dugout for a curtain call.

"He's been pitching me inside. I was just waiting for him to make a mistake and he left it over the plate," Baez said.

The Cubs' only previous 1-0 postseason victory was in Game 4 of the 1906 World Series.

Aroldis Chapman gave up Buster Posey's two-out double off the ivy in the ninth before Hunter Pence bounced to second for the final out. The Cubs improved to 93-1 when taking a lead into the ninth inning.

"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 sent out to start the eighth when he was at 99 pitches. According to ESPN, he had 10 starts this year of 110 pitches or more, trailing only Madison Bumgarner for most in the National League.

Cueto was outstanding, following Bumgarner's four-hitter for the Giants in the NL wild-card game against the Mets. 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. But it was the Cubs with the good fortune on Friday night, a strange turn of events for the usually snake-bitten franchise.

The Giants had at least one hit in each of the first four innings, including leadoff singles in the first three, but Lester held them off each time. The left-hander got help from his usual catcher, with former Gator standout David Ross throwing out Gorkys Hernandez trying to steal second in the first and picking off wild-card hero Conor Gillaspie at first in the third.

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San Francisco had runners on second and third after former Ray Ben Zobrist misplayed Pagan's sinking liner to left in the fourth, but Brandon Crawford bounced to shortstop to end the inning.

Cueto retired his first 10 batters and had the Cubs shaking their heads all night long. He also got some timely help from his defense.

Hernandez got revenge on Ross with an outstanding, sliding catch on the warning track in left-center in the third. Kelby Tomlinson, starting at second in place of Joe Panik with the lefty Lester on the mound, robbed Zobrist of a two-out RBI single in the fourth, and then took a hit away from Anthony Rizzo with another diving stop in the seventh.

"Cueto just kept making pitches and I had to keep making pitches with him," Lester said.

The Cubs, who clinched the NL Central title on Sept. 15 and led the majors with 103 wins, are seeking the franchise's World Series crown since 1908.

SEEN: Rocker Eddie Vedder, Chicago Bulls stars Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler and Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook each got a loud cheer when they were shown on the videoboard in left field. Wearing a white Kris Bryant jersey, former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka fired up the crowd before the first pitch. "It's time to play ball," he said while standing in front of the home dugout. "Go Cubs Go!"

GETTING CLOSER: The Giants put Eduardo Nunez on their roster for the NLDS after the third baseman had been sidelined with a strained right hamstring. But Gillaspie, who hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning of San Francisco's 3-0 win at New York in the wild-card game, got the start at third. Nunez, an AL All-Star this season with Minnesota, hasn't played since Sept. 25. He was acquired in a July 28 trade with the Twins.

UP NEXT: For the Giants, Jeff Samardzija gets the ball in Game 2 for his first postseason start in the same place he began his major-league career. The right-hander was drafted by the Cubs in 2006 and spent his first 61/2 seasons with the team before he was traded to Oakland in the 2014 deal that brought shortstop Addison Russell to the Cubs. For Chicago, coming off a breakout season, Kyle Hendricks makes his third career playoff start. The right-hander went 16-8 with a major league-best 2.13 ERA this year. He was nearly unhittable at home, going 9-2 with a 1.32 ERA in 15 games.