CINCINNATI — Chicago Cubs left-hander Jon Lester admitted it was on his mind. What if he could throw a second consecutive no-hitter for the Cubs? It seemed crazy, but so did a 13-4 start for the team known as “lovable losers.”
The Cubs keep proving they’re anything but losers as they beat the Reds for the fifth time this season Friday night, 8-1, behind Lester’s seven strong innings.
“We’re all human,” Lester said after the game. “We all think about it. The possibilities of ‘what if?’ Joey Votto erased that pretty quickly.”
In the first inning, Votto half-swung and sent a ball near the third-base line for a hit. The no-hitter was over early, but Lester’s night was just beginning. He threw 100 pitches over seven innings, giving up just five hits, a home run ball and one walk. He struck out four.
“That was the best fastball he’s had all year,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.
Lester may not be Arrieta-good right now, but he is off to a fast start, sporting a 1.98 ERA as the first month nears an end. In fact, other than Arrieta, the entire Cubs starting staff is kind of flying under the radar, especially when you consider the offensive numbers being produced.
“We’ve been consistent,” Lester said. “That’s the best thing to see.”
In 16 of 17 games this season, Cubs starters have gone at least six innings, and they’ve easily made it through five in all 17 starts. So it can’t come as a surprise to learn they lead all of baseball with a 2.13 ERA after Lester’s one-run performance on Friday.
“It says we’re throwing the ball pretty well,” Lester said. “For us to save our bullpen, when we need them, hopefully we’ll see the rewards of that down the line.”
Lester would like to see one other thing happen: the starting five average 200 innings each for the season.
“I’ve never been part of a staff that has 1,000 innings before,” he said. “I’d like to see that and be a part of that. I think we have five guys that can push the envelope and do that.”
They may have the ability, but will Maddon allow them to reach that figure? As the starters show some fatigue later in the year, he’ll use his bullpen more, potentially taking innings away from that goal of 1,000. But here’s the thing: The starters have thrown very few stressful pitches so far. The Cubs have one one-run victory and two two-run wins. That’s it. These are easy innings right now because the offense is mostly clicking on all cylinders.
“The pitching has been there every night,” Maddon said.
And those pitchers have been there at the plate as well, as seemingly every starter is contributing with the bat. On Friday, Lester lined a ball hard to left field for an out but then came back with a squeeze bunt to score a run in the fourth.
“Finally got one to work for me,” Lester said. “Missed a couple last year.
“You have to make sure you watch what the infielders are doing, and what side of the field to bunt it to.”
Lester said there’s no joy in getting the sign for a safety squeeze, but he was successful nonetheless.
“Jonny Lester’s was perfect,” Maddon said of the bunt.
Maddon could have been talking about Lester’s game overall. He had one tough inning, but that was nearly erased by a triple play — they got two outs out of it — and then Lester got the next batter to end the threat. It’s what the starting staff has been doing since day one. Not that there have been all that many threats. They’ve been that good.
“We knew coming in we had a good staff,” Lester said. “I think that’s going to be the backbone of this team.”
