Jon Lester summed up the blissful state of the Cubs in four words: “We’re back to ’16.”
And then, as if blanking the Pirates over seven innings Saturday in a 2-0 victory wasn’t enough, Lester elaborated: “It took time for everybody to recover. When you come off that high of Game 7, you’re trying to get up for every game (the next season). And it’s not there. This year everybody came in with a different mentality. Everybody always says, ‘This is the hardest I’ve worked’ or ‘This is the best shape of my life’ … whatever nonsense. But I feel like guys made an effort to work on their weaknesses.”
Lester mentioned shortstop Addison Russell, who looked sharp Saturday in his return from a sprained finger, and Ian Happ, who made three sliding catches Friday in left field.
Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber also made excellent grabs, leading manager Joe Maddon to describe the defense as “spectacular … the outfield play is really jacked up.”
Javier Baez came on for defense in the ninth and produced a web gem to end the game, sprinting from second base to the edge of the wall to snatch a foul pop.
“Sun, wind, all that stuff and having to go that far … it was fun to watch,” Heyward said.
At this rate, MLB might want to look into a bulk shipping rate for Gold Gloves.
Said Baez: “I went for it even though we were up by two. You don’t want to get hurt on a play like that.”
The Cubs won for the 11th time in 13 games with tight defense and pitching — one hit allowed — and juuuust enough at the plate.
They scored twice in the first inning on a lone hit — and a lucky one at that. But the best teams take advantage of their breaks, and the Cubs did that with A-plus situational hitting.
Kris Bryant, batting leadoff for the second straight day, got plunked on the left shoulder by Nick Kingham. Heyward ripped a ball to left-center, where Starling Marte slipped on the turf that got soaked by morning rain.
Ben Zobrist plated Bryant and advanced Heyward with a grounder to first. Anthony Rizzo lined one to right for a sac fly. And that was it: a 2-0 lead. Game over (eventually).
Lester lowered his ERA to 2.22, third-best in the National League. He issued back-to-back one-out walks in the second and appeared to jaw with plate umpire Doug Eddings.
“I watched him closely,” Maddon said, “and he didn’t beat up on himself or get frustrated.”
Said Lester: “I got out of my mechanics in that inning.”
But Lester struck out the final two in the frame and allowed only a two-out triple to right by Austin Meadows in the third.
His improvement from last season — 4.33 ERA — mirrors the Cubs as a whole. They were 30-31 at this point last year. This group is 37-24.
“It was a battle,” Lester said of his 2017 season. “We had to alter my whole game plan. The cutter wasn’t there and my fastball command wasn’t there so we had to throw more sinkers and offspeed stuff. The silver lining is that I got a feel for my changeup, and that’s been my best offspeed pitch this year.”
And he has a bunch of human vacuum cleaners roaming around behind him.
“It’s fun to sit on the bench and watch them,” Lester said. “It’s even better when you’re on the mound and they make those plays for you.”
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein
http://embed.sendtonews.com/player2/embedcode.php?fk=1K5jh214&cid=4591
