CHICAGO (AP) - Jon Lester gave the Chicago Cubs a chance, Javier Baez supplied the power and Aroldis Chapman finished the job.
A positive playoff opener for a city draped in “W’’ flags and hoping for a historic championship.
Lester outpitched Johnny Cueto with eight sparkling innings, Baez homered in the eighth and Chicago beat the San Francisco 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, but the game was scoreless when Baez sent a towering drive into a stiff wind. With a raucous crowd of 42,148 and every player anxiously tracking the flight of the ball, left fielder Angel Pagan ran out of room as it landed in the basket that tops the ivy-covered walls at Wrigley Field.
Baez thought it was surely 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.”
Chicago’s relievers in the bullpen in foul territory down the left-field 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.
“Just waiting for him to make a mistake and he finally did,” Baez said.
Chapman allowed Buster Posey’s two-out double off the ivy in the ninth before Hunter Pence bounced to second for the final out, wrapping a bow on Chicago’s first meaningful game in weeks.
Lester’s $155 million, six-year deal in December 2014 was a key moment in the Cubs’ turnaround from also-ran to contender. They clinched the NL Central title on Sept. 15 and led the majors with 103 wins this year, but have their sights set on the franchise’s first World Series crown since 1908.
“I kind of figured as we got going it would come down to one mistake and luckily we didn’t make one and they did,” Lester said. “And I think that’s just kind of the beginning of the series.”
Game 2 is Saturday night.
Cueto was outstanding, following up Madison Bumgarner’s four-hitter in San Francisco’s wild-card win at New York with his own gem. 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.
“We both were pitching a great ballgame and obviously we knew - we were aware that one run was going to decide the game,” Cueto said through a translator.
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 manager Bruce Bochy’s club, but it was the Cubs with the good fortune in the series opener, 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 some help from his usual catcher, with 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.
San Francisco had runners on second and third after left fielder Ben Zobrist misplayed Pagan’s sinking liner into a fourth-inning double, but Brandon Crawford bounced out to end the inning.
“We had a couple chances there. We just couldn’t get the key hit,” Bochy said.
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, then took a hit away from Anthony Rizzo with another diving stop in the seventh.
SEEN
Actor and comedian Bill Murray was in the crowd cheering on his beloved Cubs. He did his best to bust the team’s infamous curse, wearing a shirt that read: “I Ain’t Afraid of No Goat.”
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!”
UP NEXT
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 6 1/2 seasons with the team before he was traded to Oakland in the 2014 deal that brought shortstop Addison Russell to the Cubs.
Cubs: 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.
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Jay Cohen can be reached at https://www.twitter.com/jcohenap
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