Behind eight shutout innings from Jon Lester and a home run from Javier Baez, the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants 1-0 in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
The game got off to an inauspicious start for the Cubs as Gorkys Hernandez reached with an infield single, but things quickly turned back in their favor thanks to a veteran star. David Ross was that star, as he gunned out Hernandez on an attempted steal at second base to erase the threat.
Jon Lester then did the rest, as he notched a strikeout and a pop-out from Buster Posey to end the top of the frame.
Afer the Cubs went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first, the Giants threatened again in the top of the second. Hunter Pence reached on an infield single and was on second base with two outs, but Lester induced a weak groundout by Kelby Tomlinson to end the threat and keep the Giants off the board.
The Cubs' defense continued to shine in the top of the third inning, and they once again utilized Ross to do it. With a runner on first base and Johnny Cueto at the plate, Lester threw a pitch-out, and Ross gunned out Conor Gillaspie at first base to end the threat and get the Cubs out of another potential jam.
The Cubs' offense finally got an opportunity to score in the fourth inning as Kris Bryant drilled a double to left field and advanced to third on a groundout by Anthony Rizzo. Unfortunately they couldn't cash in, as Ben Zobrist was retired on a sharp groundout to Joe Panik, and the game remained scoreless after four innings.
The game continued to be scoreless until the bottom of the eighth inning, when Javier Baez finally broke the tie. On a 3-2 pitch from Cueto, Baez blasted a pitch over the left field wall at Wrigley to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Chicago Baseball
In the top of the ninth, Aroldis Chapman got two quick outs but gave up a deep double to Posey to give the Giants one more chance to tie the game. Fortunately for the Cubs, Pence grounded out to second base, and they secured a 1-0 win in Game 1 of the series.
The Cubs will look to get a 2-0 series lead on Saturday night as Kyle Hendricks opposes Jeff Samardzija in Game 2 of the best-of-five series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
