Sep 14, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jon Lester (34) pitches to a St. Louis Cardinals batter during the eighth inning at Busch Stadium. The Cubs won 7-0. Photo Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
ST. LOUIS — Jon Lester continued his remarkable late-season run and pushed the Chicago Cubs to the brink of the National League Central title.
Lester allowed three hits over eight innings and knocked in the game’s first run to lead Chicago to a 7-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday at Busch Stadium.
In upping his record to 17-4, Lester walked one, struck out eight and faced just two batters over the minimum. It was the sixth consecutive start in which Lester has allowed zero or one run.
The Cubs (93-52) clinched at least a tie for the division title and can pop the champagne Thursday night with a victory over Milwaukee at Wrigley Field. It will be their first division championship since 2008.
Carlos Martinez (14-8) allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings, fanning nine and walking none. Martinez’s four-game winning streak ended as St. Louis (76-69) dropped a game behind the New York Mets for the NL’s second wild-card spot, pending the outcome of the latter’s game in Washington.
Lester supplied the only run Chicago would need with his fourth hit of the season, a one-out RBI single in the third that scored Javier Baez, who led off the inning with a double.
David Ross made it 3-0 in the fifth with a two-run homer to center, his ninth of the year. Anthony Rizzo led off the sixth with his 30th homer into the right field bleachers.
The Cubs capped the scoring with three runs in the ninth. Kris Bryant’s two-out triple past diving center fielder Randal Grichuk plated pinch-hitter Jorge Soler, and Rizzo lined a two-run homer on the next pitch.
The homer enabled Rizzo to join Billy Williams as the only left-handed hitters in franchise history with multiple 30-homer, 100-RBI seasons.
The Cardinals, who didn’t push a runner into scoring position all day, managed just 11 hits in the three-game series.
NOTES: St. Louis RHP Michael Wacha (right shoulder inflammation) was activated off the 15-day DL Wednesday morning. Wacha, who was 7-7 with a 4.45 ERA in 23 starts before being but on the disabled list on Aug. 9, will pitch out of the bullpen for the season’s remainder. … Chicago is on a pace to draw a franchise-record 658 walks, which would be eight more than it coaxed back in 1975. Its 584 walks entering Wednesday led MLB. … The Cardinals are expected to activate RHP Trevor Rosenthal (right shoulder inflammation) and LF Matt Holliday (right thumb fracture) from the DL before the week’s over.
