ATLANTA _ Jon Lester and his wife make their offseason home in suburban Atlanta. They love Atlanta. And the Cubs left-hander really enjoys pitching against the Braves and does it well.
Lester held the Braves to three hits and one run in seven innings Monday night and the Cubs hung on for a 4-3 win to open a three-game series at SunTrust Park, snapping a three-game winning streak for the Braves and dropping them back below .500 (45-46).
The Braves got two runs against Cubs closer Wade Davis in the ninth inning on three consecutive one-out singles from Brandon Phillips, Freddie Freeman and Matt Kemp. A wild pitch scored Phillips and Kemp's hit scored Freeman.
After pinch-runner Lane Adams stole second and advanced to third on Tyler Flowers' fly-out to the center-field warning track, the Cubs intentionally walked Nick Markakis to bring up Sean Rodriguez, who barely checked his swing on a full-count pitch to load the bases before Johan Camargo flied out to shallow left field to end the game.
Rodriguez went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and the walk in his first game off the disabled list after missing the first 90 games recovering from February shoulder surgery.
The Cubs (47-45) have won four in a row since the All-Star break and had many thousands of their fans among the sold-out crowd of 41,256.
The Braves' Julio Teheran fared better than he has in most home starts, in large part because of two terrific inning-ending defensive plays by first baseman Freddie Freeman that saved four or five total runs, but it wasn't enough on a night when Lester did what he usually does against the Braves.
Lester (8-6) rebounded from the shortest and perhaps worst start of his career _ six hits, 10 runs (four earned) and three walks allowed without getting out of the first inning against Pittsburgh on July 9 _ to face 24 batters in seven innings Monday, retiring seven of the first eight and all of the last 10.
He gave up three singles and one walk with six strikeouts and improved to 5-2 with a 2.05 ERA in eight career starts against the Braves including 5-1 with a 1.83 ERA in six starts in Atlanta.
He's 3-0 with a 0.63 ERA in his past four starts against the Braves, with the run he allowed in the third inning Monday just the second earned run the Braves have mustered against Lester in that stretch. And that run could've been unearned. After Teheran hit a one-out single, Ender Inciarte grounded into a fielder's choice and shortstop Javier Baez's throw to first was high on the would-be double play.
Inciarte advanced to second on the error, then stole third base _ he's 13 for 13 in stolen-base attempts at third base over two seasons with the Braves _ before scoring on Brandon Phillips single to give the Braves a 1-0 lead before Freeman grounded out to end the inning.
Freeman switched to third base temporarily after returning from the disabled list two weeks ago, so that power-hitting Matt Adams could stay in the lineup at first base. But Freeman started at first base Monday for the third time in the past eight games _ each time the Braves faced a lefty starter in that period.
With bases loaded and the Braves trailing 2-1 in the fifth, Freeman showed quick reactions to stop a sizzling grounder off the bat of Kyle Schwarber about 15 feet behind first base near the line. He fielded it and stepped on the base for the third out, after the Cubs had scored two runs earlier in the inning and had a chance to blow the game open.
Teheran (7-7) gave up three walks and two hits in the inning including Ben Zobrist's two-run single.
Teheran got into trouble again in the sixth after a leadoff double from Ian Happ and an errant pickoff throw that advanced Happ to third with none out. Jason Heyward hit a one-hop ground-out to second baseman Brandon Phillips and Javier Baez struck out to bring up pitcher Lester, the runner still at third.
Teheran fell behind in the count 3-0 _ the second ball was in the strike zone but CB Bucknor missed it _ and when Lester put his bat on his shoulder to let Teheran throw the fourth pitch, he still missed the strike zone for a four-pitch walk.
Lester stole second base while Zobrist was batting to put two runners in scoring position, then Zobrist smoked a grounder up the first-base line and Freeman dove to his left to stop it. Again he came up with the ball, then stepped on first base for the third out, saving two more runs to keep the deficit at 2-1.
After those two lengthy innings pushed Teheran's pitch count to 107, Ian Krol came on to start the seventh inning and gave up a homer to the second batter he faced, Anthony Rizzo, to increase the Cubs' lead to 3-1. They scored another run in the eighth on doubles from Baez and Addison Russell.
Teheran was charged with five hits, two runs and four walks with five strikeouts in six innings. He avoided giving up a home run for only the second time in his 10 home starts this season and the first time since his win in the April 14 home opener, but couldn't avoid another loss at SunTrust Park.
He's 1-7 with a 7.01 ERA in 10 starts, compared to 6-0 with a 2.53 ERA in nine road starts.
It was also his first loss and his team's first loss in Teheran's seven career starts against the Cubs. He had no decisions and a 4.08 ERA in three starts against them at Turner Field, while he's 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in three starts at Wrigley Field.
