CHICAGO _ Jon Lester continued his mastery at Wrigley Field, but the Chicago Cubs' offense made a convincing statement Monday night in the fifth inning of an 8-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
The Cubs pulled away thanks to a five-run fifth that featured five consecutive hits, including four straight with runners in scoring position.
Lester helped his cause with a single, and Kyle Schwarber followed with an RBI double. Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez followed with consecutive opposite-field RBI hits.
Willson Contreras and Jason Heyward each hit home runs for the Cubs (43-35), who expanded their lead to one game over the idle Brewers (42-36) in the National League Central.
Lester (7-5) retired 13 of the first 14 batters and didn't walk a batter while striking out seven in six innings. Lester, relying on an assortment of off-speed pitches, improved to 5-2 with a 2.42 ERA in nine starts at Wrigley this season.
This also marked the 11th time Lester walked one or fewer in 15 starts this season.
