April 30--Jon Lester knew how to hold the Braves. Matt Szczur and Anthony Rizzo knew how to fold 'em.
And so the Cubs authored the 22nd of 162 regular-season chapters Friday, with the help of those three mostly during a 6-1 victory over the Braves at Wrigley Field.
Lester threw 106 pitches during his seven-inning, 10-strikeout, one-run stint that netted him a no-decision and a befuddling no-throw as he was integral in extending baseball's best record and the Cubs' best start since 1907 to 17-5.
Rizzo singled in the go-ahead run in the crazy eighth inning just before Szczur deposited the only pitch he saw into the left-field bleachers. His grand slam following his defensive replacement of Jorge Soler came an inning after the Braves failed to score after loading the bases with no outs against Lester.
"I can't explain the feelings I have," Szczur said. "I was super excited. ... It was just a big hit. Crucial part of the game. It kind of sealed the deal for us."
Szczur's first career grand slam, and fifth home run, was capped with a curtain call and helped push the Braves to their 18th loss in 23 games.
"I root for the bench players even more because I am one," Cubs catcher David Ross said. "It's not easy to come off the bench and do what he did."
But the big hit didn't derail talk of Lester's no-harm, no-foul seventh, when the left-hander seemingly swallowed a hiccup on Erick Aybar's bunt to put his team in harm's way.
The slow roller taunted Lester, who squeezed a single that qualified as a mental error, then stood helpless near the mound.
Maddon said Lester "chose not to throw it ... got confused.
"He'll be the first one to tell you. He just held onto it. He took the sack."
Actually, Lester wasn't so eager to be the first one to tell anyone anything about that.
He repurposed his reply with a take-it-or-leave-it tone, saying he failed twice to get a grip on the ball.
"No matter what I say about the bunt in that inning, nobody's really going to believe (me)," said Lester, whose throw-to-first-base phobias are well documented. "I fielded it, ball kind of rattled around in my glove, I reached for it twice and didn't have a handle on it and ate it.
"You can believe me or not on that."
Truth or no, there were no consequences this time. Lester struck out the next two batters and coerced Nick Markakis to ground out to Rizzo and preserve the 1-1 score.
Rizzo, Soler and Addison Russell loaded the bases in the Cubs seventh when Ross dug into the right-handed batter's box. But Ross, whose RBI single in the fifth tied it, dashed any hopes of a rally when a 1-6-3 double play bounded off his bat.
Pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella doubled leading off the eighth.
"In a game like today, you really believe you're going to win it somehow," Maddon said. "That's what that kind of a record does. We were being no-hit for a long time again."
Javier Baez's double to left was their first hit as the offense continued its nonsupport of Lester, who has seen his team score once during the 201/3 innings he has pitched at home this season.
"His stuff has been outstanding," Maddon said. "Everything's there. He's throwing the ball really well. We just haven't scored enough points for him."
And Lester isn't allowing the other team to score enough points to beat the Cubs.
pskrbina@tribpub.com
