Early in the season, the bullpen and the offense picked up a starting rotation that sputtered at the start, but here in August and September, those roles have flipped. On Saturday, Jon Lester threw seven scoreless innings, and a hodgepodge of bullpen arms picked up the last six outs to give the Cubs a 1-0 win over the Reds.
A night after Cole Hamels threw 109 pitches in a quality start, Lester threw 108 and continued a strong stretch of starting pitching for Chicago. Reds starter Cody Reed struck out ten Cubs batters in five innings and kept them off of the board, and the competition served to bolster Lester's performance, according to manager Joe Maddon.