(670 The Score) Veteran left-hander Jon Lester kept the trend of strong starting pitching going for the Cubs on Sunday.
Lester threw six innings of one-run ball in the Cubs' 2-1 win against the Pirates in 11 innings at Wrigley Field, becoming the latest member to do a superb job in a rotation that has served as the driving force in the team's 7-2 start. Cubs starters have a 2.21 ERA through nine games and entered Sunday with the second-best mark in all of MLB.
Lester has a 0.82 ERA in his two starts, allowing just one earned run in 11 innings.
"I really didn't have any tempo or rhythm when I started," he said of his performance Sunday. "I had to force myself to find something. The cutter was lazy early, and I had a lot of long counts. I came out flat -- both me and the ball. I got that turned around in the third. The fourth through sixth went pretty well. I just went into survival mode and tried to let our guys have a chance."
The Cubs have gotten at least five innings from their starter in seven of their first nine games, putting them in quality position to find success almost every night. Kyle Hendricks, Yu Darvish, Tyler Chatwood and Alec Mills have filled out the rest of the rotation. Mills is starting in place of left-hander Jose Quintana, who's hoping to return to the rotation by late August or early September after thumb surgery.
In addition to that, a welcome sight Sunday was the beleaguered bullpen producing five shutout innings, letting the Cubs hang in long enough for Javier Baez to win the game with a walk-off single.
The Cubs' 7-2 start is their best since they went 8-1 to begin their World Series-winning 2016 season.
"Our bullpen did a phenomenal job today," said outfielder Kyle Schwarber, who threw out the potential go-ahead run at the plate in the 10th inning. "They just went out there and kept us in the game. Jon Lester pitched like classic Jon Lester today as well. It was a great all-around pitching game by us."
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
