CHICAGO — Jon Lester pitched 72/3 innings of no-hit ball and settled for his second complete game of the season, helping the sizzling Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants 2-1 on Friday to move a season-high 40 games over .500.
Hunter Pence ended Lester’s bid for a second no-hitter with a homer to left on a 1-2 cutter. Brandon Crawford followed with a double, and Lester (15-4) got Eduardo Nunez to line to third and worked around Trevor Brown’s one-out double in the eighth.
Lester allowed three hits and walked two. The Cubs have won five straight to improve to 87-47.
Pence’s second homer in two days ended a 122/3-innings hitless streak for the San Francisco. The Giants are a major league-worst 15-29 since the All-Star break.
Lester walked Buster Posey with two outs in the first inning and followed by setting down 18 straight.
The 32-year-old Lester threw a no-hitter on May 19, 2008, for Boston against Kansas City. That came less than two years after he was diagnosed with cancer.
NATIONALS 4, METS 1: Bryce Harper hit two doubles and became the latest player to steal a base against Noah Syndergaard, helping A.J. Cole post his first major league win with a victory at New York.
Washington won its fourth in a row and increased its NL East bulge over the wild card-contending Mets to 101/2 games.
REDS 3, CARDINALS 2: Eugenio Suarez singled up the middle with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, rallying Cincinnati to a win at home.
BRAVES 8, PHILLIES 4: Freddie Freeman hit a tie-breaking RBI double in the ninth and Matt Kemp had four RBI as Atlanta won at Philadelphia.
BREWERS 1, PIRATES 0: Six Milwaukee relievers picked up the slack when starter Junior Guerra’s return from the disabled list lasted less than four innings in a win at Pittsburgh.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RAYS 8, BLUE JAYS 3: Alex Cobb went five solid innings during his first start in two years, Logan Morrison hit a go-ahead two-run homer, a Tampa Bay won at St. Petersburg, Florida.
Cobb, coming back from Tommy John surgery last year, allowed two runs and four hits in his first appearance since Sept 28, 2014.
ORIOLES 8, YANKEES 0: Mark Trumbo hit his major league-leading 41st homer to cap a six-run second inning, and Baltimore peppered New York with four long balls in a win at home.
Pedro Alvarez and Chris Davis hit two-run homers in the second inning and Manny Machado added a two-run shot in the fourth.
WHITE SOX 11, TWINS 4: Todd Frazier homered for the second straight game and Adam Eaton had four hits in a win at Minneapolis.
INTERLEAGUE
INDIANS 6, MARLINS 2: Carlos Carrasco (10-7) struck out 11 while pitching scoreless ball into the eighth inning as Cleveland won at home.
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