Giants Without Hit For 7 2/3 Innings, Lose To Cubs
CHICAGO (CBS / AP) -- Jon Lester pitched 7 2/3 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.
David Ross and Dexter Fowler had RBI hits in the second off Albert Suarez (3-3).
Pence's second homer in two days ended a 12 2/3-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 by getting some help.
Third baseman Kris Bryant made a diving, backhand grab of Crawford's liner to lead off the fifth and Dexter Fowler made a sliding catch of Kelby Tomlinson's liner in center an inning later.
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.
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