Trayce Thompson turned a relatively routine single to center into a two-out hustle double in the fourth inning. His effort didn’t amount to anything, however, as Pederson grounded out to end the inning.
Ellis led off the fifth with a base hit to left field, only for Lester to retire the next three batters. Bolsinger ended his fifth and final inning of work with back-to-back strikeouts to give him six in the game.
Lester continued to sail, retiring Justin Turner, Seager and Kendrick in order in the sixth inning. Pedro Baez worked his way through the heart of the Cubs’ lineup in the bottom of the sixth, picking up one strikeout.
Baez tossed a second scoreless inning of relief in the seventh as he again set the Cubs down in order. Meanwhile, Lester ran his streak of consecutive batters retired to 12 by getting through the eighth without issue, bookending the inning with strikeouts.
Casey Fien collected back-to-back strikeouts in the bottom of the eighth. Heyward then drove a single into center, becoming the first baserunner Fien allowed to reach since joining the Dodgers. He got Bryant swinging to strikeout the side.
The Cubs squeaked by with a 2-1 victory as Lester finished off his complete game by retiring Turner, Seager and Kendrick in the ninth.
