FINAL SCORE: Cardinals 4, Cubs 0
An old-fashioned pitching duel between good friends Jon Lester and John Lackey turned into a 4-0 victory for the St. Louis Cardinals as they jumped out to a 1-0 series lead over the Chicago Cubs.
Lester wound up the hard-luck loser after leaving the game with one on in the bottom of the eighth, as reliever Pedro Strop immediately served up a two-run bomb to Cardinals rookie outfielder Tommy Pham, who was taking his first career playoff at-bat.
Fellow rookie Stephen Piscotty, who scored the game's first run, would follow with a solo shot of his own to wrap up the scoring.
Lester's final line on the night (7.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) would normally be good enough for the Cubs to get the win, but he was outdone by Lackey, who took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and finished the night allowing a total of three baserunners (two hits and a walk) over 7.1 frames himself, fanning five.
Relievers Kevin Siegrist and Trevor Rosenthal nailed things down after Lackey departed.
Thanks to everyone who followed along with us tonight. We'll be doing it again on Saturday for Game 2, when Kyle Hendricks and Jaime Garcia face off at 5:37 p.m. ET.
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