Cubs 10, Reds 3
CINCINNATI -- Jon Lester retired the final 20 batters he faced and center fielder Austin Jackson had a career-high five RBIs as the Chicago Cubs pounded the Cincinnati Reds 10-3 on Wednesday night at Great American Ball Park
Lester (11-12) allowed one base runner over his final seven innings. He struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter to lower his ERA to 3.34 in his Cubs debut season.
Jackson had a pair of RBI doubles and second baseman Starlin Castro had four hits, including a homer, for Chicago (93-65), which won its fourth straight game to improve to 19-9 in September.
Cincinnati now has lost 11 straight, equaling its longest losing streak since 1998. The Reds collected just four hits on Wednesday.
Reds right-hander Anthony DeSclafani (9-13) made the 106th start this season by a Cincinnati rookie and took the loss after allowing five earned runs in five-plus innings.
Jackson capped his night with a bases-loaded single in the eighth inning to make the score 8-1, among 16 hits for Chicago.
DeSclafani struck out six of the first seven batters he faced. But the Cubs got to him in the third when Jackson delivered a two-run double to center for a 2-1 lead.
Anthony Rizzo doubled to left and scored on shortstop Addison Russell's single to center in the fourth to make it 3-1.
In the fifth, Jackson's second RBI double of the night drove home Jon Lester, who singled, to give the Cubs a 4-1 lead.
Castro then belted his 11th home run of the season on DeSclafani's first pitch in the sixth to give the Cubs a four-run lead.
It took time for Lester to find his rhythm. But after a rocky first inning, he settled down to retire 11 straight during one stretch.
NOTES: Jon Lester recorded his 203rd strikeout of the season in the fifth inning to set a Cubs season record for a left-hander. Ken Holtzman had 202 strikeouts in 1970. ... Cubs LF Kyle Schwarber made his second start of the season in the leadoff spot on Wednesday. ... The Reds' lineup was minus 1B Joey Votto, who had upper back soreness, and 3B Todd Frazier suffered a slight strain of his right Achilles in the third inning Tuesday while making a sliding attempt for a foul popup. ... OF Tyler Holt, claimed off waivers from Cleveland on Sunday, made his first start for the Reds on Wednesday in center field. ... Cubs CF Dexter Fowler has a career-high 100 runs, the most for a Cubs leadoff batter since Brian McRae scored 111 in 1996.