Chicago Cubs sweep Pirates as bullpen steps up in closing winRyan Heckmanon August 2, 2020 at 11:24 pm

However, following that small blip, Lester was fantastic. He allowed just four hits over six innings, with just that single run allowed. He also did not walk a batter after that initial BB in the first.

The next three innings, Chicago’s bullpen allowed just two hits, zero runs and struck out three. After Casey Sadler pitched 1.2 innings, Dan Winkler stepped in and struck out a pair of batters and did not allow a single hit.

Following Winkler’s stint, Ryan Tepera tossed 11 pitches in his three outs and allowed a single hit.

Lost in all of this was a very late rain delay. The Cubs and Pirates were tied at one run apiece in the middle of the ninth when the grounds crew rolled out the tarp for a little while. The Cubs couldn’t get it closed out in the bottom of the ninth, so it went to extras.