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San Francisco Giants sent eight people to Jon Lester’s house in Atlanta

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• published: 08 Oct 2016
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Within a month of winning their third World Series in five years in 2014, the San Francisco Giants sent eight people to Jon Lester’s house in Atlanta to make a pitch for the prized pitcher on the free-agent market. When Lester answered the door, at the head of the group was Buster Posey, the Giants’ franchise catcher, who had driven three hours from his home. “Buster put his hand out and said, ‘Hi, Jon, I want to be your catcher for the next six years,’” said Larry Baer, the Giants’ chief executive, who was among the team’s contingent along with Manager Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean, the head of baseball operations. The Giants offered the most money and the richest pedigree of winning, but they could not match the relationship Lester had forged with Theo Epstein, the Cubs’ president, who had drafted him in Boston. Continue reading the main story RELATED COVERAGE The Cubs Confront the Curse: Is This the Year? OCT. 6, 2016 INDIANS 6, RED SOX 0 | CLEVELAND LEADS SERIES, 2-0 Channeling Their Inner Cavaliers, Indians Push the Red Sox to the Brink OCT. 7, 2016 Mets or Giants? In Wrigleyville Bar, It Didn’t Matter OCT. 6, 2016 DODGERS 4, NATIONALS 3 | LOS ANGELES LEADS SERIES, 1-0 Dodgers Defeat Nationals in a Pitchers’ Duel That Wasn’t OCT. 7, 2016 BLUE JAYS 5, RANGERS 3 Blue Jays Take Control of Division Series With Four Home Runs OCT. 7, 2016 ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement Continue reading the main story On Friday, Lester showed how important that recruiting battle turned out to be, pitching the Cubs to a 1-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants in the opener of their National League division series. The only run the Cubs needed came late, when Javier Baez hit a one-out home run in the eighth inning, his high fly ball down the left-field line carrying through the wind and landing in the basket in front of the bleachers, just as outfielder Angel Pagan was settling underneath it. “Watching the playoffs, the long ball seems to be winning games, and it did for us tonight,” third baseman Kris Bryant said. Until Baez’s home run, only the Cubs’ third hit, they had been baffled by Johnny Cueto, whose assortment of deliveries — from odd angles and accompanied by hesitations, slide steps and odd torques of his barrel-chested body — had kept their bats silent and the capacity crowd at Wrigley Field uneasy. As dominating as the Cubs have been through the course of their 103-victory season, these are the playoffs, where reminders of curses and past postseason heartbreak linger. With each scoreless inning, the Cubs began to look more and more like they did in last year’s N.L. Championship Series, when they scored eight runs total and were swept by the Mets. The game also served notice that the Giants have pitching depth that runs past Madison Bumgarner, their incomparable playoff ace. But when Baez’s hit, which came on a 3-2 fastball from Cueto, landed in the basket, the old stadium shook, and the crowd demanded a curtain call for Baez, who was in the lineup for his defense. It showed in the ninth inning when Baez fielded a bouncer up the middle from Hunter Pence and threw across his body in time for the final out. That play came after Posey had hit a two-out double off Aroldis Chapman, the Cubs’ closer. Bu videoyu YouTube Video Düzenleyici ile oluşturdum (http://www.youtube.com/editor)