CHICAGO (AP) — Jon Lester felt he wasn’t as sharp as usua

CHICAGO (AP) — Jon Lester felt he wasn’t as sharp as usual Mickey Mantle Jersey , though the Cubs and their ace left-hander came through in the clutch.Lester combined with three relievers on a four-hitter, David Bote hit an early two-run triple and the Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 on Thursday night to open a one-game NL Central lead over Milwaukee heading into the final weekend of the season.A day after the Cubs and Brewers assured themselves of no worse than wild-card berths, Lester (18-6) escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and allowed three hits and four walks over six innings. He improved to 6-1 with a 1.71 ERA in his last eight starts.“His stuff looked normal from this side, but (Lester was) abnormal command-wise and he got through it,” manager Joe Maddon said. “He battled. He showed his mettle tonight.”The 34-year-old Lester said he ground out a “blue collar win” to keep the Cubs in first place.“Sometimes when you’re able to weave your way inside and out of trouble like tonight, these are the more rewarding wins than the ones where you have your good starts and are just able go out there and execute,” said Lester, who threw 66 of 108 pitches for strikes.Steve Cishek, Carl Edwards Jr. and Jesse Chavez followed, with Chavez pitching the ninth for his fourth save in five chances with Chicago.Chicago (93-66) hosts St. Louis (87-72) in the final series starting Friday, while Milwaukee (92-67) is at home against Detroit. The Cardinals (87-72) trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by one game for the second wild-card berth.The Cubs’ win means the NL Central champion, Chicago or Milwaukee, will finish with the league’s best record and will play the winner of Tuesday’s wild-card game. East champion Atlanta will play the West champion, Colorado or the Dodgers.And the Cubs, who didn’t celebrate after clinching a fourth straight postseason berth on Wednesday, want the division crown.“We’ve made the playoffs and nobody in that clubhouse is satisfied with that,” Lester said. “I think we call kind of expect to win the division.“We feel like that’s one of our goals and hopefully that comes to fruition this weekend. We’ll celebrate then.”Trevor Williams (14-10) gave up all three runs, eight hits and three walks in five innings. He had been 4-0 in six starts since losing to the Cubs on Aug. 17 and is 7-3 with a 1.38 ERA since the All-Star break.“I felt like it was a battle from the first pitch,” Williams said. “This is their third time seeing me this season, and they can swing the bat.“It’s not going to give me a sour taste in my mouth, but it’s going fire me up for this offseason and make me work extra hard to finish next season strong.”Bote started at third base in place of Kris Bryant, who missed his second game with a sore left wrist after getting hit by a pitch by Chris Archer on Tuesday.Lester singled in the fourth and scored on Daniel Murphy’s single.WHAT IF?If the Cubs and Brewers finish tied for first http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-yogi-berra-jersey , the Cubs would host an NL Central tiebreaker game Monday because Chicago won the season series 11-8.CROWDSThe crowd of 38,415 pushed the Cubs season attendance at Wrigley Field over the 3 million mark for the third straight season.RETURN OF KANGThe Pirates expect INF Jung Ho Kang to join the club Friday and be active for a season-ending series at Cincinnati in what would be his first major league appearance in two years. Kang, who plays third base and shortstop, hit .273 with 36 homers and 120 RBIs in 229 games for the Pirates in 2015 and 2016,The 31-year-old didn’t play in North America between September 2016 and June 2018 because of visa issues connected to three DUI arrests his native South Korea.TRAINER’S ROOMPirates: OF Jordan Luplow underwent an appendectomy Thursday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. The 24-year-old appeared in 37 games this season.Cubs: Manager Joe Maddon said Bryant could start Friday against St. Louis. Bryant, the 2016 NL MVP, had two stints on the disabled list this season because of left shoulder inflammation.UP NEXTPirates: RHP Nick Kingham (5-7, 5.23) starts Friday at Cincinnati against RHP Anthony DeSclafani (7-7, 4.91).Cubs: RHP Kyle Hendricks (13-11, 3.49) opens the series against the Cardinals vs. RHP Adam Wainwright (2-3, 4.08.) In his last six starts, Hendricks is 4-1 with a 1.37 ERA. NEW YORK (AP) — Brock Holt had one thing in mind: He was swinging for the fences.After all, the game was decided long ago. And everything else went Boston’s way all night, so why not this?The part-time utilityman put the finishing touch on a Red Sox blowout, becoming the first player to hit for the cycle in a postseason game as Boston routed the New York Yankees 16-1 on Monday to seize a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five AL Division Series.“This one I’ll remember for a long time,” said Holt, unaware of his achievement until told by a television reporter right after the final out. “Obviously, you don’t go into the game expecting to make history or do anything like that, let alone score 16 runs.”Andrew Benintendi lined a three-run double and Holt tripled home two more in a seven-run fourth inning that quickly turned the latest playoff matchup between these longtime rivals into a laugher. Handed a big early lead, Nathan Eovaldi shut down his former team during New York’s most lopsided defeat in 396 postseason games.“An embarrassing day,” shortstop Didi Gregorius said.Game 4 is Tuesday night in the Bronx, where the 108-win Red Sox can put away the wild-card Yankees for good and advance to the AL Championship Series against Houston. Rick Porcello is scheduled to pitch against New York lefty CC Sabathia.Boston battered an ineffective Luis Severino and silenced a charged-up Yankee Stadium crowd that emptied out fast on a night when Red Sox rookie manager Alex Cora made all the right moves.By the ninth Roger Maris Jersey , backup catcher Austin Romine was on the mound for New York and he gave up a two-run homer to Holt that completed his cycle .“You get a little antsy when a position player is on the mound. I told everyone, ‘Get me up. I need a home run for a cycle,'” Holt said. “I scooted up in the box a little bit, and I was going to be swinging at anything and try to hook anything. Obviously, you don’t expect to hit a home run, but I was trying to. I was trying to hit a home run. That’s probably the first time I’ve ever tried to do that. I rounded the bases, and seeing everyone going nuts in the dugout was a pretty cool moment for me.”His teammates, too.“He wasn’t shy about it,” Benintendi said. “Everybody was rooting for him.”Boosted by noisy fans in their homer-friendly ballpark, the Yankees entered 7-0 at home the past two postseasons — against out-of-division opponents. But the Red Sox, frequent visitors who clinched the AL East crown at Yankee Stadium just 2½ weeks ago, were hardly intimidated.“I think from pitch 1, we let them know that we were here,” Cora said.Mookie Betts, in fact, hit a 405-foot flyout to the center-field warning track to begin the game.Making his first playoff start this year, Holt opened the fourth with a single off Severino and capped the 26-minute outburst with a triple to right field. The 2015 All-Star also doubled home a run in the eighth and finished with five RBIs.Holt also hit for the cycle against Atlanta on June 6, 2015.“He’s been swinging the bat well for a while now,” Cora said. “We felt the matchup was good for him.”Every starter had at least one hit for the Red Sox, who piled up 18 in all. The only time they scored more runs in the postseason was a 23-7 win over Cleveland in 1999.Eovaldi pitched for the Yankees from 2015-16 before injuring his elbow, which required a second Tommy John surgery. Boston acquired him from Tampa Bay in July and the hard-throwing righty compiled a 1.93 ERA in four starts against New York this season — three with the Red Sox.Bumped up a day in front of Porcello, he delivered a gem in his first postseason appearance. Eovaldi allowed one run and five hits in seven innings Phil Rizzuto Jersey , throwing 72 of 97 pitches for strikes.“I was just trying to use their aggressiveness against them and try and get some quick outs,” Eovaldi said. “It was a special moment for me. I don’t think it’s really quite settled in yet.”Going with Eovaldi was one of several choices that paid off for Cora.Looking to play left-handed hitters against Severino, the first-year skipper inserted Holt at second base and Rafael Devers at third. Christian Vazquez started at catcher over Sandy Leon.Devers singled twice, stole a base, scored two runs and knocked in another. Vazquez’s infield single off Severino’s glove drove in the first run.Benintendi, already a Yankees nemesis, was on base four times and scored twice. Betts also scored two runs and drove in two.“It just kind of shows you what kind of team we have and that we could explode at any minute,” Betts said.TBS reported Severino began warming up only 10 minutes before the game, and he certainly looked out of sorts from the start in misty weather. He left with the bases loaded and nobody out in the fourth and was charged with six runs and seven hits.“He got his normal pitches routine,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It wasn’t an issue.”STRANGE SIGHTThe only other position player to pitch in a postseason game was Toronto infielder Cliff Pennington against Kansas City in the 2015 AL Championship Series.IF AT FIRSTThere were four replay challenges in the first four innings — all involving calls by first base umpire Angel Hernandez. Three were overturned.TRAINER’S ROOMRed Sox: 1B Mitch Moreland sat out after leaving Game 2 when he hurt his right hamstring running the bases. “Mitch is available, but he’s not 100 percent,” Cora said. Steve Pearce played first and had an RBI single in the fourth.Yankees: CF Aaron Hicks remained out of the lineup after missing Game 2 with tightness in his right hamstring, which forced him from the series opener Friday. Boone said Hicks was doing “significantly better,” and sitting him was a much more difficult decision than it was Saturday. Brett Gardner was back in center, but Boone said he wouldn’t hesitate to use Hicks in any role off the bench.UP NEXTRed Sox: Porcello (17-7, 4.28 ERA) got two late outs in relief during the series opener last Friday, so his start was pushed back a day to Game 4. The 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner, who grew up a Mets fan in nearby New Jersey, was 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA in three starts against the Yankees this year — including a one-hitter on just 86 pitches Aug. 3 at Fenway Park. He is 0-3 with a 5.33 ERA in 12 career postseason outings, including four starts.Yankees: The 38-year-old Sabathia (9-7, 3.65) will be on 11 days’ rest when he makes his 23rd postseason start. The big lefty was ejected from his last regular-season outing for hitting Tampa Bay catcher Jesus Sucre with a pitch during a testy game between division rivals on Sept. 27. Sabathia appealed a five-game suspension from Major League Baseball that would not take effect until next season. He said Monday he definitely wants to play in 2019 — even if it’s not for the Yankees.