Lester, bats both dominate as Cubs blank M's

SEATTLE -- The Cubs are quickly erasing any memory of last September’s offensive spiral.

Chicago marched its way to its 13th victory in the past 17 games with Wednesday’s 11-0 win over Seattle to cap a two-game sweep at T-Mobile Park. The Cubs' offense hit three home runs, and it was backed by seven shutout innings of one-hit ball from Jon Lester against the Mariners.

It all puts the Cubs in a favorable position as they enter their most pivotal series to this point, which begins Friday when the first-place Cardinals come to Wrigley Field for the first time this season.

Here are three takeaways from Chicago’s win over Seattle.

1) The offense is awakened
Since their 3-8 start, the Cubs have been one of the Majors’ most consistent clubs -- even while getting marginal offensive production from key run producers such as Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, until recently. Bryant’s exit-velocity readings are more in line with where they were at his best, and Rizzo homered Wednesday for the second straight day and has a 1.156 OPS over his past eight games.

“I think as we settle in and start to level out a little more, just the level of consistent play is really it,” Rizzo said of the offensive uptick. “The repetitions. On a day-in, day-out grind, obviously guys go through ebbs and flows, ups and downs throughout the season. If we continue to have good at-bats as a unit, the days where everyone does click is scary.”

Javier Baez proved again Wednesday that he remains the across-the-board catalyst. He smacked each of the first two pitches he saw for extra bases -- both in the second inning, headlined by a 430-foot homer to right-center. Baez now has 10 on the season, tied for fifth most in the Majors, and six to the opposite field.

"I'm actually not trying to do that. I'm just trying to see the ball,” Baez said of going the other way. “I'm just trying to not jump too hard to the ball. There are a lot of balls that I grind out. I wasn't trying to go that way with the ball. I was trying to pull it. ... The way I look at it, I don't get many fastballs, so I've just got to be ready for the first one."

Willson Contreras, who’s quietly been one of the hottest hitters in the Majors, also went yard for the eighth time, elevating his season OPS to 1.090, the fifth best in the Majors, and nearly 200 points higher than any catcher.

2) Lester looks polished leading pitching staff
Since being activated from the injured list on Thursday, Lester looks not only resurrected, but as sharp as ever.

The left-hander continued to make more use of his cutter, limiting the Mariners to a 0-for-12 day against the pitch, with seven of his eight strikeouts. Lester’s velocity is slightly down this season, about 1 mph from two seasons ago, which has helped him make more use of the cutter. He admittedly benefited from the shadows during the mid-afternoon start in Seattle.

"That was probably the best that the back-door cutter has been to righties,” Lester said. “But I mean obviously, having the shadows helped with that pitch. We were able to kind of exploit that a little bit more than we probably would have on a normal day. But yeah, probably with the exception of the fourth and fifth inning, I felt like I threw the ball really well."

At 35 years old and in the fifth year of what’s been a successful six-year contract, Lester remains the anchor of the Cubs’ pitching staff. He lowered his season ERA to 1.73, which would be the fourth best in MLB if he had enough innings to qualify. Lester's performance Wednesday also spelled a taxed Cubs bullpen and pushed Chicago into an off-day Thursday before this weekend’s critical series.

3) The Cubs are ready for the Cardinals
Now comes the chance for a more clear litmus, at least within the loaded National League Central. The Cubs have played just six of their 29 games against the division, going 1-2 against the Brewers and 2-1 against the Pirates.

Last year, Chicago went 9-10 against St. Louis, which finished just 2 1/2 games shy of the second NL Wild Card spot.

"It'll be fun. It's always fun to play the Cardinals,” Rizzo said. “We'll be ready to play. They'll be ready to play. It'll be fun Cubs-Cards."

"We're ready for them,” Baez said. “It's going to be a good competition. They're having a great year, so hopefully it goes that way and we win the series.”