How Jon Lester's move to Cubs also helped Giants

SAN FRANCISCO — About a month shy of the official start of summer, it’s not hard to envision the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants battling for National League supremacy deep into October.

Chicago brought the majors’ best record into the clubs’ first encounter of the season this weekend, while the Giants were riding an eight-game winning streak that catapulted them into the top spot in the NL West.

Each team rode it ace to a victory in the three-game set, the Cubs extending their stretch of victories when Jake Arrieta starts to an astonishing 22 in a row on Friday, and the Giants on Sunday boosting their record to 22-4 when Madison Bumgarner drives in a run, his RBI double in the fifth inning supplying all the scoring in a tidy 1-0 victory televised in prime time by ESPN.

“These guys elevated their game,’’ Giants manager Bruce Bochy said after they claimed the series 2-1. “Pitched well, played very well defensively. You have two good teams going at it, two teams that play the game hard, play it right, two talented clubs. Fun series. It was a good bounce-back for us after getting beat up pretty good in the first game.’’

Bumgarner’s 7 2/3 sparkling innings of three-hit bat and his once-again thunderous bat – his 26 RBI in the last three seasons are nearly twice as many as the next pitcher on the list – tilted the possible playoff preview San Francisco’s way.

“It was kind of a little bit of a playoff atmosphere, I guess, with all the hopping and the talk leading up to these games,’’ Bumgarner said. “You have to look past that, but it was a fun series.’’

With the most surprising result, and in a way the decisive factor, coming in the form of a 5-3 win Saturday that carried extra significance for the folks who call AT&T Park home.

The Giants got a third consecutive solid start from Matt Cain, who also belted a two-run double off losing pitcher Jon Lester in the lefty’s first trip to San Francisco since the club ardently but fruitlessly pursued him in the 2014-15 offseason.

At the time, Lester was weighing offers from both teams as well as a possible return to the Boston Red Sox. His decision had the potential to change the course of the franchises, and the Cubs have certainly benefited from Lester accepting their six-year, $155 million offer.

“I’m just happy he came with us. He’s been very impactful,’’ Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “He’s been a big part of our ascension and it’s wonderful to be around him. He’s a pro, man. He’s good. I’m sure they’d like to have him.’’

They really didn’t have that much of a chance. The Cubs were a better fit all along, partly because of Lester’s longtime connection with president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, but also because Chicago is closer to Lester’s home in Georgia and he was enthused about being a part of the Cubs’ pursuit of their first championship in more than a century.

“The biggest draw is the fact of helping the Cubs win a World Series,’’ Lester said. “That’s been a big draw the last two years for guys to come here. I know Zo (Ben Zobrist) and (Jason) Heyward and Lack (John Lackey) turned down more money in other places to come here because of that, that allure of winning a World Series in Chicago. For me it wasn’t the deciding factor, but it was definitely a factor in our decision-making.’’

Whether Lester turned down a larger offer from the Giants than he got from the Cubs remains a source of some debate. San Francisco officials have indicated in the past they never went above $150 million, although news media reports at the time and even recently said they did.

Lester did not have a great first year in Chicago, going 11-12 with a 3.34 ERA, but he was more effective in the second half as the Cubs raced to a 97-win season and a wild-card spot for their first playoff appearance since 2008. His 205 innings proved an invaluable complement to Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta’s brilliance on a rotation with some shaky spots behind the top two.

This year Lester has performed closer to expectations, posting a 2.60 ERA in nine starts to help Chicago put up the best starters’ ERA in the majors at 2.51.

That’s the pitcher San Francisco sought to help repair a pitching staff that had fallen on hard times as former aces Cain and Tim Lincecum failed to regain the form that contributed mightily to the club’s three World Series titles this decade. The Giants envisioned Lester and Bumgarner making for an imposing duo at the top of the rotation and thriving at pitcher-friendly AT&T Park.

It’s virtually impossible to know how much Lester picking the Giants would have impacted their pursuit of last year’s wild card, a race where they wound up 13 games behind the Cubs with an 84-78 record.

What’s clear is the Giants are thrilled with how things have turned out.

When their pursuit of Zack Greinke fell short this past offseason, the Giants recalibrated and allocated the money earmarked for Greinke – who joined the Arizona Diamondbacks on a six-year, $206.5 million deal – to signing free agents Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija for a total of $220 million.

The two right-handers have combined to go 12-3 with a 2.68 ERA and were major factors in the eight-game winning streak that propelled San Francisco to first place in the National League West.

Asked whether he would have taken the current setup had he known about it in December 2014, Giants general manager Bobby Evans didn’t hesitate to say yes.

“It’s hard to argue against it,’’ Evans said. “It’s always been important for us to have guys who want to be here. When you’re in a clubhouse with a group of guys who want to be here and you bring somebody in, you want to make sure you don’t bring somebody in for whom we were the last resort.’’

Evans said signing Lester would not necessarily have precluded San Francisco from pursuing Cueto or Samardzija last winter, but with the team still owing Cain nearly $50 million, making another large commitment to a starter would have been challenging.

Meanwhile, a rejuvenated Cain has yielded just four runs in 21 innings over his last three starts, raising the prospect of a stronger back end of the rotation and, perhaps, a challenge to the Cubs’ seemingly inexorable march to the championship.

For now, all the clubs have is this weekend’s series as a tantalizing playoff preview.

“We're there and they're there. It's pretty darn even,’’ Maddon said after the one-run loss. “Great game, great game. Entertaining game. When I watch a game like that from the side, I'm watching how well we're playing baseball.’’

Both managers can make the same claim, and hope to be able to say it again when these teams reconvene in September, with their chances of meeting in the playoffs possibly enhanced.

MLB PHOTO OF THE DAY: