Jon Lester has a hard act to follow. So do the rest of his Chicago Cubs teammates.
Taking the mound after Jake Arrieta's no-hitter and a one-sided win, Lester attempts to continue Chicago's recent dominance of the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night at Great American Ball Park.
The Cubs' seventh consecutive victory over Cincinnati was as uncompetitive as it was memorable. Backed by an 18-hit attack highlighted by Kris Bryant's two homers and six RBIs, Arrieta threw his second no-hitter in 11 regular-season starts in Thursday's 16-0 rout that opened this four-game series.
Arrieta walked four and struck out six while throwing 119 pitches in the majors' first no-hitter of 2016 and first against the Reds in a regular-season game since Philadelphia's Rick Wise did so at Riverfront Stadium in 1971.
''I feel like I didn't do a whole lot,'' catcher David Ross said. ''That animal was in control the whole time.''
Arrieta previously no-hit the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Aug. 30 during his 2015 NL Cy Young campaign. This one helped give the Cubs their first 12-4 start since 1970 and five straight wins in Cincinnati for the first time since the 1972-73 seasons.
Chicago, which swept a three-game set from the Reds at Wrigley Field from April 11-14, has won eight of its first 10 road games for the first time in team history.
Lester (1-1, 2.21) is coming off an impressive performance of his own, albeit in a losing effort. The veteran left-hander yielded four hits - one a solo homer to Nolan Arenado - and fanned 10 over 7 1/3 innings of Sunday's 2-0 defeat to Colorado.
''At the end of the day, I didn't execute one pitch and it ended up costing us,'' he said.
Lester wasn't as sharp when facing Cincinnati on April 11. He allowed three runs in six innings and was on the hook for a loss before Chicago rallied late for a 5-3 win.
He was far better in his final 2015 regular-season outing, holding the Reds to a run and three hits and notching nine strikeouts in a 10-3 win at Great American Ball Park.
Jon Moscot makes his fifth career major league start for Cincinnati (8-8), which has lost seven of 10 after opening 5-1. The 24-year-old gave up two solo homers and three runs over 5 2/3 innings of his 2016 debut, not factoring in the outcome of a 4-3 loss Sunday at St. Louis.
''He did a nice job," manager Bryan Price said. "He's stretched and ready to go and he gives us a shot of life in the rotation, which is terrific."
Moscot, who began the season on the disabled list with a strained intercostal muscle, faces a potent Chicago lineup that homered five times in the opener. Anthony Rizzo has gone deep in consecutive games, Bryant had a grand slam among his four hits Wednesday and Dexter Fowler is 7 for 16 over a four-game stretch to raise his average to .393.
Lester will face a slumping Joey Votto, 0 for 17 over his last five games, and won't have to deal with Billy Hamilton with the speedy outfielder sidelined by a bruised left thumb. Hamilton is 5 for 7 against Lester and homered off him in the April 11 matchup.
