St. Louis brought the potential tying run to the plate in the ninth when Aroldis Chapman walked Randal Grichuk with two outs, but the Cubs' closer fanned Jose Martinez on a 92-mph slider, after three straight fastballs topped 103. The Cardinals (81-74) are still clinging to hope for a postseason berth and remained third in the NL Wild Card standings, 1 1/2 games behind the Mets (83-73) and a half-game behind the Giants (82-74).
Lester struck out seven over 6 2/3 innings to move ahead of teammate Jake Arrieta and the Nationals' Max Scherzer in wins and remain second in the NL in ERA at 2.