ATLANTA - Jon Lester lost his bid for a no-hitter in the eighth inning - a try revived by an official scorer's reversal - but ended the longest winless streak of his career as the Chicago Cubs shut out the Atlanta Braves 4-0 on Saturday night.
A chopper down the line in the Braves' first by Nick Markakis was originally ruled a hit. The scorer, longtime Atlanta sports writer Jack Wilkinson, changed his call in the top of the seventh and charged an error to third baseman Kris Bryant, who let the ball get under his glove.
A.J. Pierzynski, Lester's batterymate in Boston for the first half of the 2014 season, led off the eighth with a line-drive single to right field for Atlanta's first hit. With one out, Andrelton Simmons' single up the middle chased Lester.
Lester (5-8) had gone 10 starts without a win. He struck out seven, walked one and hit Pierzynski with a pitch in 7 1-3 innings.
Lester pitched a no-hitter for the Red Sox in 2008 against Kansas City. Earlier this month, the lefty took a no-hit bid into the seventh against St. Louis before Jhonny Peralta broke it up with a one-out single on a hard grounder that deflected off Bryant at third base.
The Cubs had lost eight straight at Turner Field dating to 2012. It was their longest road drought against the Braves since the team moved to Atlanta in 1966.
Manny Banuelos (1-1) allowed one earned run on six hits and three walks in 4 2-3 innings.
The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the third when Bryant singled, moved to third on an errant pickoff attempt by Banuelos and scored on Anthony Rizzo's single.
Chris Denorfia doubled in the fourth and scored on a single by Starlin Castro.
Rizzo added another RBI single in the Cubs' two-run ninth.
Jason Frasor, who signed with Atlanta on Friday, replaced Banuelos in the fifth. According to information the Elias Sports Bureau provided the team, Frasor is the franchise-record 51st player used by the Braves this season.