Bet nobody's criticizing Jon Lester's contract right now.
The veteran has been exactly as advertised for the Cubs since signing that $155 million contract before last season, changing the culture in the clubhouse and setting the tone as a proven winner.
He did it again Friday night, putting the Cubs on his back and helping his team to a crucial 1-0 start in a shortened five-game NLDS.
Lester tossed eight shutout innings, needing only 86 pitches to set down the Giants, allowing five hits and striking out five without a walk.
His counterpart, Johnny Cueto, allowed only three hits in eight innings, but one of those was Javy Baez's solo shot with one out in the eighth.
"That was a fun game," Lester said. "Fun atmosphere from really just driving in this afternoon, coming to the ballpark and seeing all the people on Clark and all that stuff.
"That was my first playoff game with the Cubs at home. So that was pretty cool. Great baseball game. Really a lot to say about it, but not a lot to say about it, you know what I mean?
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"Cueto threw the heck out of the ball tonight. I kind of figured as we got going it would come down to one mistake and luckily, we didn't make one and they did."
It was Lester's first postseason win in a Cubs uniform after going 0-2 last season, including Game 1 of the NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals.
With the gem, Lester now has a 2.63 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 106 postseason innings.
"This is what you play for," he said. "It's October. That's just one step right now that we got past and we got to worry about Step 2 tomorrow."
[SHOP: Gear up, Cubs fans!]
Even when guys actually reached base against Lester, he didn't panic and let his defense work behind him.
Personal catcher David Ross threw out two baserunners - one trying to steal in the first inning and another on a back-pick at first base in the third.
The only true jam Lester got in came in the fourth when Ben Zobrist misplayed a ball in left field and the Giants wound up with runners on second and third and two outs.
But Lester buckled down and got Brandon Crawford to ground out.
It was exactly the type of moment the Cubs signed Lester - and subsequently Ross - for.
"He was really calm in his demeanor tonight," Joe Maddon said. "I thought he looked very comfortable out there. And of course him and Dave, the synergy between them is incredible."
Maddon had closer Aroldis Chapman warming in the eighth inning, but Lester was in a groove, setting down 13 Giants in a row to close out his outing.
Lester tried to lobby for the chance to go back out in the ninth, but Maddon said it was going to be Chapman's inning, regardless of Javy Baez's blast in the bottom of the eighth or not.
"In the playoffs, it doesn't matter how, when, where you get a run, you just need a run," Lester said. "Especially in a game like that where you feel like if we got a run early, it would have changed the momentum towards us and if they would have gotten a run early, it would have changed the momentum towards them.
"Especially with a guy like [Cueto]; he was locked in tonight. We were fortunate enough to get one across there and Chappy comes in and finishes it off."
As if to prove it was truly Lester's night, he even had a moment of levity when a comebacker got stuck in his glove - again. It's the third time in two seasons with the Cubs.
His throwing woes didn't even come into play, as Lester simply trotted over to first base and tagged the bag himself, prompting a classic response in the postgame press conference:
"Once again, I gotta apparently talk to Nike about my gloves."