CHICAGO -- Jon Lester got a front-row seat to Shota Imanaga’s start at Wrigley Field on Sunday against the D-backs, and the former Cubs great and 2016 World Series champ had the type of impression you may expect amid Imanaga’s stellar season.

“He’s lived up to what everybody's been talking about,” Lester said before the Cubs’ 2-1, 10-innings win over Arizona that helped Chicago avoid the three-game sweep. “The Cubs got somebody special. As long as he stays healthy and keeps pitching for them, I think the sky's the limit for him.”

Lester is serving as a game and studio analyst on Marquee Sports Network during this homestand, and he joined the broadcast booth for three innings on Sunday. It coincided with Imanaga’s latest gem, and one of his finest starts this season.

Imanaga allowed one run on two hits in seven innings, with one walk and a career-high 10 strikeouts. The lefty did not allow a hit through 5 2/3 innings, before Randal Grichuk singled in the sixth.

Imanaga was in line for the loss when he exited amid a quiet day for the Cubs’ offense after he surrendered a leadoff homer to Eugenio Suárez in the seventh. The Cubs came alive in the later innings.

Nico Hoerner hit a first-pitch leadoff double in the ninth and scored on Seiya Suzuki’s first-pitch single two batters later. Hoerner walked with the bases loaded one frame later to give the Cubs a walk-off win.