Lester, Cubs lose pitchers' duel

Two pitches. One hitter.

That's all it took Sunday for the Chicago Cubs to fall 2-0 to the Colorado Rockies at Wrigley Field. The Cubs' record fell to 9-3 as they dropped two of three to the Rockies to suffer their first series loss of the season.

All of the offense came from the bat of Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado. He hit a solo homer into the left-field basket against Cubs starting pitcher Jon Lester in the fourth inning. In the eighth, he provided some insurance with a blast into the left-field bleachers against Justin Grimm.

On the first homer, Cubs left fielder Jorge Soler reached up, but the ball nestled into the basket.

“The first one, he threw me a cutter in,” said Arenado, who has 6 homers this year. “When I first hit it, I thought it was going to be way out. Then I saw it kind of come back, and he (Soler) was camped. Thank God that basket was there.

“The next one, I hit it pretty good, just a fastball. He threw me a couple curveballs that were pretty nasty. Just put some good wood on it. They throw hard. Today I was really focused on staying back and staying on my back leg, and it worked out.”

Lester lost a pitchers duel to the Rockies Tyler Chatwood, who pitched 7 innings of 2-hit ball. It was the third quality start in 3 outings for Lester, who is 1-1 with a 2.21 ERA. He worked 7⅓ innings, giving up 4 hits while walking two and striking out 10.

“It's a tough one,” Lester said. “I know he (Arenado) hit the ball pretty well, but a loss is a loss. At the end of the day, I didn't execute one pitch, and it ended up costing us. But I've got to step back and look at the general outcome of how things went.”

Soler became the first Cubs baserunner when he walked with two outs in the fifth. Javier Baez broke up the no-hitter when he followed with a single.

The Cubs threatened in the bottom of the ninth. Jason Heyward doubled with one out. Ben Zobrist hit a deep drive to left, but Gerardo Parra caught it in front of the wall. Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch from Jake McGee before Kris Bryant struck out to end the game.

Liking what he sees:

The Cubs have completed one road trip and one homestand. Even though they dropped two of three to the Rockies, they were 4-2 on the homestand.

“We come ready to play,” said manager Joe Maddon. “That's all you could ever ask for. I love it. We've been pitching extremely well. Except for one game, we've caught the ball extremely well. We're working our good at-bats. Some guys have not hit their stride regarding the offensive side, but they will. But I just like the thought process and the way the at-bats are being played out.”

Cubs starting pitchers have a 2.37 ERA, and their 11 quality starts lead the major leagues.

Not pretty, but it worked:

Much has been made of Jon Lester's difficulties when it comes to throwing to the bases and holding runners. However, catcher David Ross threw out two runners trying to steal.

Lester had one interesting moment that turned out well. He fielded Brandon Barnes' bunt in the eighth while running toward the first-base line. Lester threw the ball into the ground and somehow got Barnes at first base as Anthony Rizzo fielded the ball.

“Awkward play, especially for a lefty,” Lester said. “It would have been easier to turn all the way around, but I didn't think I had him, so I just had to pick it up and chuck it over there. Me and Riz have an agreement where I'm going to miss down. I know that he's really good at picking the ball up. I'm going to miss down.

“Today, it was just a two-hopper as opposed to a one-hopper. At the end of the day, I don't really care how it looks as long as we get the out. I don't really care how it looks or how it's perceived or anything like that. We got the guy out and made the play.”

Packing them in:

Sunday's attendance at Wrigley Field was 41,678. In six dates, the Cubs have drawn 230,093, an average of 38,349 per game.