Lester bounces back in big way for Cubs
Bit by bit, piece by piece, the Chicago Cubs may be getting ready to make a serious run at the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.
Of course the big piece most recently added was left-handed pitcher Jose Quintana, who came over in a blockbuster trade with the Chicago White Sox and pitched 7 scoreless innings Sunday to help the Cubs sweep the Orioles in Baltimore.
The Cubs moved on to Atlanta on Monday, hoping ace pitcher Jon Lester would rebound from a pair of poor starts, including a July 9 disaster against the Pirates at Wrigley Field, where Lester failed to get out of the first inning, giving up 10 runs (4 earned).
The Cubs held on to defeat the Braves 4-3, and they moved within 3½ games of first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central. The Brewers lost 4-2 to the Pirates at Pittsburgh.
Lester started the weather-delayed game at new SunTrust Park, and he looked like the Lester who has been the ace of the staff for the better part of two seasons. He worked 7 innings, giving up 3 hits and 1 run, on an RBI single by Brandon Phillips in the third. Lester lowered his ERA from 4.25 to 4.07.
He was good on the other side of the ball, too, adding a double and a stolen base.
One other player who seems to be putting things together is right fielder Jason Heyward, who was on the disabled list from June 22-July 4 with a hand abrasion. Over the weekend in Baltimore, Heyward went 6-for-13 with a double, a triple, a homer and 6 RBI. That brought his season batting line to .265/.324/.416 with 7 homers and 37 RBI.
"He's looking really good right now," manager Joe Maddon told reporters before the game. "It's as good as I've seen him swing the bat, personally, plus he's always played that great level of defense. When you can hit him in the lower part of the batting order right now, then you have a chance to score up and down, and I kind of like that, although right now he's hitting like a guy that would hit much higher in the batting.
"He's playing really well, and it's a big part of what we're doing. The whole group, we had a nice opening salvo into the second half offensively. We really started utilizing the entire field a lot better up and down the lineup. It's one of those things that can become contagious. You all know that he really, verbally leads, and he's doing a great job right now."
The Cubs took the lead against the Braves on a 2-run single by Ben Zobrist in the. Anthony Rizzo homered to center field in the seventh, his 23rd of the year.