Chicago Cubs turn on the fireworks
It takes a lot to satisfy Cubs veteran pitcher Jon Lester, particularly on what he termed "a weird night" at Wrigley Field.
Despite hitting the first home run of his career and notching his 2,000th career strikeout in Tuesday's 16-4 rout of NL wild-card leader Arizona, the 33-year-old left-hander wasn't too thrilled about lasting only 4-plus innings after 104 pitches.
Coming off 3 straight quality starts, Lester was lifted in the top of the fifth with an 8-2 lead after he allowed a run-scoring double to Adam Rosales.
Nonetheless, Cubs fans gave him a loud ovation in the wake of his third-inning home run and fourth-inning strikeout milestone.
"It's a weird night, it's a weird night," Lester said. "I mean, obviously, I appreciate it, but it's not up to my standards by any means. I know why they're clapping. They're clapping for other reasons, which is great, but I'll trade that homer in a heartbeat for a win.
"That's my job. My job is to pitch deep into games, give innings, give our guys quality starts, get to the later inning and hand it off to the bullpen. Didn't do that tonight.
"Obviously, my appreciation is there, but the outcome of the game for me personally on the selfish side wasn't there. All the other stuff is cool and great, but to only go 4-plus innings in a game that we had a commanding lead from jump street is, for me, not acceptable."
The 40,097 fans on hand were happy to accept the Cubs' 14th win in 17 games since the all-star break. The win kept the team 2½ games ahead of second-place Milwaukee, which defeated St. Louis 3-2.
The Cubs set season highs in runs (16), hits (17) and home runs (5). It was their highest run total at Wrigley Field since 2009. First baseman Anthony Rizzo, who sat out Sunday's victory in Milwaukee with back stiffness, led the onslaught by going 3-for-5 with his 25th and 26th home runs of the season.
Ian Happ roped a solo home run and Javy Baez added a 3-run blast in a 7-run sixth inning.
"It's back," Rizzo said of the team's swagger. "The feeling's back, all those good vibes, all those good juices that we've had for the last couple of years is back. It's just a different look in guys' eyes. It's a different feeling. I can't pinpoint it to one thing. It's just that everyone feels real good right now."
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