Lester shows athleticism in Cubs' win over Mets
Before Monday night's game, Cubs manager Joe Maddon was singing the praises of starting pitcher Jon Lester as an athlete.
"Jon's a very good athlete," Maddon said. "We've talked about Cole Hamels. I don't think Jon's given enough credit for how good of an athlete he is. We've seen him swing the baseball bat. I've seen him on the golf course. You see his ability with the throwing stroke. All those things are really athletic."
Lester got a no-decision in the Cubs' 7-4 victory over the New York Mets at Wrigley Field, but he did flash some of that athleticism that Maddon was talking about.
When the Mets walked Kyle Schwarber with first base occupied and two outs in the third inning to get to Lester, no problem. He promptly hit a 2-run single to left-center.
In the top of the fifth, Mets leadoff man Amed Rosario decided to take a big lead at first base after reaching on an error by third baseman David Bote. Rosario and the Mets no doubt figured Lester would not throw to first, given his difficulties with that play.
Lester surprised everybody by throwing over and catching Rosario off the base and into a rundown. The play officially went as a caught-stealing.
Lester ended the top of the sixth inning by reaching up and snagging a hard-liner by Jose Reyes.
The victory was the Cubs' sixth in a row, and it improved their record to 77-53. Maddon said he was not surprised by any of Lester's athletic exploits.
"Honestly, when they walked Schwarber, I thought Jon would put a good at-bat right there, and he did," the manager said. "He's done that before. He's got really good mechanics. Slow him down on video. This guy has a great approach to hitting, and I know how competitive he is. I didn't feel badly about that."
Lester disagreed on one point.
"I don't have an approach," he said. "Guy (Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard) throws really hard. I'm trying to hit the ball somewhere. Got lucky, put it in the outfield and we scored 2 runs. That was my approach."
On the catch of the liner, he said: "Luckily Reyes hit the ball off the end of the bat or else I'd probably be dead. Most of the time when the ball's hit back at you, as a pitcher, it's just reaction."
This Cubs-Mets series is featuring a couple of tasty pitching matchups: Lester vs. Noah Syndergaard Monday and the Cubs' Hamels against Jacob deGrom Tuesday night.
The Mets went ahead of Lester 1-0 in the first before Anthony Rizzo tied the game with an RBI double in the bottom of the inning. The Mets added 2 more in the second. Michael Conforto led off the inning with a 472-foot home run over the wall in center field.
Lester's single capped a 3-run third for the Cubs. He had a chance for a victory after he exited after pitching 6 innings and giving up 5 hits while walking three and striking out three. But reliever Steve Cishek allowed a leadoff homer to Kevin Plawecki leading off the seventh to tie it at 4-4.
The Cubs picked up 4 hits in the bottom of the inning, with Rizzo and Ben Zobrist opening with doubles and Jason Heyward adding an infield single. Heyward scored on Willson Contreras' RBI forceout. Rizzo added his 22nd homer of the season, a solo drive to right-center, in the eighth.
The Cubs wound up using relievers Pedro Strop, Justin Wilson and Jesse Chavez in the ninth, with Chavez stranding the bases loaded and earning his second save.
"Chavez just knows what he's doing," Maddon said.