Chicago Cubs take Lester deep, beat Nats on reunion night
Before Reunion Night at Wrigley Field, Cubs manager David Ross talked about how strange it was preparing to face former teammates Jon Lester on the mound and Kyle Schwarber at the plate.
"It is extremely, extremely awkward," Ross said. "I don't know. It's like, we're business as usual, going over every detail of how to take advantage of the other team and where we feel like we can pick up a thing here and there. When I start talking, our friendship creates a lot of conflict in my heart, for sure."
Ross was Lester's personal catcher in Boston, then followed him to the Cubs to win another World Series. Both Lester and Schwarber signed with Washington as free agents during the winter.
Schwarber belted a 2-run homer in his return to Wrigley, but Jason Heyward, Willson Contreras and Javy Baez all connected for home runs against Lester and the Cubs beat the Nationals 7-3.
"It was really strange," Contreras said of facing his former battery mate. "I wanted to laugh, I wanted to smile, but it was super serious. I know he's a gamer. It feels strange facing him. Now that he's on another team, I wish him the best. We're still really close."
Both Lester and Schwarber got standing ovations from the 20% capacity crowd at Wrigley. Before the game, Schwarber was presented with a No. 12 scoreboard tile and watched a tribute video.
"It was weird seeing Murphy's when you come in on that (visitors') side, I guess," Schwarber said before the game. "It was nice to be able to walk in here, obviously a lot of great memories. I think it's the same as we left it last time we were here."
Ross felt Cubs starter Adbert Alzolay didn't have his best stuff, but he was able to get through 5 innings and get the win. Two years ago when Alzolay got his first major-league win, Lester left a bottle of champagne in his locker to celebrate. That's the type of story heard often about Lester.
"He's the most generous person I've ever played with," said Anthony Rizzo, who wore a Lester Cubs jersey on his way into the ballpark. "You're appreciative of all the times we hung out in Lester's backyard and stayed up until the sun rises. The playoffs and all the parties he threw and we were all together."
The Cub never trailed after scoring in the bottom of the first. Contreras and Kris Bryant greeted Lester with a pair of singles, and Contreras scored on a Rizzo sacrifice fly. Heyward added a 2-run homer to left in the second.
Nico Hoerner turned in one of the team's best defensive plays of the season in the eighth. With the bases loaded, two outs and the Cubs ahead 6-3, he went well into the outfield grass to make a diving stop of a grounder by Starlin Castro, sprung to his feet quickly and got the out with time to spare. If that grounder gets past Hoerner, it's likely 6-5.
"I hope the camera wasn't on me, because I turned into a fan. I was going crazy in that moment," Ross said. "That was one of the better plays I've seen in a long time. I told him coming in I can't wait to watch that on the highlights tonight when I'm scrolling through my phone."
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