Bat outing for Lester: 2 singles, RBI
PITTSBURGH— He nearly dug himself into a hopeless hole. Instead, Jon Lester freed himself — with the help of a couple of once- unheard- of hits— and earned his fifth victory Tuesday as the Cubs came back to beat the Pirates 8- 6.
Lester fell behind 2- 0 in the first inning, 3- 0 in the second and 4- 2 in the fifth, but he hung in the game long enough to complete six innings on 90 sweaty pitches. And by the time his work was done, a seventh- inning Cubs rally had taken the veteran lefty off the hook.
“He hung in there, righted himself and pitched extremely well,” manager JoeMaddon said.
But make no mistake: Lester’s bat was as key as his arm.
With one out in the fifth inning, Lester started a rally off Pirates starter Nick Kingham with a sharp single through the right side of the infield. Ben Zobrist followed with a home run to close the deficit to 3- 2.
An inning later, Maddon allowed Lester to bat with Jason
Heyward on second base and two out. Lester lined a single to right to pull the Cubs to 4- 3.
Let’s review: The 34- year- old Lester was 0- for- 36 ( with amere 21 strikeouts) in his American League days. He was 4- for- 62 (. 065) in 2015, his first year with the Cubs. But since then, he has piled up his first six extra- base hits— including a memorable 2017 homer— and 15 of his 16 career RBI. “I got lucky,” Lester said. Yeah, well, whatever works.
Working it out
Tyler Chatwood, who has failed to get out of the third inning in back- to- back starts, hopes he has hit on something that will help him with the control problems that have defined his debut season in the Cubs’ rotation.
Throwing a side session before the game, Chatwood worked on shortening his stride and getting his pitching hand out of his glove sooner during his delivery. Fouledup timing clearly has been an issue for a pitcher with more walks ( 45) than strikeouts ( 44).
His next scheduled start is Friday against the Mets at Citi Field.
“It was a good side,” he said. “I felt really good with everything, so I’m excited to pitch Friday.”
Alzolay injured
A strained back muscle knocked right- hander Adbert Alzolay, the Cubs’ No. 1 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, out of his start for Class AAA Iowa. He left the game after four perfect innings.
Alzolay, 23, has struggled to find a groove at Iowa, posting a 2- 4 record and a 4.76 ERA.
Word on a possible disabledlist stint reportedly could come Wednesday.