Chicago Cubs ace starter Jon Lester looked darn good for three-plus innings in a marquee matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday evening.
He had yielded zero runs and took a 3-0 lead into the fourth. That’s when a David Freese liner caught Lester in the foot.
Things unraveled from there. After being checked out by trainers, Lester remained in the game. The next six pitches saw the Dodgers go homer, single and homer. The lead was gone.
Lester ultimately finished the outing giving up nine hits and six earned runs in five innings before being pulled. Los Angeles took the opener of this big time four-game matchup.
One day following the near disastrous loss, Lester took to social media to note that he’s just fine.
One loss against the Dodgers in June isn’t the end of the world. But if Lester had suffered a serious injury on the liner, it would’ve been a different story.
The five-time All-Star and former NLCS MVP has now given up four-plus earned runs in five of his past six starts. That span has seen Lester’s ERA balloon from 1.16 to 4.08.
Despite this, he doesn’t seem to be too concerned.
“It hurt at the time,” Lester said of the Freese drive, via the Chicago Sun-Times. “But it is what it is. It didn’t affect the way I threw the ball after that.”
Chicago Entered Thursday’s action with a 38-29 record and a golden opportunity to knock off the NL’s best team. It obviously didn’t get off on the right footing.