Pregame Notes: Jon Lester, Cubs look for sixth-straight ‘W’

After miraculously pulling out a fifth-straight win on Friday afternoon thanks to a defensive miscue by Gregory Polanco, the Chicago Cubs and ace Jon Lester look to make it half-a-dozen-straight on Saturday as they continue their series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

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Chicago (20-15) sits just four games behind the first-place St. Louis Cardinals, who lost to the Detroit Tigers at home on Friday. Manager Joe Maddon will hand the ball to a man who has not yet lost a start in the month of May in the aforementioned left-hander Jon Lester.

Lester (3-2, 4.10 ERA) is aiming for his fifth consecutive quality start. He enters play Saturday with a 3-0 record and a 1.80 ERA in the month of May after he struggled to a 6.23 earned run average in the season’s first month.

He will be opposed by Pirates ace Gerrit Cole, who is proving he is the real deal this season as the undisputed ace of the Pittsburgh staff. Cole (5-1, 2.32 ERA) is looking to join the New York Mets’ Bartolo Colon and the Seattle Mariners’ Felix Hernandez as the only six-game winners in the league.

David Ross will be back behind the dish for Lester after leaving Thursday’s game after tweaking something in his side on a swing late in the contest.

Here are the starting lineups for Saturday’s contest:

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