Chicago Cubs, Jon Lester look for series win vs. Rockies

Lester, Cubs look to win series in finale

The Chicago Cubs struggled in last night’s loss as they continue to search for a reliable fifth starter. tonight they send Jon Lester (5-8, 3.32) to the mound in hopes of keeping the Colorado Rockies and Eddie Butler (3-6, 4.77) from picking up their first road series win in two months.

The Rockies (43-55) have a different look after trading away favorite Troy Tulowitzki, and the changes might not be done yet. Carlos Gonzalez has been mentioned in rumors and even recently acquired Jose Reyes could find himself on the move again soon.

But Lester will still have to deal with the hot hitting ex-Cub D.J. LeMahieu, who is hitting .444 during his current league-leading 18-game hitting streak.

The Cubs (52-47) have found offense to be an issue this year, and those struggles continued against the Rockies. The Cubs were 1-for-13 with RISP on Tuesday, and in their last four defeats they are 1-for-23. Much has been made of Starlin Castro‘s struggles, as he’s batting .132 in his last 21 games. He’ll get the day off, but he isn’t the only former All-Star having trouble at the plate.

Anthony Rizzo is now 4-for-34 with just one RBI in his last nine games. Ths is a hitter who was getting on base almost half of the time in the first few months of the season. The Cubs will need to turn things around soon, and they may need to do it with what they have should they decide not to make any moves at the deadline.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:20 p.m. CT at Wrigley Field. MLBN and WGN will have the television coverage while WBBM 789 has the radio broadcast.

Here are the lineups for today’s series finale: