Jon Lester on the bump as Cubs’ rotation resets vs Dodgers

While the St. Louis Cardinals battle it out with the San Francisco Giants, southpaw Jon Lester will be taking the mound for the Chicago Cubs in hopes of evening the series at one apiece against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Last night, right-hander Jason Hammel was outmatched by last year’s N.L. Cy Young award winner, Clayton Kershaw which extended their losing streak to three games.

Hammel received only one run of support from his lineup when first baseman Anthony Rizzo hammered a pitch to center field for his 26th home run of the season. This Cubs squad has two possible candidates when it comes to N.L. MVP and that Cy Young award with plenty of time to pad their starts before the regular season comes to an end.

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Lester (8-9, 3.44 ERA) nearly had himself a complete game shutout in his previous outing against the Cleveland Indians at Wrigley Field. He was pulled after 8 2/3 frames when Carlos Santana lined an RBI single to left field, opening the door for Hector Rondon to come up and prevent them from doing any more damage.

Cleveland was held to only one earned run on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts in the no decisions. I personally think Jon should have been given the win since he did the majority of the work, but as long as the Cubs walked away with the victory.

The man looking to keep his team rolling against this playoff hopeful squad will be 27-year-old right-hander, Mat Latos. Latos (4-9, 4.81 ERA) has pitched against this Cubs (73-54) organization many times when he was a member of the Cincinnati Reds starting rotation.

He was acquired by the Dodgers (71-56) on July 30 in a three-team trade that involved 13 players and a 2016 MLB draft pick. Los Angeles reeled in seven players between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves.

Latos is currently 0-2 in three starts with the Dodgers and has been tagged for 11 earned runs on 18 hits with an 8/3 K/BB ratio across 14 2/3 innings of work.

First pitch for tonight’s contest is slated for 8:10 p.m. central time and will air live on WGN, MLBNetwork and WBBM 780 AM.

Here’s a look at tonight’s starting lineup’s for both clubs:

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