Chicago Cubs send southpaw Jon Lester to the mound in Tuesday’s series finale

Right-hander Jake Arrieta pitched himself a gem last night, holding the Angels to two hits across seven scoreless frames. The Chicago Cubs made a statement in last night’s 9-0 victory over Los Angeles as Dexter Fowler and Miguel Montero led the way. Before heading back to Arizona, the Cubs will send Jon Lester to the mound in tonight’s series finale.

Lester, 32, is hoping to get off to a better start compared to last season. In his first official appearance in a Cubs uniform, he gave up three earned runs in only 4 1/3 innings to the St. Louis Cardinals on ESPN a year ago today. He finished the month of April having surrendered 15 earned runs behind 29 hits and continued to struggle with runners on base.

This is something the Angels will look to capitalize on during tonight’s contest. Their third base coach, Ron Roenicke, is the type of coach that likes for his runners to be aggressive on the base paths. So if he receives the green light from skipper Mike Scioscia then it could spell trouble for Lester who was recorded his first successful pick off in over five years last September.

Thankfully, Chicago’s offense is rolling. Outfielder Dexter Fowler collected three hits for the Cubs last night, lining a double to right field in his first at-bat of the 2016 campaign. Montero launched the Cubs first home run of the season to right field later on in the sixth.

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Maddon made a change to tonight’s lineup, plugging Matt Szczur in left and leaving Kyle Schwarber on the bench. Szczur made a late pinch-hit appearance last night and cleared the bases with a double to left field which made it a nine-run ballgame.

And like last season, veteran catcher David Ross will continue to sit behind the dish when Lester is on the mound. He’s entering his final season as an active player and will bat in the nine spot behind both Addison Russell and Szczur to round out the bottom of the order.

Taking the mound opposite will be 24-year-old southpaw Andrew Heaney. Heaney entered his first full season as a big leaguer in 2015, picking up 18 starts and finishing with a 6-4 record, 78/28 K/BB ratio, 1.20 WHIP and a 3.49 earned run average.

He’ll definitely have his hands full with this Cubbies lineup who made last night’s starter, Garrett Richards, throw over 40 pitches in the fourth before the Angels dipped into their bullpen.

Now here’s a look at tonight’s starting lineup’s for both the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Angels:

First pitch is set for 9:05 p.m. central time and will be aired live on both CSN+, 670 The Score.