Chicago Cubs look to bounce back with Lester on the mound

The Chicago Cubs will turn to Jon Lester to try and regain control of the four-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers after losing for the first time in over a week on Tuesday night.

We haven’t seen too many games from the Chicago Cubs (35-15) like we saw in the 5-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers (28-25) on Tuesday night. Throw out the fact that they lost a game started by Jake Arrieta. This was one of the first games I can think of where they were simply outplayed and didn’t put up much fight. Jon Lester hopes to rebound from his worst start of the season on May 21 in which he allowed five runs over 2 2/3 innings–the first time a Cubs starter hadn’t completed the fifth–in a loss to the Giants.

Lester (5-3, 2.48) has been very good at Wrigley Field, posting a 2.29 ERA. But his career against the Dodgers plays against him as in three starts he’s 1-1 with a 5.19 ERA. And it looks worse when you take his last two outing of last season, where he’s got an 8.10 ERA. After Scott Kazmir stifled the Cubs offense, hopefully, the news that five Cubs players lead in votes for the All-Star game will help inspire them at the plate.

The Dodgers will counter with Mike Bolsinger (1-1, 4.50), who will be making his third start of the season and his first in the last eight days. His last outing against the Reds resulted in an 8-2 win. He allowed just two runs–both on a two-run homer–but only two other hits.

After a spectacular month of May, Ben Zobrist will try to start up another hot streak after seeing his 16-game hitting streak snapped after a tough day at the plate against Kazmir as he struck out three times on the night.

Here are the lineups for tonight’s action:

First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. CT at Wrigley Field. ESPN and CSN will have the television coverage while The Score 670 will, as usual, have the radio broadcast. Be sure to check back after the game for our postgame coverage!