Chicago Cubs: Jon Lester’s return to form played huge role for the team

Chicago Cubs: A horrendous month of July for Lester

As well as Jon Lester pitched prior to the All-Star Break, he pitched equally poorly coming out of it. In his final three starts of July, he amassed a mere 14 innings with an earned run average north of 8.00.

Lester talked about mechanical issues around this time, making it pretty clear he knew what was wrong and that he was working to address said concerns. But when your stuf left-hander turns in a 1.83 WHIP over the span of a full calendar month, it’s more than a bit concerning.

His struggles carried over into the month of August, as well. Lester failed to pitch past the sixth inning even once and gave up a cumulative 13 earned runs in his first two outings of August. From there, though, something clearly clicked.

He tossed six scoreless frames against Pittsburgh on Aug. 16 and followed that up with a 5 2/3-inning, one-run effort on Aug. 22. From that point forward, the 34-year-old Lester did not allow more than three earned runs in a start the rest of the season.