Chicago Cubs offense still clicking in Jon Lester’s dominant performance

The Chicago Cubs dropped 11 runs in last night’s finale against the Seattle Mariners. But Jon Lester and the bullpen only needed one.

The Chicago Cubs‘ Jon Lester was making just his second start since coming off the IL (injured list.) That may have been hard to tell as Lester pitched a dominant game, and the bullpen cleaned it up for an 11-0 shutout of the Seattle Mariners.

The Cubs chased starter Marco Gonzales after just 1 2/3 innings. An error left him with just three earned runs allowed (six total), but there’s little solace when you can’t get out of the second inning. His three walks didn’t help him any. But the offense was non-existent again Lester, who was dotting the edges of the plate all night long.

One of the positives in this series is that only two teams in the AL West are over .500. The ‘favorites’ for the division in the Houston Astros, and the Mariners. The Mariners are a decent team. They aren’t necessarily in a rebuild, but they have moved many of the players that have been in Seattle over the few years.

But last night? I don’t think any team they put on the field was going to be able to solve Lester. If not for his pitch count nearing 100 (97), he likely would have gone the distance. He was that good.