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The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Wild Card game earlier this week and earned the right to take on the St. Louis Cardinals in a five-game NLDS matchup which starts tonight at 6:30 PM EDT in Busch Stadium with right-hander John Lackey on the mound for the Cards vs Cubbies' lefty Jon Lester.
Lester, 31, finished his first season in Chicago (11-12) with a 3.34 ERA, a 2.92 FIP, 47 walks (2.06 BB/9) and 207 Ks (9.09 K/9) in 32 starts and 205 innings pitched, over which he held opposing hitters to a .236/.288/.373 line.
After Lester went (1-3) with a 2.59 ERA and a .216/.276/.353 line against in four starts and 31 ⅓ IP against St. Louis this season, Cubs' skipper Joe Maddon told reporters he knew the southpaw would be ready for the series opener with the Cards.
"I know he's going to be ready," Maddon said. "He loves this kind of stuff. He's not going to be taken by a large crowd or whatever. I think he's been throwing the ball really well. His last start was very good.
"(1-3) could be confusing also based on the number of runs that we've scored," Maddon said, referring to Lester's win/loss record vs the Cubs.
"I think he's pitched really well against this group, but he's pitched well against them in the past.
"So I have all the confidence in the world in Jon going into that game tomorrow and if we need him at the end, we have him at the end, also."
Lackey, 36, was (13-10) in 33 regular season starts with a 2.77 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 53 walks (2.19 BB/9), 175 Ks (7.22 K/9) and a .252/.303/.376 line against in 218 IP.
The veteran righty was (2-0) with a 1.25 ERA and a .244/.294/.295 line against in 21 ⅔ IP against the Cubs this season. He told reporters in his own pregame press conference that he was not taking his opponent lightly.
"Going to be a challenge," he said. "Great team. Really good lineup. Obviously pretty familiar with each other, you know, being in the same division. So yeah, it's going to be a tough one."
Lackey vs the Cubs:
| Cubs | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP | missG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Coghlan | 18 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | .471 | .500 | .529 | 1.029 | ||||||||
| Austin Jackson | 17 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 5 | .313 | .353 | .438 | .790 | |||||||||
| Miguel Montero | 16 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | .267 | .313 | .400 | .713 | ||||||||
| Anthony Rizzo | 15 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .083 | .267 | .083 | .350 | 2 | |||||||||
| Starlin Castro | 13 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .250 | .308 | .250 | .558 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Kris Bryant | 11 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | .222 | .273 | .222 | .495 | 1 | ||||||||
| Jorge Soler | 9 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | .500 | .556 | .875 | 1.431 | ||||||||||
| Javier Baez | 8 | 8 | 4 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Dexter Fowler | 8 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .286 | .375 | .429 | .804 | |||||||||
| Addison Russell | 8 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | .286 | .375 | .286 | .661 | 1 | |||||||||
| Jake Arrieta | 7 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .333 | .333 | .667 | 1.000 | 1 | ||||||||
| Chris Denorfia | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | .000 | .250 | .000 | .250 | |||||||||||
| Tommy La Stella | 3 | 3 | 2 | .667 | .667 | .667 | 1.333 | ||||||||||||
| David Ross | 3 | 3 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 | ||||||||||||
| Jon Lester | 2 | 2 | 1 | .500 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 | ||||||||||||
| Travis Wood | 2 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Justin Grimm | 1 | 1 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 145 | 130 | 37 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 30 | .285 | .343 | .369 | .712 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
Lester vs the Cardinals:
| Cardinals | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP | missG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jhonny Peralta | 53 | 48 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 13 | .292 | .358 | .542 | .900 | 2 | ||||||
| Mark Reynolds | 43 | 36 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | .222 | .349 | .389 | .738 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Jason Heyward | 24 | 24 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | .417 | .417 | .708 | 1.125 | ||||||||
| Matt Carpenter | 23 | 21 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | .238 | .304 | .381 | .685 | |||||||
| Yadier Molina | 22 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | .211 | .273 | .263 | .536 | 1 | |||||||
| Matt Holliday | 19 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | .389 | .421 | .611 | 1.032 | |||||||
| Peter Bourjos | 10 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 3 | .300 | .300 | .400 | .700 | ||||||||||
| Pete Kozma | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1 | .125 | .125 | .125 | .250 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Brandon Moss | 9 | 9 | 2 | 2 | .222 | .222 | .222 | .444 | |||||||||||
| Kolten Wong | 8 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .143 | .250 | .143 | .393 | |||||||||
| Tommy Pham | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .167 | .286 | .667 | .952 | ||||||||
| Matt Adams | 6 | 6 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||
| Randal Grichuk | 6 | 6 | 5 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||
| Stephen Piscotty | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | .250 | .500 | 1.000 | 1.500 | ||||||||
| Jon Jay | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .333 | .500 | .333 | .833 | ||||||||||
| Adam Wainwright | 4 | 4 | 3 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||
| John Lackey | 2 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |||||||||||||
| Lance Lynn | 2 | 2 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 257 | 233 | 58 | 14 | 1 | 8 | 27 | 20 | 59 | .249 | .313 | .421 | .733 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |