Jon Lester (8-10, 3.59 ERA) and Zack Godley (4-0, 1.90 ERA) are on the hill in the first of a three-game series between the Chicago Cubs (75-57) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (65-69) at Wrigley Field. Action begins at 2:20 p.m. ET on Friday, Sep. 4
Lester will try to contribute to the Cubs' stretch run Friday night when he faces Arizona Diamondbacks lineup that likely won't have Paul Goldschmidt.
Lester was given the largest contract in Cubs history at $155 million for six years, and has reinforced that faith more often than not. He's allowed two earned runs or fewer while pitching at least six innings in 15 of his 26 starts.
The left-hander has also had inconsistent results in his past three. Lester (8-10, 3.59 ERA) was tagged for seven runs in 2 2-3 innings in a 15-8 loss to Detroit on Aug. 19 but yielded one run in 8 2-3 innings five days later in a 2-1 win over Cleveland.
Though Lester was denied a fourth win in six starts Saturday when the Dodgers reached him for four seventh-inning runs in a 5-2 loss, he remained upbeat.
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The Diamondbacks have faded from the playoff picture but have a chance to play spoiler with upcoming series against San Francisco and the Los Angeles Dodgers following their set in Chicago. Arizona split a four-game series at Colorado earlier this week to begin a seven-game road trip. Former Cubs prospect Zack Godley will face his previous organization for the first time after being traded for Miguel Montero in December.
Godley will be recalled from Double-A to begin his third stint in the majors. The 25-year-old was impressive in his previous stretches with the Diamondbacks, especially as a starter. He has gone six innings in each of his three big-league starts — all quality starts — and two of them were scoreless outings.
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The odds for Chicago and Arizona are even, while the Over/Under (O/U) is currently not available. The Cubs lead the MLB in batting average with an impressive team average of .241. Chicago leads the whole NL in walks, earning an average of 3.4 per game. Chicago’s pitching staff has been doing poorly against opposing offenses during the last 10 games, allowing an average of 5.2 runs per game, well above its season average of 4.0. The Cubs are the fifth-best team in the league at limiting hits and walks to their opponents, recording a WHIP of 1.20 so far this season. Opponents have consistently been struck out by the Cubs, who lead the NL in strikeouts per game with 8.7.
Offensively, they average 4.5 runs per game, which is tops in the NL. The Diamondbacks are an excellent base stealing team with 115 stolen bases, ranking second in the MLB.
The Diamondbacks lead the season series, 2-1. The Cubs have a 59-44 record against right-handed starting pitchers on the year, which is what they’ll be facing when Godley takes the mound. Lester (LHP) will be on the hill against the Diamondbacks, who have a 15-19 record against left-handed starting pitchers.
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