Jon Lester (6-8) struck out 14, one shy of his career high Laken Tomlinson Limited Jersey and the most for a Cubs pitcher in more than a decade, leading Chicago over the Colorado Rockies 3-2 Wednesday.
Lester's strikeout high was set for Boston on May 3 last year against Oakland. He became the first Cubs pitcher to strike out 14 since Mark Prior had 16 on Sept. 30, 2004.Lester wasn't paying close attention to that stat, however.
''You've got a lot of other things to worry about than counting those,'' he said. ''You kind of know - I'm not going to say are racking them up - but you know you've got more than usual.''
Lester said he was as consistent with all of his four pitches - fastball, curveball Eagles Bennie Logan Jersey, cutter and change-up - as he had been all season. And he was happy to get through the eighth for his longest outing this year to give the Cubs' bullpen a break.
''You got to figure out a way to go as deep as you can,'' Lester said. ''It was nice for Joe to let me go out for the eighth, especially for a one-run game.''
The 6-foot-4 left-hander struck out seven of his first eight hitters and nine of the first 14. He allowed two runs, five hits and one walk in eight innings.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon saluted Lester's most impressive outing since he signed a six-year, $155 million free agent deal with Chicago in the offseason.
''That was the best performance all year,'' Maddon said. ''Stuff-wise, I thought he had everything going. Everything was on: that's why you saw the result you did. He was really that good.''
Lester didn't know what to think when he was getting ready to bat in the top of the eighth inning, looked at the scoreboard and saw he hadn't allowed a hit.
''I really didn't understand what was going on, why they changed it or what happened or why it took so long or whatever,'' Lester said.
''At first it was kind of confusing http://www.bearsfootballprostore.com/WOMENS_YOUTH_MATT_FORTE_JERSEY.html why all of a sudden it was changed but at the end of the day it didn't matter.''
Anthony Rizzo hit his first homer since July 7, a wind-blown, two-run drive in the third that glanced off the right-field foul pole for his 17th home run this season.
''It was nice to keep that one fair, for sure,'' Rizzo said. ''It turned out big for us.''
A day after he was acquired from Toronto, Jose Reyes was 1 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base in his Rockies' debut. The four-time All-Star, obtained in a trade that sent Troy Tulowitzki to Toronto, batted second and singled in his first at-bat for Colorado, then was caught stealing.
''I think he brings an element that we're lacking a little bit and that's the speed,'' manager Walt Weiss said. ''High-energy guy and he was on base a couple of times and in the middle of some things, but it's good to see him out there.''
With Lester's pitch count on the rise http://www.nflvikingsofficial.com/Authentic-Harrison-Smith-Jersey, he nearly saw the no-hitter disappear again in the seventh when Jonny Gomes hit a rocket to the left-field corner that just hooked foul. The ball had home run distance, but was nothing more than a strike.
Lester finished the outing with two hits allowed over 7 1/3 scoreless frames. The victory was his first since May 16 and just his fifth this season.