The Cubs and Jon Lester got a good look at the lineup of White Sox, one who has been extremely impressive against lefties, in the 10-1 loss on Friday at Wrigley Field.
“They’re a strong right-handed lineup,” Lester said. “They apparently have some damaging power at the top of their lineup. Well, actually not even the top of their lineup, by the whole lineup.”
Entering Friday’s game, the White Sox ranks at the top of the league in OPS, home games and wRC + against left-handed pitching. They lived up to that bill, beating four homers from Lester (and another two against Cubs rights Jason Adam and Colin Rea). Jose Abreu hit two, and Luis Robert, Eloy Jiménez, Danny Mendick and Yasmani Grandal each added one.
The Sox have a nice mix of veterans – Abreu, Edwin Encarnacion, Grandal – and younger players – Tim Anderson, Jiménez and Robert, who, up to Lester’s point, make themselves formidable from top to bottom. They are strong against leftists and confident at the moment, leaving a small margin for error.
“And if you do not perform,” Lester said, “if you have 100 jobs and you do not perform 99 of them, they will pay you. It’s an impressive setup.”
So how do you beat a team like that, beat you the way it is?
“You just hope the other man doesn’t repeat himself so well [Dallas Keuchel] that night, “said Lester of Keuchel’s eight innings of one ball.
“Hopefully you can unpack the other man and that’s kind of what you’re hoping for right now with their lineup.”
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