The beat goes on for the now 24-6 Cubs after winning their 7th straight on a walk off HR by Baez in the 13th inning on Sunday. Next up is the San Diego Padres. Jon Lester (3-1 1.58 ERA) will face Cesar Vargas, who has had 3 starts with the Padres so far and allowed just 1 run or none in each of those starts and has a 1.10 ERA. Despite the excellent work, he has a 0-1 record in those 3 starts. His starts were against the Cardinals, Dodgers and Royals, so that makes the early returns seem pretty legit. Lester will try again for his first win at Wrigley in 2016, where he is 0-1 with a 2.21 ERA. On the road, he is 3-0 with a 0.92 ERA. In game 2 of the series Kyle Hendricks (2-2 3.10 ERA) Will face Colin Rea (3-1 3.82 ERA) and in the final game of the 3 game set, John Lackey (4-1 4. 02 ERA) will battle lefty Drew Pomeranz (3-3 2.12 ERA) . The young Padre pitchers are good and the Cubs have not hit lefties very well, so Pomeranz may be especially tough. But the Padre offense has not been prolific by any means. The biggest danger in this series may be a letdown, after the big series VS the Nationals, topped off with the extra innings blast from Baez. Alexi Ramirez is with the Padres this year, if that matters to the Sox fans that frequent the Cubs threads.
_________________ Go Cubs!!!!
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