Jon Lester was 9-3 after his home start on June 18. He had allowed one or fewer earned runs in 10 of his 13 starts to that point. Lester had been the pitcher of record in nine straight outings and was putting together a season that would put him in the NL Cy Young conversation, perhaps even overtaking Jake Arrieta as the team’s best starter.
From that start in mid-June, Lester has been on the mound for as many Chicago losses in the past four weeks as he was in the first two and a half months of the season.