March 21--After devoting much of his time Tuesday to working on ways to improve his fielding, Chicago Cubs left-hander Jon Lester immediately knew the cause of his throwing error that cost him a run Sunday against the Kansas City Royals.
"I didn't move my feet," Lester said of his poor setup that led to him sailing a sidearm throw to first base that pulled Anthony Rizzo off the first base bag in the fifth inning.
"I move my feet and everything is fine. I continue to work on it. I feel fine with it. It's just a matter of mechanically doing the right things and remembering to do the right things mechanically."
With runners at second and third with no out, Lester fielded a grounder by Alcides Escobar and made sure Tony Cruz stayed at third. But Lester didn't turn properly before making his errant throw.
The Royals took a 2-1 lead on a double play by Mike Moustakas, but the Cubs scored four times in the bottom of the fifth inning to roll to a 5-2 win.
"No matter how good you are at throwing the bases or anything like that, that's not the proper way to do it. I didn't move my feet, and it's not a good throw.
Lester said he continues to feel more comfortable about throwing to bases in practice as long as he moves his feet. But he's aware that the speed is quicker in games.
Speedy Paulo Orlando and Reymond Fuentes stole bases off Lester in the fourth. Lester said he will continue to employ a slide step and vary his times to home plate to disrupt the timing of base runners.
He didn't employ a move he's become more comfortable with -- stepping off the rubber with his back left foot and throwing to first base.
"I don't know if it's secret if people keep talking about it," Lester quipped.
