CHICAGO _ It was a sad image: Jon Lester, the sturdy and proud anchor of the Cubs' rotation, lowering his head and shuffling some mound dirt at Wrigley Field, his team down eight runs.
He was stalling, waiting for Cubs manager Joe Maddon to finally end an outing that ranked among the worst of his 12-year career.
It was clear early in Saturday's 9-4 loss to the Nationals that Lester's tank was closer to 'E' than 'F' and that his ERA, which stood at 2.10 in late June, would continue to swell. But it took Ryan Zimmerman's second scorched home run to finally send Maddon to rescue him.
Lester's pitching line: 32/3 innings, 10 hits, nine runs, eight earned, one walk, five strikeouts. His ERA is at a season-high 3.89 and his confidence must be at a season low.
His misery index started climbing July 20, when the Cardinals drubbed him for eight runs in three innings, as his 86 pitches resulted in one swinging strike.
After the game Lester ragged on the sabermetricians who had predicted his decline, noting he had benefited from a plethora of hard-contact outs early in the season's first half.
"There are people who have nothing better to do and overanalyze things," he said that day. "Everybody wants answers for why guys are pitching well or not pitching well. I guess I'm old school. Watch the game."
Lester did not get the benefit of check-swing ruling on a 2-2 pitch to Zimmerman in the first inning Saturday, and the first baseman hammered his next pitch, a 91 mph cut fastball, into the bleachers in left-center.
Lester's best pitch was a fastball at the knees to freeze Adam Eaton on 3-2 pitch in the second. Mostly, though, he gave up hard contact _ even on the outs.
So what happens next? Is there a DL stint in the future for a pitcher with a 10.32 ERA in this last five starts?
Seems doubtful. The Cubs already are easing Mike Montgomery's workload. Yu Darvish is still weeks away _ at best. Tyler Chatwood scuffled (32 strikes, 25 balls over three innings) while mopping up Saturday's lopsided loss. The non-waiver trade deadline has passed.
The heart of the Cubs' rotation, Lester, likely will need to find his own way out of baseball purgatory.
