Rockies lose to Cubs 3-2; Carlos Gonzalez homers, but Rockies can't figure out Lester

Jon Lester struck out fourteen Rockies en route to eight innings of two run ball, leading to a Cubs 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies. Carlos Gonzalez blasted his 21st home run of the season off Lester in the seventh, but it wasn't enough to catch the Cubs.

Eddie Butler was his usual inefficient self, needing 82 pitches to pitch five innings. He ended up surrendering three runs, all on home runs. The first was to former Rockie Dexter Fowler, who greeted him with a blast to right center. The second came off the bat of Anthony Rizzo, with Fowler on base.

Butler threw only 45 strikes in those 82 pitches and he walked three batters while striking out four. Aaron Laffey and Tommy Kahnle combined for three shutout innings in relief, but the Rockies offense, despite a week-long hot streak, went cold today.

Jose Reyes, in his first game as a Rockie, went 1-3 with a walk. He stole a base and was caught stealing. Charlie Blackmon also added two steals against Lester, bringing his season tally to 27. He might swipe 40 bags this season. The second steal brought him to third base, and then a Nolan Arenado sacrifice fly scored him.

Overall, though, today was the Lester show, generating tons of swinging strikes. The burly ace threw 117 pitches for his team, an impressive display of physicality. The Rockies dropped two out of three games in the series, though both losses were one run affairs.

The Rockies will head to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals tomorrow.

<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2015-07-29&team=Cubs&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="450" width = "450" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2015-07-29&team=Cubs&dh=0&season=2015">FanGraphs</a></span>