Jon Lester connected on his first career home run and received a power hitter's curtain call
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Coming into his start Tuesday night against the D-backs at Wrigley Field, Jon Lester owned a slash line of .072/.129/.097, but that slugging percentage is bound to go up after what he did against Patrick Corbin in the third inning.
That's right: Lester connected on an outside pitch, depositing it in the left-field bleachers for his first career home run. It was a work of art:
And upon returning to the dugout, Lester -- no stranger to receiving curtain calls for his many great pitching exploits -- was finally treated to one as an offensive performer:
Oh, and by the way ... Lester also notched the 2,000th strikeout of his career in the game, which the Cubs won, 16-4. Not a bad day at the office.
After the game, Lester met up with 15-year-old Charlie Dugan of Cedar Falls, Iowa, the young man who wound up catching the home run ball. Charlie was at the game with his parents and sister -- and this was the family's first Cubs game!
Lester traded a personalized, autographed baseball for the actual home run ball, as that's something he'll need to keep forever.