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Grote: Jon Lester Looks To Be Stopper Against Red-Hot Cardinals

By Mark Grote--

(CBS) Stop it right now.

The middle of May is about where one should be allowed to begin to make real statements about a major league baseball­­­­­ team, and the St. Louis Cardinals are trending untouchable in the National League Central. That's a real 20-6 record the Cardinals are sporting, featuring an eight-game winning streak without injured ace Adam Wainwright. It's not fluky, and it doesn't show signs of decrescendo.

Cue Jon Lester, tonight's starting pitcher for the Cubs. Lester is paid to conquer four-game losing streaks and to offer humility to the opponent. He did just that in Busch Stadium during the 2013 World Series, as he won Game 5 against the Cardinals. Lester collected his first win of this season in his last outing against Milwaukee, but we still have yet to see full-force Lester -- the one where every player on the team secretly assumes victory on his days and all his pitches are working.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon will want Lester to go deep into the game tonight as he continues to mix and match the parts of an unfinished bullpen. A relief corps that has given up 17 runs over 19 innings in the last six games is struggling, after looking so polished earlier in the season.

Righty workhorse Justin Grimm is expected to return from a forearm injury tonight, which will trigger a fast smile on the face of Maddon. Also coming soon: Neil Ramirez, who can also bring the noise on the radar gun. He's working off a shoulder injury.

The wild card is always handy as a playoff avenue, but the Cubs -- 6 1/2 games behind the Cardinals -- shouldn't let the division out of their sight. It feels a lot less hectic and ultimately more rewarding if you take care of business in your own village, and it begins with Lester tonight.

Mark Grote is the Cubs pregame and postgame host on WBBM. Follow him on Twitter @markgrotesports.

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