Levine: Jon Lester Good In Homestand Finale, Nolan Arenado Better

By Bruce Levine --

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Cubs left-hander Jon Lester was really good Sunday, just not quite good enough.

Two solo home runs by Nolan Arenado were the difference, as he led the Rockies to a 2-0 win at Wrigley Field.

Lester allowed four hits and a single run in his 7 1/3 innings, giving up two walks while striking out 10. The Arenado home run off of Lester was a 365-foot shot that landed in the left-field basket just over Jorge Soler's head in the fourth inning.

"That is a tough one," Lester said. "It's hard to look back. Obviously, I threw the ball pretty well. A loss is a loss. At the end of the day, I didn't execute one pitch. Again it ended up costing us. I have to step back and look at the outcome and how things went."

Facing Justin Grimm with two outs in the ninth inning, Arenado took a 3-2 fastball that hugged the inside corner deep into the bleachers for his second home run. That long ball changed the approach to the bottom of the inning for Cubs manager Joe Maddon.

"The last homer hurt a little bit too," Maddon said. "The full count with Arenado there, that one bothered me. Keeping it 1-0 was really important there. They got the jugular on us today. That was a big moment. If you come into the bottom of the ninth down 1-0, it really puts a different thought in the pitcher's head. That is especially true after the ball Jason (Heyward) hit (a one-out double). He may have been able to go for three right there if it had been different. A lot of little things turn on that one home run in the ninth inning by them."

Arenado is the last guy to fool with right now, as he has five home runs in the team's last seven games. His 16 RBIs lead MLB.

"They have a full lineup of good hitters," Cubs catcher David Ross said. "Not just him. He is locked in right now."

Rockies right-hander Tyler Chatwood shut the vaunted Cubs offense down on two hits and one walk through seven innings. He struck out seven Chicago hitters to improve to 2-1.

"He executed when he needed to," Ross  said. "He made big pitches when he had to. That is why he is one of their front line guys."

Lester also tipped the chapeau to Chatwood, who hit a double off of him to lead off the sixth inning.

"Sometime you have to tip your hat," Lester said after falling to 1-1. "He was able to bear down there and make some pitches without a lot of runs. He had everything working. He was able to tie our lefties up. That is hard to do. He also kept our right-handed hitters off balance with that sinker he was throwing."

The Cubs dropped two of their three games against the Rockies to lose their first series of the season. They finished the homestand at 4-2 and lead the NL Central at 9-3.

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.