CHICAGO --
\n\nGiven the warts that still existed within the win, the National League Central-leading Cubs will take it. Maddon said he would not overanalyze some of the sloppy plays in the field due to the heat index sitting at 106 degrees at first pitch. The issue that Maddon did address -- both before the win and again during his postgame press conference -- was Chicago's persistent struggles against lefty pitching.\n\n\"We've been terrible. We have to be better,\" Maddon said before the game. \"If you look at the overarching, overall numbers, they're not good, and we have to be better at that. And we have guys that are really good against lefties that haven't shown that yet.\"\n\nOn the surface, Friday's victory was a step in the right direction. The Cubs scored five runs against Lauer and chased the left-hander from the game after 4 2/3 innings. Rizzo launched the slam in the third -- the fourth four-bagger of his career -- and
\n\nAnthony Rizzo's home run today gave him at least 20 in seven consecutive seasons. Sweet Swingin' Billy Williams is the only left-handed batter to have more such campaigns in a row in Cubs history. The Hall of Famer had 13 from 1961-73.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) July 19, 2019
And, as Lester pointed out, a win is a win is a win.\n\n\"At the end of the day, a win goes right there in that 'W' column,\" Lester said, \"and we all move on to the next one. I'll take them any way we can get 'em.\"
Prior to Friday's win, however, Maddon cited
Rizzo was asked if he knew what was behind the team's struggles against left-handers this season.\n\n\"I really don't know,\" Rizzo said. \"It'll be nice -- we get another lefty tomorrow \\[San Diego's Joey Lucchesi\\]. I'm sure we'll face a lefty or two in San Francisco \\[next week\\]. We don't see them a lot regularly, so when we do, it's good to get your at-bats off them.\"\n\nAnd the Cubs did manage enough success against Lauer to set up some game-changing swings.\n\nIn the third, that two-out infield hit from Almora came ahead of a single from Baez.