Having pitched for AL teams in his first nine seasons, Jon Lester isn't as accustomed with the Chicago Cubs' opponents and vice versa.
He'll get his first chance to face a more familiar foe when he makes his first interleague start since joining the Cubs on Tuesday night against the Detroit Tigers (6 p.m. pregame, 7:08 first pitch on FOX Sports Detroit).
Lester spent eight-plus seasons with Boston and part of last year with Oakland before signing with Chicago. The left-hander has experienced his ups and downs in the NL, going 4-4 with a 3.86 ERA in 11 starts.
Lester seemed to find a groove in his six games in May, going 4-1 with a 1.76 ERA, but couldn't carry that over into this month. He yielded six runs and nine hits in five innings in Wednesday's 7-3 loss in Miami. He allowed four runs and six hits in the second.
Lester will make his 12th career start against Detroit (30-28) including two in the postseason. The most starts he's made against NL teams are five, versus St. Louis and Philadelphia.
"If definitely helps when you have familiarity with guys, but the bottom line is you have to execute pitches," he said.
Lester lost both of his matchups with the Tigers last season, permitting five runs and a career high-tying 12 hits in 4 1-3 innings in an 8-6 defeat at Comerica Park on June 7, and yielding one run in five innings in a 1-0 defeat May 16. Those outings epitomize his career against Detroit, as Lester has a 1.76 ERA in five starts but a 6.69 ERA in the other six.
The Cubs arrive in Detroit after taking three of four in Washington. Chicago (30-25) had 14 hits -- one shy of matching a season high -- in a 6-3 victory in Sunday's finale.
Kris Bryant finished a home run short of the cycle and Anthony Rizzo extended his hit streak to 12 games. Rizzo, batting .386 with a 1.208 OPS during that run, will next face a struggling Anibal Sanchez (3-7, 5.69).
The Tigers right-hander is 0-3 with a 7.71 ERA in his last four starts. He hasn't lost four consecutive decisions since a career-worst five in a row in 2011 while with the Marlins. He last faced the Cubs in 2012.
He gave up four runs and five hits while walking four and striking out one in seven innings Wednesday in a 6-1 defeat to Oakland that was part of an eight-game losing streak for Detroit. The Tigers snapped that with a combined 13 runs and 28 hits in back-to-back wins against the Chicago White Sox this weekend after batting .214 with 22 runs during their skid.
"I don't know if we're over the hump, but it feels a lot better than it did a few days ago," manager Brad Ausmus said.
Miguel Cabrera has reached base in 26 consecutive games but is batting .231 in his last 11 and has two homers in his past 20. However, he is batting .400 in his last 12 home games and is 12 for 23 against Lester, the best average (.522) of any of the 115 batters who've faced him at least 17 times.
Yoenis Cespedes, who is batting .400 with two homers in his last eight games, is 1 for 11 lifetime versus Lester.
The Tigers are facing the Cubs for the first time since taking two of three at Wrigley Field in June 2012. They've won nine of 10 in the series, including a three-game sweep at Comerica in June 2009.
