CHICAGO -- This is the kind of thing that happens when a career American Leaguer switches leagues. Chicago Cubs starter Jon Lester knows better than anyone. And you know what? It's all good.

Lester continued his home dominance in Game 1 of the NLCS, as he held the Dodgers to a solo home run by Andre Ethier and kept his pitch count down to 77 through six innings. He was perfectly poised to repeat what he did in Game 1 of the NLDS against San Francisco, when he shut out the Giants for eight innings and handed the ball to Aroldis Chapman for the ninth. Instead, Lester was pulled for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the sixth, leaving a rested Chicago bullpen to get the last nine outs.

"I don't get paid to make decisions," Lester said. "I get paid to pitch. So that's his decision to make, and obviously, we got a lot of guys on that bench that can swing the bat a lot better than I can, obviously. So it is what it is. Would I have liked to have gone out for the seventh? Absolutely. But you've got to understand the situation and put yourself kind of what the manager's trying to do."

With the Cubs up 3-1, there were two outs in their half of the sixth, and Javier Baez was on second. Sure enough, Lester's spot came around in the batting order. Even though manager Joe Maddon loves to talk up Lester's "sound technique" with a bat in his hands, the fact is that he isn't much of a hitter. He has hit .064 in his regular-season career and is 0-for-11 in the postseason.

Maddon sent up pinch hitter Jorge Soler. Part of the reason for that was the chance to tack on a run, but it turns out the manager also wasn't in love with the way Lester was throwing the ball.

"If Jon was on top of his game, I may not have done it, but I didn't think he had his best stuff tonight," Maddon said. "So that was part of that decision."

The seesaw that ensued after Lester departed overshadowed results that seemed fine, even if his stuff was a little off. He allowed just four hits and a walk and threw strikes on 47 of his 77 offerings. His departure touched off a firestorm of debate on social media, one that would have been a lot more intense if the Cubs had not put up five runs in the bottom of the eighth to take Game 1 by an 8-4 final.

Regardless of the outcome, Lester isn't having any talk of strategic controversies or blown saves.

"As far as late in the game, they had some good at-bats against our relievers," Lester said. "We have some really tough relievers down there, and they put together some good at-bats and got some hits and got some guys on base. And obviously, anytime you have Chapman in the game, you feel good about it."

Lester has allowed one run so far in 14 postseason innings and lowered his career playoff ERA to 2.57 in 18 outings. His ERA at Wrigley Field since the All-Star break is now 1.61. The Cubs have lost just two of his 17 home outings in that span.