OAKLAND, Calif. -- Cubs manager Joe Maddon thought Jorge Soler might get a jolt out of returning to the majors after spending two months recovering from a nagging hamstring injury, including a two-week stint in the minors.Boy, was Maddon right.Soler hit a three-run home run in his first at-bat after being activated off the disabled list, Jon Lester pitched seven strong innings, and Chicago beat the Oakland Athletics 7-2 on Friday night.Sometimes a guy just needs to show up and then he gets the adrenaline going on, and that was a big hit, Maddon said. I didnt think it was high enough to go out. It was out so quickly.Dexter Fowler also homered while Javier Baez added a two-run double to help Chicago win its fifth straight. The Cubs also improved to a major league-best 67-41.Lester (12-4) pitched for the As over the final two months of the 2014 season after getting traded from Boston. He returned to the Coliseum for the first time since then and faced a distinctly different Oakland team than the one he left.Any time youve been on the home side and come back as a visitor its different, said Lester, who had eight strikeouts, and allowed two runs on nine hits.I enjoyed pitching here. I wish it turned out a little different but I was with a good team and great fans. Its unbelievable to come here as a home player as opposed to a visitor.Soler, out since June 6 with a hamstring injury, celebrated his return to the majors with his home run in the first inning off As starter Dillon Overton (1-3).That capped a four-run burst by the Cubs that included Fowlers fifth game-opening home run this season.Soler also reached on a fielders choice and scored on Baezs double in the third. Jason Heyward added an RBI single in the inning to help extend Chicagos lead to 7-0.I wasnt feeling any pressure, I just wanted to put a good swing on the ball, Soler said through an interpreter. I was a little bit frustrated being out at least two months but I just wanted to keep the positive attitude and come here and try to do my best.Brett Eibner, called up from the minors earlier in the day, homered against Lester leading off the sixth for Oakland. Marcus Semien added an RBI single.ROOKIE ROUGHED UPOverton allowed seven runs in three innings but suffered his third consecutive loss. The rookie left-hander is winless since beating the Los Angeles Angels in his major league debut June 25. Believe it or not I was actually hitting my spots better tonight, Overton said. They were just hitting everything I threw. Youre going to have days like that You just have to work with it and keep grounded.TRAINERS ROOMCubs: Maddon said the plan is to ease Soler back in and get him some defensive work in the outfield before the team faces another NL team on Aug. 11. ... RHP Joe Nathan was designated for assignment. The 41-year-old was 1-0 in three appearances with the Chicago.Athletics: Jed Lowrie was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a bunion on his left foot. ... RHP Jesse Hahn also went on the DL with a strained right shoulder. ... RHP Andrew Triggs was called back up from Triple-A Nashville along with Eibner.UP NEXTCubs: RHP Jake Arrieta (12-5) pitches the middle game of the series at the Coliseum. The Chicago ace has lost three straight decisions.Athetics: RHP Sonny Gray (5-10) has won only twice in 11 starts since coming off the disabled list. Gray has a 5.57 ERA over that span. Cheap Swell Bottles . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. Liberty Swell Bottle Uk . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. http://www.swellbottleuk.com/sale-swell-bottle-marble-uk.html . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Swell Bottles Uk Sale . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. Swell Bottle Sale 17 Oz . -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. Hilton Cartwright, the Western Australia allrounder, is in line for his ODI debut after being named in Australias 14-man squad for next months Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series. Cartwright is the only uncapped member of the group, which also includes fast bowler Pat Cummins, who has not played for Australia since September last year, and recalled allrounder Glenn Maxwell.The three-match series against New Zealand slots in between Australias two Test campaigns this summer and will take place in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne on December 4, 6 and 9. Interim chairman of selectors, Trevor Hohns, said the panel had been interested in the progress of Cartwright, a 24-year-old who was born in Zimbabwe, for some time.Hilton bowls useful aggressive medium-pace and is a very good striker of the ball, Hohns said. He is an exciting young prospect for Australian cricket and we have been watching him at the pathway level for some time now.Cummins missed the 2015-16 seasonn due to a stress fracture of the back, but performed strongly during the Matador Cup in October, when he collected 15 wickets at 18.dddddddddddd.60. He was the equal leading wicket taker in the tournament.It is fantastic to see Pat back in Australian colours again, Hohns said. It has been a frustrating period for him but we are certainly excited to have him fit and firing ahead of this series.Maxwell has been named in the squad having been dropped from the ODI side during Australias tour of the West Indies earlier this year, and then left out entirely from the ODI squad that toured Sri Lanka.Australia ODI squad David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steven Smith (capt), George Bailey, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Hilton Cartwright, Matthew Wade (wk), James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa. ' ' '