Game Recap: Home Sweet Home as Imanaga silences Padres |
Dustin Riese
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- Friday, April 04 2025
CHICAGO - Although no one wants to get too excited about the Chicago Cubs (6-4) start, this is, in fact, a huge accomplishment for this team. Should the Cubs find a way to maintain that pace throughout the season, they would be on a 96-win pace, and that alone should be enough to win this division.
However, there is a saying in baseball that, more often than not, every team will win 60 games and lose 60 games, but it's more about what you do with those 42 games in between. Looking at the Cubs next 20 games, not only is this a gauntlet of a stretch, but it is without a doubt the hardest part of their season schedule and should they find a way to get through this at or around .500, you have to like the way things are setting up for them the rest of the way. Looking to kick off their home schedule with a bang, the Cubs welcomed the San Diego Padres (7-1) to Wrigley Field in the first of this 20-game gauntlet. Coming into the game undefeated, the Padres have been impressive this season, keeping pace with the Dodgers despite not having Yu Darvish in their rotation. Fortunately for the Cubs, not only was the weather in their favor, slowing down the Padres' offense, but the Cubs also turned to their Ace, Shota Imanaga, as he looked to build on his home cooking from a season ago. Not only did Imanaga do just that, allowing one run on four hits in 7 1/3 innings, but it was the longest outing of his professional career as the Cubs handed the Padres their first loss of 2025, 3-1.
Imanaga hasn't been as dominant to start the year this season, but with no walks and four strikeouts, he is beginning to find his groove again. His lone run came on a Martin Maldonado homer in what was otherwise another impressive outing. Facing off against right-hander Randy Vasquez, the Cubs looked to jump on the Padres early, as Ian Happ led off the bottom of the first inning with a single, becoming the game's first base runner.
The Cubs continued to make Vasquez work, with Michael Busch and Dansby Swanson working a pair of two-out walks to load the bases and Nico Hoerner coming to bat. Walks were an issue for Vasquez throughout his start, as he finished with five walks, including another one to Hoerner that brought home the game's first run, putting the Cubs ahead 1-0.
Not only did the Padres take three innings to score a run, but it took nine batters for them to deliver their first hit, which came on the two-out Maldonado homer to tie things up. Homers have been an issue at times for Imanaga throughout his career, but he has managed to limit the damage more often than not, which is all you can ask for.
Over the next two innings, the Padres continued to make contact with Fernando Tatis Jr following that homer with a single, while Jackson Merrill delivered a two-out double in the fourth only to come away empty. Take away the Cubs first inning and the Padres managed to keep them in check the rest of the game up until the fifth inning when some luck and patience came into play.
Once again, it was the top of the order setting the tone, as Happ delivered a two-out single off Vasquez to keep the inning alive, marking the start of a huge two-out rally. That single was followed by a pair of walks to Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki, and once again, the bases were loaded. That was the end of the line for Vasquez as he was lifted in favor of Yuki Matsui to finish the inning.
Despite Matsui keeping the ball in the infield, the Cubs found a way to get the job done, as Justin Turner delivered a game-winning infield single to put the Cubs ahead 2-1. Chicago added another run a few pitches later, thanks to a costly fielding error, as they took a 3-1 lead into the sixth. Anytime you face the Padres offense, you would love to have more than three runs of support, but given the weather and the way Imanaga was pitching, it was starting to look like three runs would be enough.
Imanaga continued to go about his business, retiring the final seven hitters he faced to close out his outing before being lifted for Porter Hodge in the eighth. Hodge worked around a two-out Tatis single to pick up the hold as Chicago was three outs away from earning a huge win. That is when things got extremely dicey as Ryan Pressly entered the game for the save opportunity.
Despite being one of the better and more consistent closers over the past five years, things are very seldom easy for Pressly, who was given the name Ryan Stressly in Houston. You have seen those stressful situations a lot with the Cubs, especially in this one, as a one-out walk to Xander Bogaerts, followed by a Merrill single, put the tying runs on base for the Padres.
Pressly managed to get Gavin Sheets to ground out, but with both runners in scoring position, the Padres were one hit away from tying things up. That was as close as they would get as Pressly buckled down to make the pitches he needed to make and struck out Jake Cronenworth on his 33rd pitch of the ninth to secure the 3-1 win.
With only three hits in the game, the Cubs should consider themselves fortunate, but a win is a win, as Happ paced the offense with two hits. The Cubs will look to take the Series on Saturday, as Matthew Boyd will make his home debut for the Cubs against right-hander Nick Pivetta.
