Imanaga and Happ step up in win against Cardinals |
CHICAGO - As frustrating of an offseason as it was for most Chicago Cubs (34-37) fans, it's nice to know that the Cubs may have gotten the biggest steal in free agency in left-hander Shota Imanaga. The 30-year rookie had a successful career in Japan before becoming a free agent this season and signing with the Cubs on a four-year deal.
While many expected him to be, very few expected him to be this good as he has come into town and cemented himself as the new Ace of the Cubs staff. The St. Louis Cardinals (34-35) found that out firsthand at Wrigley Field on Saturday as Imanaga continued to make the opposition look silly as he improved to 7-1 with a 1.89 ERA in the Cubs 5-1 win. Imanaga isn't the hardest thrower in the world and lives up in the zone, so to see him have the success he is having is the biggest surprise. He gave the Cubs seven innings, allowing one run on four hits while striking out six before handing things off to Tyson Miller, who finished the final two innings. Opposing Imanaga was the young righty Andre Pallante, who pitched into the fourth, allowing two runs and one earned run in 3 1/3 innings. With neither team finding a way to score in the first, the Cubs were threatening in the second as Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ opened the inning with a pair of singles before failing to drive either of them in. That put the Cubs at 17 consecutive scoreless innings, which is a difficult pill to swallow if you're a fan of the team. With things still scoreless in the fourth, the Cardinals broke through first as the Alec Burleson double set the offense up in a good spot. Burleson would come home to score on the Nolan Arenado sacrifice fly to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead, but it would be the only run of the day for St. Louis. Even though the Cardinals were held to just one run, given how tough things have been offensively for the Cubs, you had to wonder if one run would be enough. That was until singles from Cody Bellinger and Suzuki opened up the bottom of the fourth as the Cubs threatened to tie things up. Sometimes, all it takes for an offense to get things rolling is a few breaks to go your way, as the Cubs tied things up on an error before taking the 2-1 lead on the Dansby Swanson grounder. One inning later, the Cubs had a chance to break the game wide open, and it came with two outs in the inning. A patient approach led to three consecutive walks to load the bases. As has been the case far too often this season, the Cubs just can't hit with runners on, so they were unable to get the job done. With Imanaga settled in and retiring seven straight at one point and pitching into the seventh, you had to like the Cubs chances to win this game as long as he could remain in it. Imanaga did have to pitch out of a mini-jam in the seventh, but he stepped up when needed. He got through the seventh inning without any damage and did a phenomenal job keeping the Cubs in front. The emotion he showed coming off the mound isn't something a lot of players have shown for the Cubs this season, and it awed the entire team during their half of the seventh. Mike Tauchman led things off with a single before advancing to second on another Bellinger single two batters later. In danger of coming away empty-handed yet again, Ian Happ came through with arguably his biggest hit of the season as he got every bit of the John King offering and took him deep for the three-run shot to put the Cubs in front 5-1. Anytime you have a four-run lead entering the eighth, you should feel confident, but given how the Cubs bullpen has pitched this season, no lead is safe. Today was the game that would change that as Miller not only tossed two scoreless frames to finish things off but did so by retiring all six hitters he faced and striking out two as the Cubs evened up the series with a 5-1 win. Miller is one of those guys who needs to be trusted much more than he has thus far. He has allowed just one earned run in 13 innings since joining the Cubs. Chicago had nine hits in the game, with Tauchman, Bellinger, Suzuki, and Happ each having two, and Yan Gomes picking up the final hit.
