The Atlanta Braves opened their series against the Chicago Cubs on Monday night. The NL East powerhouse emerged with a 2-0 victory on the strength of a 2-run sixth inning and four pitchers combining for a shutout. The star-laden Braves found some unlikely sources in the win and were able to keep pace with the division-leading Phillies.
The Chicago Cubs wasted another strong outing from left-handed starter Shota Imanaga. Imanaga battled through the vaunted Atlanta lineup for five innings, even stranding three runners on base with Ronald Acuna Jr. at the plate in the fourth. Imanaga’s departure was greeted with a two-out rally in the sixth inning from the Braves when they were able to plate their two runs. Eight batters reached base, but none were able to come across to score, and the Cubs were shut out in their series opener on the road.
Imanaga Strong Again for Chicago Cubs
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Chicago Cubs rookie phenom Shota Imanaga stifled the Atlanta Braves in his most daunted outing yet on Monday night. The 30-year-old from Japan has yet to falter with the Chicago Cubs and after toiling with the deep and powerful Atlanta lineup for five scoreless innings, he continues to capture the attention of the baseball world. As of Monday night, Imanaga leads the MLB with a 0.96 ERA and ranks third in MLB.com’s NL Cy Young standings.
The blank frames did not come easily for Imanaga, as he had to strand ten baserunners across his five innings, seven reaching via hit and three via based on balls. The most dangerous predicament for the rookie was a fourth inning jam with loaded bases and Ronald Acuna Jr. at the plate. After a brief delay where Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell got ejected for the first time with the team, Imanaga got the Atlanta slugger to fly out to right field.
Atlanta Pounces on Chicago Bullpen
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With Imanaga out of the game, the Braves took advantage of the depleted Chicago Cubs bullpen right away. Hayden Wesneski came into the ball game in relief and got the first two outs of the inning immediately. However, Travis d’Arnaud doubled and gave Zack Short an opportunity to break the scoreless tie. Short, who was filling in at third for the injured Austin Riley, followed up D’Arnaud’s double with one of his own, and the Atlanta backstop came in to score.
Short was then driven in by Ronald Acuna Jr., who avenged his previous plate appearance with an RBI single that would prove to be the final tally of the ball game. Wesneski recorded the final out of the sixth inning and settled down in the seventh and eighth innings to put up scoreless innings. The long-relief outing was not a disaster for the right-hander, but in the tight game that Monday night was, it was the difference that gave him and Chicago the loss.
Atlanta Arms Dominate Chicago Cubs Bats
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Reynaldo Lopez got the start for the Atlanta Braves and matched Imanaga’s outing. The 30-year-old journeyman right-hander tossed five scoreless innings and allowed only four baserunners, striking out four Chicago hitters, throwing just 71 pitches. The once highly-touted prospect had the Cubs hitters off balance and on the defensive with his pitch selection, and his stuff made scratching across runs impossible for one of the NL’s top lineups.
Lopez then gave the ball to three relievers, who completed the shutout with four more scoreless frames. Ray Kerr pitched the sixth and seventh innings and won. Dylan Lee ran into some trouble in the eighth inning by giving up two hits but got out of the jam. Then it was AJ Minter who worked the ninth and got the save, his first of the year. Regular closer Raisel Iglesias got the night off.
Game two of the series starts at 6:20 PM CST Tuesday night, with Jameson Taillon toeing the rubber for the Chicago Cubs and Chris Sale taking the mound for the Atlanta Braves.
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