The Milwaukee Brewers shocked the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night by jumping on Shota Imanaga. The MLB’s ERA leader was rocked in his four-plus innings of work, giving up seven runs. Christian Yelich and Blake Perkins went yard off the rookie left-hander and for the third straight game of the series, the winner touted a five-run inning.
Four pitchers combined to win this one for the Brew Crew. After Bryce Wilson made it into the fifth inning, Pat Murphy needed to look to the bullpen to keep a 7-1 lead secure. The Chicago Cubs tried to mount a pair of comebacks in the fifth and ninth innings but ten runs for the Milwaukee Brewers was too much to overcome. The Cubs will try to salvage a series split on Thursday.
Chicago Cubs Ace Gets Roughed Up
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Coming into Wednesday’s game Shota Imanaga had been nearly perfect in 2024. He had allowed five earned runs in nine starts and 53 2/3 IP. The 30-year-old Japanese pitcher was cruising through his rookie campaign when he took the mound on Wednesday night. The Milwaukee Brewers had different plans than to become the latest cakewalk for the southpaw.
In the first inning, Christian Yelich launched a two-run home run. Yelich’s sixth home run of the season matched Imanaga’s earned run total from any of his previous outings. The damage was done for the first inning but wouldn’t be the end of Milwaukee torching Imanaga.
By the third inning it was looking more like the first inning home run was a blip on the radar but Imanaga found himself in a jam. With runners on the corners and one out, Willy Adames jumped on a first-pitch splitter and dribbled it through the middle past a diving Nico Hoerner and brought in a third tally. Gary Sanchez didn’t get cheated in the next at-bat, lining a double over Ian Happ in left and plating two more for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Gary Sanchez’s ringing double wasn’t the hardest hit of the inning, though. With two outs in the inning, Blake Perkins skied a two-run home run over the left-center field wall to bring in Sanchez and make it a 7-1 game. Imanaga would finish the third inning, work the fourth and then make it into the fifth before being taken out after walking a hitter with one out.
Cubs Offense Keeps Game Close
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Despite Shota Imanaga’s struggles, the Chicago Cubs were able to keep the game close. After Yelich went yard in the first inning, Ian Happ responded with a solo shot of his own in the second. The onslaught in the third from the Milwaukee Brewers put the Cubs behind the 8-ball but they brought the game within reach with Bryse Wilson on the mound.
In the fourth inning, Chicago pushed a run across in part due to a balk that allowed Ian Happ to score later on a grounder. In the fifth, the first two hitters reached for the Cubs and Wilson was lifted from the game. After Cody Bellinger grounded into a fielder’s choice and made it a 7-3 game, a Milwaukee error helped the Cubs load the bases for their best chance to tie the game.
Jared Koenig struggled to find the zone and make good pitches in relief of Wilson and this continued when he hit Patrick Wisdom to put the go-ahead run at the plate. He focused in to face Dansby Swanson and got the shortstop to fly out to center and the best threat of the game was over for the Chicago Cubs.
Third Home Run Seals Win for Milwaukee Brewers
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After escaping the fifth inning threat, the score stood at 7-4 Milwaukee. Kyle Hendricks came in to relieve Shota Imanaga and the veteran right-hander would be the only other pitcher to throw for the Chicago Cubs. For three of his innings of work he worked around the Brewers lineup. However in the seventh inning, he gave up the nail in the coffin.
With runners at the corners, Christian Yelich hit an RBI groundout to put the Milwaukee Brewers lead at 8-4. Needing just one more out to get out of the inning and keep the Cubs within striking range, Hendricks fell behind Willy Adames and threw a 3-1 change-up in the zone and Adames sat back on it and belted it over the wall to make it a 10-4 Milwaukee lead. For Adames, it is his second home run in the series.
A ninth inning mini-rally spurred on by a Brewers’ error produced two runs for the Chicago Cubs but fizzled out after an Ian Happ sacrifice fly and Milwaukee took game three of the series 10-6. The series finale in Thursday afternoon at 12:10 PM CST.
From This Series:
Milwaukee Brewers Ride 5-Run Eighth to Victory Over Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs Rookie Leads Team to Victory Over Milwaukee Brewers
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