NEW YORK -- Another day, another dominant outing by a left-handed pitcher for the Cubs.
Shota Imanaga followed Matthew Boyd’s eight-inning gem with his own brilliant outing, twirling seven innings of one-run ball in a 4-1 victory over the Yankees on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
“Matt Boyd was masterful yesterday, Shota was masterful today,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It was just wonderful pitching. High, high level of execution.”
Chicago rebounded swiftly from Friday’s blowout loss, winning the series to enter the All-Star break on a high note. And in a welcome development, the starting pitching is setting the tone.
Imanaga needed just 91 pitches to coast through seven frames; at one point, he retired 11 consecutive hitters, mowing down the Yankees with precision that mirrored Boyd. His lone blemish came in the second inning, when Giancarlo Stanton flicked a two-strike splitter into the short porch in right field for a solo home run.
Stanton was the only hitter who stood a chance against Imanaga’s splitter, a staple of the southpaw’s repertoire. The Yankees went 1-for-12 against the pitch with five strikeouts; Aaron Judge struck out against the splitter in each of his first two at-bats, en route to a hitless day.
“After giving up the homer to Stanton, I had to make an adjustment,” Imanaga said of his splitter via interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “It wasn’t that good in the beginning, but I think every inning, it got better and better.”
Counsell was a little less modest.
“It was excellent today,” he said. “Excellent. They had to really respect the splitter today, and you could just feel that in the at-bats.”
Imanaga has now pitched to a 2.31 ERA in four starts since returning from a left hamstring strain that cost him nearly two months on the IL. It’s been an opportune boost for the Cubs, as the club seeks pitching reinforcements with the July 31 Trade Deadline looming.
Outings like this one from Imanaga are a good reminder that the Cubs still have their ace in tow.
“The guy knows what he’s doing,” Swanson said of Imanaga. “He’s just got such unique stuff, unbelievable feel for his pitches. He’s somebody who, when he goes out there, we feel like we have a good chance to win.”
That certainly was the case on Sunday, with the Cubs flexing their typical muscle at the plate. Swanson provided the decisive blast, breaking a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning: His two-run home run landed in the left-field seats, snapping an 0-for-10 skid in the series.
Michael Busch, hitting leadoff for the first time in the Majors, opened the scoring when he cranked the second pitch of the game into the Yankees’ bullpen in right-center field. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Busch is the first Cubs player to hit a leadoff home run in his first career plate appearance from the leadoff spot since Willson Contreras against the Nationals on June 26, 2017.
That’s all the support that Imanaga needed.
Over the past few weeks, the Cubs haven’t often had all facets of their team -- the lineup, rotation, and bullpen -- clicking at the same time. That wasn’t the case over the last two days in the Bronx. Everything operated in sync.
“If I was to face the Cubs’ lineup, I think it would be a really tough lineup to face,” Imanaga said.
It’s a nice way for the North Siders to head into the All-Star break, a four-day reprieve from the grind of a 162-game sprint. Chicago enters the break as a first-place team -- a change of pace from recent years.
“I think we all know that there’s a lot ahead of us, right?” Swanson said. “There’s a few months left of baseball. In order to get to where we want to go, we have to continue to play good, sound baseball each and every day.”
Counsell struck a similar tone.
“Our job is just to keep winning,” he said. “I mean, it’s as simple as that. There’s so much season left. Just keep winning. Stack up wins. If we stack up wins, we’re going to be in a good position.”
With a performance like Imanaga delivered on Sunday, the Cubs will be primed to do just that.