CHICAGO -- The Pirates are well aware of their struggles against Shota Imanaga. The Cubs’ southpaw has held them in check in each of his four career starts against them, having allowed just one earned run over 26 innings and even leading a combined no-hitter against them on Sept. 4, 2024.
So, with its nemesis back on the mound in Friday’s series opener, Pittsburgh tried a different approach -- just wait him out.
The Bucs were held hitless over the first six innings at Wrigley Field, but they spent much of the afternoon routinely fouling off Imanaga’s offerings, running him up to 100 pitches and preventing him from carrying his no-hit bid any further. Four pitches after his departure, Pittsburgh had flipped the script of the game.
Ryan O’Hearn greeted reliever Caleb Thielbar with a hard-hit single down the right-field line to break up the no-hitter. Bryan Reynolds then jumped on the first offering he saw, clubbing a curve 106.1 mph off the bat and into the left-field bleachers. After spending six frames struggling to reach first base, the Pirates had a two-run lead that they maintained for a series-opening 2-0 victory.
Those runs were all Pittsburgh needed thanks to a gutsy effort on the mound from Carmen Mlodzinski. The 27-year-old right-hander, who is pitching as a starter again after spending the second half of 2025 working out of Pittsburgh’s bullpen, held the Cubs scoreless through 5 1/3 frames, his second-longest MLB start.
Mlodzinski navigated traffic throughout Friday afternoon, only once experiencing a 1-2-3 inning while allowing the leadoff hitter to reach in each of the first three frames. Yet, despite the frequency at which Cubs hitters were getting on base, Mlodzinski escaped every jam unscathed.
His day ended after putting two of the first three batters on in the bottom of the sixth, but Mason Montgomery ensured his stat line stayed run-free, coming on in relief and ending the frame by striking out pinch-hitter Matt Shaw with the bases loaded.