Shota Imanaga Pitches Gemstone at the 2nd home start with Cubs – NBC Chicago

For the second time in a row, Shota Imanaga got the ball for the start of the home at Wrigley Field. And the sequel was even better than the original.

Imanaga caught up where he stopped a year ago and put the four goals into the eighth Inning to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 3-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Friday. The Japanese left-hander improved with an ERA of 2.61 in 17 starts to 8-2 in the legendary baseball stadium.

“Shota did what Shota is doing,” said Centerfield Pete Crow-Armstrong.

One of the outstanding questions for Chicago in the season concentrated on Imanaga’s ability to duplicate his success from his rookie year when he went 15: 3 with an ERA of 2.91 in 29 starts. He made his debut in Major League in Wrigley in 2024 and threw six sparkling innings over Colorado.

So far, Imanaga’s second season looks very similar in his first year. He allowed a run in a career high of 7 1/3 innings against San Diego. It is 2-0 with an ERA of 0.98 in three starts, which enables two runs and seven goals in 18 1/3 innings.

“He makes parking spaces. That’s what it’s about,” said manager Craig Consell. “He makes a pitch, and then he makes another pitch, then he makes a pitch. He doesn’t make any mistakes and that is a pretty good formula.”

The 31-year-old Imanaga also loves the big stage and at the beginning of his second season he is one of the most popular players in the team. He got standing ovation when he left the series of the series Opposite against the Padres.

“I think I said the roar of the crowd here beforehand, I want to transform it into my alarm,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “In this way I can get up immediately. But that was a big mistake. I have the feeling that if I did it, I would appear late to the field because I would like to continue to hear the crowd of the crowd.”

Imanaga withdrew his first eight batteries before Martín Maldonado hit the third and it drove it in 1st Fernando Tatis Jr. with a single one in the middle, but Imanaga pulled Luis Arae on a liner on a liner.

Idanaga received help when Crow-Armstrong Xander Bogaerts took advantage of additional bases with an impressive catch from the second from the second. The pitcher moved this when Crow Armstrong dragged him in before he came to the wall in the left center, concerned about the health of his center field.

“It was a fantastic piece,” said Imanaga.

He also got help with his defense when Shortstop threw Dansby Swanson to the catcher Miguel Amaya to start an overview of the fifth who got Jake Cronenworth, who tried to score on Maldonado’s large.

He retired the Padres in the sixth and seventh retirement before leaving after Brandon Lockridge had come out of the eighth for the first time. He threw 68 of his 91 pitches for strikes when he was the first Cubs pitcher to achieve victory since Rick Sutcliffe in 1988 and 1989 in successive home appearances.

“He has a great start,” said Punsell. “I thought he was really, very well positioned again today. I only threw high quality parking spaces according to Quality Pitch, and that makes it difficult for the other team.”