At the surface, the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers game on September 10 just looks like any ordinary middle contest of a three-game series. The Cubs won the game 6-3.
However, there is more to the game than meets the eye. According to an MLB social media post, it was only the second time in MLB history that the starting lineups featured four Japanese-born players.
The starting pitchers in the game were Shōta Imanaga for the Cubs and Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani and Seiya Suzuki started as the designated hitters for their respective teams.
The only other instance of four Japanese-born players starting in the same game was May 4, 2007, when the Seattle Mariners faced off against the New York Yankees. Ichiro Suzuki, Kenji Johjima, Hideki Matsui, and Kei Igawa all started that game.
Imanaga picked up his 13th win of the season after throwing seven innings and striking out four. Yamamoto looked great in his first game back from a right rotator cuff strain. While he only threw 59 pitches, he got through four innings with eight strikeouts and allowed just one earned run. He struck out the side in the first and third innings as well.
Ohtani went 0-4 at the plate as he continues to chase the first 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases season in history. Ohtani currently has a National League-leading 46 home runs with 47 stolen bases. Suzuki went 3-5 at the dish in the contest, picking up an RBI as well. Suzuki is batting .273 with a .824 OPS in his third season in MLB.
______
WBN MLB: https://worldbaseball.com/league/mlb/
Photo Credit: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers watches his fly ball out with Shota Imanaga #18 of the Chicago Cubs during the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium on September 10, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
