CHICAGO (AP) — For the second straight year, Shota Imanaga got the ball for the home opener at Wrigley Field. And the sequel was even better than the original.
Picking up where he left off a year ago, Imanaga pitched four-hit ball into the eighth inning to lead the Chicago Cubs to a over the San Diego Padres on Friday. The Japanese left-hander improved to 8-2 with a 2.61 ERA in 17 starts at the Cubs’ iconic ballpark.
“Shota did what Shota does,” center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said.
One of the outstanding questions for Chicago going into the season centered on Imanaga’s ability to duplicate his success from his rookie year, when he went 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA in 29 starts. He made his major league debut at Wrigley in 2024 and pitched six sparkling innings in a over Colorado.
So far, Imanaga’s second season looks a lot like his first year. He allowed one run in a career-high 7 1/3 innings against San Diego. He is 2-0 with a 0.98 ERA in three starts, permitting two runs and seven hits in 18 1/3 innings.
“He’s making pitches. That’s what it’s about,” manager Craig Counsell said. “He makes a pitch, and then he makes another pitch, then he makes another pitch. He doesn’t make mistakes, and that’s a pretty good formula.”
The 31-year-old Imanaga also loves the big stage, and he is one of the team’s most popular players at the beginning of his second season. He got a standing ovation when he departed in the eighth in the series opener against the Padres.
“I think I previously said here, the roar of the crowd, I want to turn that into my alarm,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “That way I can get up right away. But that was a big mistake. I feel like if I did that I would show up to the field late because I want to continue to listen to the roar of the crowd.”
Imanaga retired his first eight batters before Martín Maldonado homered in the third, tying it at 1. Fernando Tatis Jr. followed with a single to center, but Imanaga retired Luis Arraez on a liner to shortstop.
Imanaga got some help when Crow-Armstrong robbed Xander Bogaerts of extra bases for the first out of the second. The pitcher grimaced as Crow-Armstrong hauled it in before arriving at the wall in left-center, concerned about the health of his center fielder.
“It was a fantastic play,” Imanaga said.
He also got some help from his defense when shortstop Dansby Swanson threw to catcher Miguel Amaya to start a rundown in the fifth that caught Jake Cronenworth attempting to score on Maldonado’s grounder.
He retired the Padres in order in the sixth and seventh before departing after Brandon Lockridge bounced to first for the first out of the eighth. He threw 68 of his 91 pitches for strikes while becoming the first Cubs pitcher to get the win in consecutive home openers since Rick Sutcliffe in 1988 and 1989.
“He’s off to a great start,” Counsell said. “I thought he pitched just really, really well today again. Just throwing quality pitches after quality pitch, and that makes it tough on the other team.”
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