If Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga was fazed at all by third baseman Isaac Paredes’ second error of the inning, it wasn’t evident in the way he attacked the next batter.
In a game the Cubs would win 12-0, the sixth inning should have already ended. With one out, Imanaga had induced Isiah Kinder-Falefa to hit a grounder to third. But Paredes’ throw sailed high and wide. It was all first baseman Michael Busch could do to knock it down. Then with two outs, Nick Gonzales’ ground ball glanced off Paredes’ glove, spinning out in the dirt behind him.
Even so, Imanaga worked both sides of the plate against Oneil Cruz and got him to whiff on a sinker low and inside for the last out.
Imanaga spun seven no-hit innings, and relievers Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge completed the combined no-hitter.
If it hadn’t been for the pitch-wasting errors – Paredes committed three in all – Imanaga might have pitched even deeper into the game. The two other baserunners reached on walks in the second inning.
His offense handed him an early lead, as Seiya Suzuki drove in Ian Happ in the first inning. And they tacked on more runs in every inning but the fourth and seventh. Dansby Swanson and Cody Bellinger contributed two-run homers. Pete Crow-Armstrong was a triple shy of the cycle and inches away from that triple.
Imanaga had thrown 95 pitches when reliever Pearson replaced him to begin the eighth inning. Still, Cubs fans hoping to see Imanaga finish his no-hit bid showered the field with boos.
Pearson retired three batters in order. Then Hodge took over in the ninth. He, too, threw a perfect inning. The fans were on their feet by the end.
