Cubs show grit as PCA, Suzuki, Shota take down LA

LOS ANGELES -- Both the Cubs and Dodgers made major splashes over the past few offseasons by signing big-name Japanese players. Chicago brought in outfielder Seiya Suzuki ahead of the 2022 season, then signed left-hander Shota Imanaga this past winter, when the Dodgers committed more than $1 billion to two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani and right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto. That’s part of why the two clubs made sense to open the 2025 season facing each other at the Tokyo Dome.

Fans got a chance to see those stars take each other on stateside on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. It marked just the second time that four Japanese-born players started in an MLB game -- and it hadn’t happened in 17 years, since Ichiro Suzuki and Kenji Johjima suited up for the Mariners against the Yankees’ Hideki Matsui and Kei Igawa on May 4, 2007.

The Cubs got the best of the Dodgers with a 6-3 victory to claim the series, punctuated by a home run-robbing catch from center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, one of several eye-popping plays he made on the night. But the palpable excitement over Japan’s contributions to the sport being on full display felt bigger than any individual contest.

Eyes were particularly on Imanaga, who threw four scoreless innings in a rain-shortened start against the Dodgers on April 7 and was coming off throwing seven hitless innings in the Cubs’ combined no-hitter vs. the Pirates last Wednesday. He once again went seven frames, something he’s done nine times this season, striking out four, walking none and needing just 89 pitches. This time, however, he was tagged for three runs -- all on solo homers, two by Tommy Edman. He retired Ohtani all three times they faced, although Ohtani did just miss hitting his 47th homer of the season by one foot in the fifth inning.

Imanaga’s counterpart, Yamamoto, had been activated from the injured list to make the start and was working on a short leash, going just four innings. Suzuki faced him twice and accounted for two of Yamamoto’s eight strikeouts.

Suzuki, though, contributed plenty later. Coming to the plate in the eighth inning with two on and the Cubs down by two, he singled to center field for an RBI, with Dansby Swanson scoring on an error to tie it. Suzuki then scored the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice throwing error, part of a five-run rally to put Chicago ahead for good. It ended up being a three-hit night for Suzuki, who also doubled in the sixth and singled in the ninth before Crow-Armstrong capped the win with a highlight-reel grab.