Imanaga not impeccable, but darned near close

CHICAGO -- Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga shouted and spun down the mound, while Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya burst out of his crouch and violently pumped a fist in the air. The way the Wrigley Field crowd roared after Imanaga escaped the sixth inning with a strikeout of Xander Bogaerts on Tuesday night gave the pitcher an idea.

“Recently, it’s been hard for me to get up in the morning,” Imanaga said via his interpreter, Edwin Stanberry. “If I switch the fans cheering to my alarm, I think I’ll get up pretty fast.”

Imanaga had the fans on their feet all evening in his latest master class on pitching in the Cubs’ 3-2 victory over the Padres -- one that ended with a Michael Busch walk-off homer.

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Imanaga’s remarkable run of 16 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings came to a close, but the rookie continued the brilliant opening act to his career and exited with a 1.08 ERA through his first seven starts.

The lone lapse in Imanaga’s performance came two batters into the eighth, when Jurickson Profar connected on a splitter below the zone and sent it out to left field for a two-run, go-ahead homer. Imanaga looked as stunned on the mound as the crowd sounded, but that moment proved to be a brief setback before his teammates picked him up.

“It's always fun playing behind Shota,” said Busch, who hammered the first pitch he saw in the ninth to deliver the game-winning blast. “Obviously, he's got this stuff, the charisma. Just everything about him. He's awesome in the clubhouse. He's just a competitor, and he's going out and doing his thing.”

Imanaga’s first seven innings -- featuring eight strikeouts and just one walk -- upped a scoreless streak by the Cubs’ rotation to 30 innings. Per team historian Ed Hartig, that is the second-longest run of its kind in Cubs history, trailing only the 33-inning run in 1971 by Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins, along with Bill Hands, Milt Pappas and Juan Pizarro.

When it was all said and done, Imanaga walked off the mound with a no-decision for his effort. He boasts the second-lowest ERA through the first seven starts of a season (with no relief appearances mixed in) by a Cubs pitcher since 1912, when earned runs became an official stat in the National League. Only Dick Ellsworth (0.91 ERA in 1963) had a better mark.

Named the National League’s Rookie of the Month for March/April, Imanaga has 43 strikeouts against five walks in 41 2/3 innings on the young campaign.

“He's been a big deal here,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “He's been so, so important to us and a big reason why we're off to this start.”

It is too early to deem this Shota-mania, but Imanaga’s outings have started to feel like a must-see spectacle.

The 30-year-old has looked like one of the offseason’s best free-agent signings (four years, $53 million) as he has baffled batters with one of baseball’s exceptional fastballs, a devastating splitter and a knack for when to mix in his other weapons. Beyond that, Imanaga’s animated on-field reactions have been entertaining.

“The way he pitches is really fun to watch,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “He's excited. He pumps strikes in there. He's aggressive with how he pitches. It's an appealing style, and I think that resonates.”

That was on full display in the sixth inning on Tuesday.

With one out and a Cody Bellinger solo homer accounting for the Cubs’ 1-0 advantage, Imanaga allowed back-to-back singles to Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jake Cronenworth. That set the stage for a crucial showdown with both Manny Machado and Bogaerts.

“That was a big turning point of the game,” Imanaga said.

“I thought he raised his level,” Counsell said.

First, Imanaga worked to a 1-2 count against Machado, who then whiffed against an inside fastball. The Cubs’ starter jumped on the mound and slapped his glove in celebration. Imanaga then found himself in a 2-2 count against Bogaerts, while the Wrigley faithful shifted to their feet and collectively raised the decibel level.

“It was a little different from what I felt [in my Major League debut],” Imanaga said.

Imanaga went to his signature splitter, which faded and dropped under the bat of Bogaerts, leading to a celebratory eruption inside the old ballpark.

“To get out of that inning was a special moment,” Amaya said. “I was fired up, too. He’s sometimes got to let it out. Everybody has feelings, and he showed those emotions.”