'Unbelievable' Imanaga shuts down Reds to get back on track

CINCINNATI -- Shota Imanaga pitched so superbly for the first two months that any minor mistake now seems glaring. Cubs manager Craig Counsell reminded reporters on Sunday morning that the lefty had simply set the bar too high.

“The best pitchers in the game do give up hits,” Counsell said with a smirk. “He kind of fooled us into thinking that it never happens.”

In the finale of a four-game series with the Reds on Sunday afternoon, Imanaga gave the North Siders precisely what they needed in a 4-2 win at Great American Ball Park. The lefty used an early lead to his advantage and pitched into the seventh, sending the Cubs into their Monday off-day with a much-needed victory.

Imanaga logged 6 2/3 innings for the Cubs, exiting with a 1.96 ERA on the year that checked in at sixth among qualified pitchers in the Majors as of the end of Sunday’s game. That came after rain cut the lefty’s previous outing short (4 1/3 innings) and his first rough performance two turns ago against the Brewers (seven runs in 4 1/3 innings).

“Shota, he's looked good the whole season and has dominated,” said Cubs closer Héctor Neris, who picked up his ninth save with a clean ninth. “He had two bad games, but it doesn't matter. It's a season. It's baseball. You're working to have good results, but you don't know how the results [will go].

“He came into today for the game mentally strong. He dominated.”

This time around, Imanaga limited Cincinnati to two runs to help the Cubs salvage a win in the four-game series. Luke Maile launched a first-pitch homer off Imanaga in the third inning and Santiago Espinal added an RBI single in the seventh, but that was the extent of the damage. Imanaga ended with seven strikeouts in the win.

“It feels good to win,” Imanaga said via his interpreter, Edwin Stanberry. “The most important thing is the team winning. And then I would say the second thing would be the game that I pitched. I helped the team win. I was able to do that today, so it feels good.”

Espinal’s single was the third in a row to open the seventh, but the trio of hits each had exit velocities under 84.2 mph. Cubs left fielder Ian Happ also threw out Espinal at second as he tried to stretch his single into a double. It was a key out ahead of Imanaga’s final batter. The lefty ended his outing with a strikeout of TJ Friedl before giving way to the bullpen.

“At that point, you're fighting for 27 outs,” Happ said of his assist. “So when you can get one there, kill the momentum a little bit … to get out of that without giving up another run is huge.”

Setup man Mark Leiter Jr. and Neris covered the remainder of the game to snap the Cubs’ three-game losing skid.

“Seven big outs from those guys,” Counsell said.

The Cubs spotted Imanaga an early lead by jumping on Reds righty Frankie Montas for four runs in his 1 1/3 innings. Happ delivered a three-run double in the first inning and catcher Miguel Amaya doubled and scored on Mike Tauchman’s RBI single in the second.

That gave Imanaga an early-inning cushion as he attacked Cincinnati’s lineup.

“It’s always more comfortable pitching with a lead,” Counsell said. “And I thought Shota and Miggy adjusted really well as they went through the lineup and saw guys multiple times. [The Reds] were very aggressive early on the fastball. And then as he went through, he sprinkled in some offspeed first-pitch.”

Imanaga featured his four-seamer on the first pitch to all seven batters he faced across the first two innings. In the third, the lefty started Maile off with an elevated heater and the Reds catcher belted it out to left field. Across the first three innings, Imanaga threw a first-pitch fastball to nine of 11 batters. Five of the six four-seamers in the zone generated swings.

From the fourth inning through the end of his outing, Imanaga leaned more on the rest of his arsenal to begin plate appearances. Only five of the last 14 batters he faced saw first-pitch fastballs, as he mixed in five splitters, three curveballs and one sweeper.

It was the type of adjusting and command that Imanaga showed during his brilliant nine-start run to begin his rookie campaign.

“He did a great job,” Happ said. “Our expectations for him are so high, or everyone's expectations are so high. He's got to sub-two [ERA] a third of the way through the season. He's been unbelievable.”