CHICAGO – Before Shota Imanaga took the mound for one of his last remaining starts in a dazzling 2024 campaign, Cubs manager Craig Counsell was asked what stood out the most about how the rookie sensation has handled his first season in the bigs.

“There’s a lot of superlatives you could use about how Shota’s handled it,” Counsell said. “I’m trying to think of something he hasn’t handled well. ... I don’t know if I can think of anything. He’s passed every test and every kind of question we’ve tried to ask about him really, really well.

“And the other thing that he’s probably shown to us on such a consistent basis is how good he is at what he’s good at.”

Consider Monday night the latest example of that. Imanaga whiffed a career-high 11 over six strong innings, logging his fifth straight quality start in the Cubs’ 9-2 win over the A’s at Wrigley Field. The victory was Imanaga’s 14th of the year, the most he’s notched in a single season between his eight years in Japan and one in the Majors.

The win initially didn’t look as though it would come easy, as the southpaw allowed five baserunners before recording his seventh out of the night, punctuated by a two-run homer to Brent Rooker in the third. But Imanaga quickly settled in after that, retiring 12 of the next 15 batters he faced.

Chicago’s rookie left-hander received plenty of run support for his efforts, with the Cubs plating all nine of their runs in the first four innings. Dansby Swanson led the way with four RBIs, effectively putting the game out of reach with a three-run homer that was the fifth of Chicago's six straight hits to open the second inning.