{"id":50630,"date":"2025-07-09T05:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T05:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/50630\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T05:48:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T05:48:09","slug":"chicago-cubs-waste-shota-imanagas-start-in-8-1-loss-to-minnesota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/50630\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs waste Shota Imanaga’s start in 8-1 loss to Minnesota"},"content":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 Shota Imanaga quickly learned the approach Minnesota Twins hitters decided to deploy against the Chicago Cubs\u2019 lefty.<\/p>\n

The Twins swung at 12 of the first 16 pitches Imanaga threw Tuesday night at Target Field to build a 2-0 lead in that span. Imanaga believed their aggressiveness stemmed from his fastball catching too much of the zone, likely because he was pulling down on the pitch. A tweak following the first inning corrected that issue, and Imanaga locked in.<\/p>\n

After a three-hit, two-run inning, Minnesota managed just two hits off Imanaga over the next five frames. The Cubs, though, couldn\u2019t get anything going offensively in the 8-1 loss. They finished with six hits, only one going for extra bases. Justin Turner\u2019s<\/a> 200th career homer in the ninth, his second of the season, prevented the Cubs (54-37) from getting shutout.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we had some good swings, had a few opportunities we didn\u2019t cash in on,\u201d said left fielder Ian Happ, who singled and walked in the loss. \u201cObviously it wasn\u2019t our best day and come back tomorrow and be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his third start back from the injured list<\/a>, Imanaga got into a rhythm to need only 64 pitches in his last five innings.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s pitching like Shota does,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t think he\u2019s as good as he can be yet, but he\u2019s getting people out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cubs need the stability Imanaga can give the rotation that is now without veteran right-hander Jameson Taillon<\/a> for at least one month. He\u2019s pitched into the sixth in each of his post-IL outings while allowing five runs in 16 1\/3 innings and just one walk in that span.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the case when I was hurt where everybody else in the rotation stepped up and they pitched as well as they can,\u201d Imanaga said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. \u201cSo I think right now what I\u2019m focusing on is doing my best to help the team win, and I think every individual in the rotation, they have the capacity to reach their potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ll be the one of the top rotations. All we really have to do is just keep doing our best and picking each other up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JustinJustin Turner of the Chicago Cubs runs the bases after hitting a home run in the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins on July 8, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Ellen Schmidt\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Cubs produced only nine hard-hit balls \u2014 an exit velocity of 95 mph or higher \u2014 in the loss. Only four of those balls in play resulted in hits, singles by Dansby Swanson, Michael Busch and Happ in the second, sixth and eighth innings, respectively, and Turner\u2019s home run.<\/p>\n

Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson held the Cubs to just two hits as he tossed five shutout innings in which he threw only 61 pitches. Although the righty walked three batters, the Cubs couldn\u2019t take advantage, part of their missed opportunities with an 0-for-5 performance with runners in scoring position and eight left on base in the loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made it a little bit too easy for him, he got through five relatively easy, frankly,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cI think we swung the right pitches. We just had some misses, and so many OK hit fly balls, but not enough action.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Twins teed off on reliever Porter Hodge in the bottom of the eighth, tagging the right-hander for six runs before an out was recorded. Five came on three home runs, including back-to-back homers by Ryan Jeffers and Willi Castro. Beyond the ugly numbers it was a concerning outing from Hodge, who has been used in lower-leverage spots since returning from the injured list. His velocity was again down on average by 1 mph, with his fastball and going as low as 93.1 mph.<\/p>\n

Minnesota\u2019s crooked number erased hope of a ninth-inning rally. Counsell turned to infielder Jon Berti to record the final two outs of the eighth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wasn\u2019t sharp, wasn\u2019t my best,\u201d Hodge said, \u201cso they got the better of me tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 Shota Imanaga quickly learned the approach Minnesota Twins hitters decided to deploy against the Chicago Cubs\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":50631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,1271,5386,1818,38183,1287,5435],"class_list":{"0":"post-50630","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-chicago-cubs","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-justin-turner","13":"tag-minnesota-twins","14":"tag-shota-imanaga"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114821706847754200","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}