The Chicago Cubs matchup against the Seattle Mariners was far from your typical baseball game. It was a wild game that held many ups and downs for both sides, before the Cubs ultimately blew the game open for a scorching 19-2 finish. Shota Imanaga took to the mound for the Cubs in what became an uncommon, uncharacteristic performance from the 32 year old left hander.
Imanaga finished the day with only two innings pitched and 72 pitches thrown. In those two innings, he gave up five runs, but to his credit, even though he was on rocky ground, he managed to only allow a single run on a lead off homer after only four pitches. It's true that Imanaga is a known home run pitcher, but you could tell things were shaky from the beginning.
Shota Imanaga simply could not find his usual efficiency
Thankfully for north side fans, the Cubs offense had Imanaga's back. The game finished with not one, but two separate Cubs grand slams, so it's safe to say that they may have overcompensated. The offense may have overshadowed Imanaga's performance, but that doesn't mean it should be overlooked entirely. The Cubs pitching staff has been excellent since the All-Star Break.
Manager Craig Counsell called upon right hander Aaron Civale to come in a long relief capacity, and he took the game by the horns, not allowing a single run in four innings of work. It was a pretty stark contrast from the struggle that Imanaga had just displayed. As a result for his efforts, Civale collected the win, and the Cubs offense did so well that the Mariners accepted defeat and installed a position player to pitch.
The real nail in the coffin was that the Cubs scored so many insurance runs that Counsell no longer saw fit to expend any Cubs resources on the game, and put catcher Carson Kelly on the mound to finish the 9th inning.
The Cubs can celebrate their earned victory for now, but at the end of the day, we're approaching the end of August. September baseball can get crazy, but when you're entering the month floating around the 5-6 games behind mark like the Cubs have for the bulk of the season, things need to get serious. The Mariners took the series lead on this one no matter how the Cubs blew out the ending. Imanaga's struggle is hopefully an outlier in an otherwise excellent season.
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