The Milwaukee Brewers handed Chicago Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga the worst start of his Major League Baseball career on Wednesday night (GameTracker), in the process becoming the first team this season to score more than two earned runs in a game against him.
Imanaga surrendered seven runs, all earned, on eight hits and a walk over the course of 4 1/3 innings. That included two home runs -- one to Christian Yelich, the other to Blake Perkins -- as well as doubles to Perkins, Gary Sánchez, and Joey Ortiz. Imanaga struck out just one of the 22 batters he faced. His seasonal ERA swelled from 0.84 to 1.86.
Here's a look at those home runs by Yelich and Perkins:
Christian Yelich obliterates this one 😮 pic.twitter.com/iBam1jI1gT
— MLB (@MLB) May 29, 2024
Rob a homer ✅
— MLB (@MLB) May 30, 2024
Hit a homer ✅
Have a night, Blake Perkins! pic.twitter.com/v0Snj6ri6J
For reference, here are a look at Imanaga's previous MLB career highs (or lows) in various categories:
- Hits: 7 (twice)
- Runs: 3
- Earned runs: 2 (twice)
- Walks: 3
- Strikeouts: 3
- Innings pitched: 4
Imanaga, then, established new career-worsts in hits, runs, and strikeouts.
The 30-year-old pitcher is in his first season in MLB after signing with the Cubs over the offseason. He had previously spent his career as part of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league, where he found a great deal of success with the Yokohama Bay Stars. Imanaga had been excellent over his first nine starts stateside, amassing an 0.84 ERA (489 ERA+) and a 6.44 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 53 2/3 innings. He had held teams scoreless in five of those appearances.
The Brewers entered Wednesday with a 31-23 record on the season, putting them in first place of the National League Central. They held a 3 1/2 game lead over the Cubs entering play. The two sides will wrap up their series with an afternoon game on Thursday.
