Shōta Imanaga is human.
After a historic start to his MLB career, the rookie Chicago Cubs pitcher was roughed up by the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night. Imanaga allowed seven earned runs to Milwaukee in a truncated outing that lasted just 4 1/3 innings. The Brewers prevailed, 10-6.
Christian Yelich got the Brewers party started with a first-pitch, 441-foot home run in the first inning to give Milwaukee a 2-1 lead.
Imanaga got through the rest of the first and the second inning unscathed. But the Brewers poured it on in the third. With runners on the corners, Will Adames knocked in a run with a one-out single to center field. Gary Sánchez then scored Yelich and Adames with a double to left field.
Blake Perkins then sent a first-pitch 82 mph splitter that hung over the plate over the left field wall that scored two runs and extended Milwaukee’s lead to 7-1.
The seven earned runs in three innings more than doubled the five Imanaga allowed across 53.2 innings in his nine previous starts.
The damage against Imanaga was done. He got through a 1-2-3 fourth inning, then got pulled by manager Craig Counsell when he issued a one-out walk to Adames in the fifth. The Brewers added three more runs off Cubs relievers en route to the 10-6 win.
Imanaga finished the outing allowing seven earned runs on eight hits, two home runs and one walk. He recorded a single strikeout.
The good news is that his season-long ERA is still remarkable. Even with the bloated outing, his ERA through 58 innings sits at a tidy 1.86. That’s thanks to a 0.84 ERA that stood as the lowest in MLB history through a player’s first nine career starts.
Daniel Miller is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. His coverage spans from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis for sports enthusiasts.
