Game Recap: Braves top Cubs |
Dustin Riese
· · 6 hours ago
ATLANTA - When you talk about a house of horrors, Truist Park comes to mind. Dating back to the 2023 season, when the Atlanta Braves (65-79) swept the Chicago Cubs (81-63) to virtually eliminate them from the postseason, times at Truist Park have been anything but kind to this team.
You saw a little bit of that again tonight as the Braves jumped all over Shota Imanaga in the first for three quick runs, opening an early 3-0. Usually, three runs wouldn't be much to worry about, especially when you have an offense as lifeless as the Cubs right now. However, when you're trailing, three runs feel like 100 runs, as the Braves took care of their series opener with the Cubs, 4-1, to hand Chicago their third straight loss. For the second time in a week, it was Bryce Elder carving up this Cubs offense, which is frustrating to think about. Posting an ERA of 5.35 for the season, Elder has been trending upward over his past three, now four starts, as his ERA has been hovering around 1.00 over his last four outings. He continued to perform well by tossing 6 1/3 innings of one-run baseball, scattering five hits and striking out six as the Cubs haven't had an answer for him this season. Imanaga, on the other hand, couldn't have asked for a worse start to his outing, allowing three runs in the first only to settle down as he gave the Cubs six innings of three-run baseball. That makes seven consecutive quality starts for the Cubs left-hander, which ranks second in all of baseball to Garrett Crochet, who currently has eight straight quality starts. As ugly as the first inning was, things didn't start that way as Imanaga came out dealing by retiring the first two hitters in relatively easy fashion. Then came arguably one of the worst Cubs killers of all-time in Ozzie Albies as he connected for his third homer in four games against the Cubs this season to put the Braves on top for good, 1-0. That marked the beginning of four straight hits for the Braves as Ha-Seong Kim added a single shortly after with a Drake Baldwin double, doubling the Braves' lead to 2-0. Ronald Acuna Jr kept the line moving with an RBI single to make this a 3-0 game, only to have Michael Harris unload for what looked to be another homer, only to be ruled foul. That proved crucial as Imanaga got Harris to ground out to end the inning in what was the last of the runs he allowed. In fact, Imanaga settled into one of his best stretches of the season as he allowed just one hit the rest of the way to keep his team in the game. The only problem was that through five innings, Willi Castro had the lone hit of the game for Chicago, picking up a two-out single in the second. As dominant as Elder was through five innings, things started to come off the rails in the sixth, which goes to show how fast momentum can change in a game. Like the Braves in the first, it was the Cubs mounting a two-out rally with a Michael Busch single starting things off ahead of an Ian Happ walk. Seiya Suzuki went on to add another single, loading the bases, but, as has been the case all season, the Cubs were unable to get the big hit, leaving the bases loaded. At some point, you have to think this offense will turn things around, and perhaps a leadoff double from Nico Hoerner to begin the seventh was the hit they needed to swing the momentum. Dansby Swanson added a single shortly after to put runners on the corners, which proved to be the end of the road for Elder, who was removed in favor of Pierce Johnson. With Swanson stealing second to put a pair of runners in scoring position, Matt Shaw put an end to the shutout as his sacrifice fly made this a 3-1 game. That was it when it came to the Cubs offense as Aaron Civale took over for Imanaga in the seventh, allowing just a solo shot to Matt Olson in the eighth as the Braves took care of business again, 4-1. Pete Crow-Armstrong returned to the lineup and went 0-4 as the Cubs had just five hits in the loss.
