Game Recap: Imanaga, offense shine as Cubs avoid sweep against Brewers

Benny Sieu - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 20 hours ago

MILWAUKEE - Although things were ugly in the first two games of the series, all was not lost for the Chicago Cubs (63-45). Looking to avoid the three-game sweep at the hand of the Milwaukee Brewers (64-44) at American Family Field, Wednesday was by far the most important game of the week, as this was a two-game swing in the standings.

A loss would put the Cubs a season-high three games out of first place, while a win would close the gap back to one game with plenty of baseball left to play. Looking to bounce back from arguably the worst start of his two-year career, Shota Imanaga took the ball against Freddie Peralta, who has had the Cubs' number most of his career.

This was one of those days where Peralta didn't have his best stuff as the Cubs chased him after four innings of work and five runs allowed. That would be more than enough for the Cubs, who tacked on some late-game offense to secure the series finale 8-3. Had it not been for the two solo shots Imanaga allowed, this would've gone down as a sensational start as the left-hander didn't walk a man and struck out eight across those five innings.

Even with losses in the first two games, the Cubs had the lead in both of those games as they scored first during those losses. That trend continued on Wednesday with Michael Busch taking the first pitch of the day from Peralta over the fence to put the Cubs in front 1-0. Kyle Tucker followed that homer with a walk while a Pete Crow-Armstrong single kept the pressure on, only to have Peralta wiggle out of trouble.

Just as fast as the Cubs had the lead, things were tied as William Contreras touched him up for his first of two solo shots to make this a 1-1 game in the bottom of the first. Apart from that, Imanaga did his job as he struck out the side in the first and was able to minimize the damage. With neither team scoring in the second, it was the top of the Cubs' order doing the damage again in the third as they continued to make Peralta work.

It all started with a one-out single from Tucker while a Seiya Suzuki walk put a pair of runners on with one out. Pete Crow-Armstrong kept the line moving with a hustling double as the Cubs took the lead for good, 2-1. Peralta continued to struggle with his command throughout the third, walking Nico Hoerner to load the bases only to have Moises Ballesteros clear the bases with a double and pushing the Cubs lead to 5-1.

As good as Imanaga was, it was the long ball that kept things close throughout as Contreras connected for his second homer in as many at-bats to pull the Brewers to within 5-2 in the fourth. Milwaukee would follow that up with another run in the fifth as the Blake Perkins double started things off before a Joey Ortiz single put runners on the corners and one out.

Imanaga did a great job minimizing the damage in that inning, but with Sal Frelick picking up a sacrifice fly to make this a 5-3 game, it would be the end of the road for Imanaga, as this was going to come down to which bullpen could do their job. Fortunately for the Cubs, it was their bullpen that took care of business as their offense jumped all over DL Hall and the Brewers' pen in the sixth to break things open.

Two batters into the sixth, and this was a 6-3 game as Justin Turner and Dansby Swanson started things off with a pair of doubles. Matt Shaw would add an infield single later in the inning, only to have Tucker rip a double down the right field line to push the Cubs' lead to 8-3. That is as close as things would get for Milwaukee as Brad Keller and Caleb Thielbar combined to toss three near-perfect frames of relief, forcing the Brewers bullpen to do the same.

Grant Anderson did his part with three strikeouts across 1 2/3 scoreless frames, but it was Easton McGee who had a tough time finishing things off late. Even with a scoreless start to the inning for McGee, it began to sour quickly as Crow-Armstrong led the inning off with another double for his third hit of the day.

Following a deep fly out from Carson Kelly that allowed PCA to move to third, it was Hoerner doing his best Brewers impersonation as a sacrifice fly pushed the Cubs' lead to 9-3. Ian Happ stepped in to bring the fireworks shortly after by answering that sacrifice fly with a solo shot as the Cubs extended their lead to 10-3 late.

That would be it for the offense for either side as Daniel Palencia worked a drama-free ninth inning to close things out for the Cubs. With the win, the Cubs will head into deadline day one game out of first and close out the American Family Field portion of their schedule with a 3-3 record.

Leading the way for the Cubs was Crow-Armstrong as he came away with three hits, two of which were doubles. Tucker also added two hits as the Cubs had 11 hits in the win.