Game Recap: Imanaga shines, Cubs offense disappears in loss to Reds

David Banks - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 17 hours ago

CHICAGO - Enough is enough when it comes to the Chicago Cubs (65-48) and this offense. For what has been an ongoing trend since 2018, this season has proven to be a boom-or-bust season for the offense that will go through hills and valleys.

They are definitely in a valley right now, as this Cubs offense has looked anemic for the better part of July. With every passing day that the offense continues to struggle, it seems as if a Division championship is becoming less likely, as the Cubs can't get anything going offensively. In front of another packed Wrigley Field crowd, the Cubs turned to their stopper in Shota Imanaga as they looked to even up their series with the Cincinnati Reds (60-54).

Going back to last season, if the Cubs are coming off a loss and Imanaga is on the hill, this is a team that never loses as they are 20-2 in the games he starts coming off a loss. Considering Imanaga had seven strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings, things were trending in the right direction as the Cubs were well on their way to winning another one of his starts.

Then came the Cubs bullpen, who had their fourth rough outing in their last 10 games as the Reds pushed across four runs off the Cubs pen, including three off Andrew Kittredge to take what was a 1-1 tie and turn it into a 5-1 Reds win as the Cubs continue to implode in a hurry. Opposing Imanaga on the mound was the Reds' prized trade deadline acquisition in Zach Littell, who was even better than advertised on the mound.

Littell has been one of the more overlooked starters in the game this season, and tonight was one of his best starts of the season. The right-hander held the Cubs to three hits across seven innings, allowing one run and striking out eight as the Cubs' offense made another pitcher look like Cy Young. To make things worse, Littell entered the game allowing the most home runs in baseball, so to get only one run off him shows how bad things have gotten for this team over the past three weeks.

There weren't too many scoring chances early on, but the best of the chances came in the bottom of the first when Michael Busch led things off with a single before advancing to second on an Ian Happ walk. That was followed by three consecutive strikeouts as the Cubs once again failed to deliver with men on base.

Chicago had a similar situation in the fourth with Pete Crow-Armstrong reaching base on a single before advancing to second on a TJ Friedl fielding error. Nico Hoerner would take a two-out walk to extend the inning, but once again, it was the Cubs coming up empty. It took five innings for either team to break through, and it was the Reds who grabbed the lead first as a one-out double from Miguel Andujar gave the Reds their first runner in scoring position of the night.

That proved costly for the Cubs as Steer ripped a screamer down the third base line for a single as Andujar raced home to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. Steer was just getting warmed up for what was a massive night, as he delivered the big blow late. Just as quickly as the Reds grabbed the lead, the Cubs managed to tie things up as Matt Shaw unloaded for a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth, and just like that, this was a 1-1 game.

Still tied 1-1 in the seventh, Imanaga came out to start the inning before giving way to Kittredge to try and keep things tied. After a dominating weekend against the Orioles following his trade to the Cubs, Kittredge wasn't at his best in this one as he walked the first hitter he faced before allowing an Andujar single that put a pair of runners on with one out.

Then came the big blow of the game as Steer connected for his second RBI hit in as many at-bats, taking Kittredge deep to center to put the Reds on top for good, 4-1. That was only the start of what was a horrible outing for Kittredge, as that homer was followed by a Noelvi Marte double and a Jose Trevino single as the Reds continued to put pressure on the Cubs' defense.

Santiago Espinal tacked on a sacrifice fly to push across another run as this was now a commanding 5-1 Reds lead. That would be all the offense they would need as the Cubs managed to pick up one more hit the rest of the way before dropping game two of their series to the Reds 5-1. With the loss, Chicago is now 2-3 on the homestand and is in danger of getting swept at home for the first time in 2025.