Game Recap: Suzuki and PCA have big nights as Cubs hold off Guardians

Matt Marton - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 10 hours ago

CHICAGO - Playing winning baseball is fun, and for the most part, the Chicago Cubs (51-35) have been playing a lot of winning baseball this season. Coming off their worst month of the season (13-13), things have tightened up in the NL Central, a division that many thought the Cubs should run away with when the season started.

Part of that has to do with the Cubs struggles in June, but the other part is seeing the Brewers, Reds, and Cardinals all get hot, as they may not be as bad as many thought they would be. Even if things are close right now, all it takes is for one strong run in July to create some separation as the Cubs and Cleveland Guardians (40-44) continued their series at Wrigley Field on Wednesday.

This was a strange game from the jump as the Guardians raced out to a 3-0 lead against Shota Imanaga on the strength of three solo home runs. The Cubs responded by scoring five unanswered runs before some eighth and ninth-inning drama had the fans on pins and needles. All that matters is finding a way to win baseball games, and with Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong combining to drive in all five runs, it would be just enough as the Cubs held off the Guardians 5-4 to claim the series.

Making just his second start since returning from the IL and his first start back at home, Imanaga was looking to keep the good vibes going. Imanaga had his moments of struggle, evidenced by the three homers allowed, but he also found a way to grind away as he gave the Cubs 5 1/3 innings of four-strikeout baseball to improve to 5-2 on the season.

As good as he has been most of his career, the long ball has been an issue, and when the warm summer months take over Chicago, and the win starts to blow out, there are some concerns about how effective he can be. You saw a lot of that in tonight's game as the Guardians touched him up for a trio of solo shots to race out to a 3-0 lead in the third. Two of those homers came from Carlos Santana and Lane Thomas in the second, with David Fry adding the third in the third.

Apart from that, Imanaga was as good as he had been, as the Guardians failed to add to their early game lead, which is never a good thing against this Cubs offense. Facing off against Imanaga was Tanner Bibee, who, despite being the Ace of this staff, is still sporting a 4-9 record. Bibee ran labored through four innings, needing 97 pitches to get through those innings as he was charged with five earned runs.

All five of those runs came from both Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong as they continue to duke it out for the team RBI lead. With the Cubs trailing 3-0 in the third, it was the top of the Cubs order that came out swinging as Ian Happ worked a leadoff walk ahead of a Kyle Tucker single that put a pair of runners on with no outs. That single was the beginning of three straight hits for the Cubs and their offense as Suzuki followed that single with a double to put the Cubs on the board, while an infield single from PCA had the Cubs within 3-2.

Unfortunately for them, they were unable to add on as Bibee bounced back by striking out the next three hitters to keep the Guardians in front. Despite the missed opportunity, all was not lost as the Cubs' offense continued to do damage in the fourth. This time, it was the bottom of the lineup setting the table as a Matt Shaw single gave the Cubs another baserunner with one out.

Happ followed that up with his second walk in as many at-bats before a forceout put runners on the corners with two down. Tucker managed to steal second base later in the inning, which proved costly as Suzuki came through yet again with an RBI single that put the Cubs back on top, 4-3. They would never look back as Crow-Armstrong added an RBI triple immediately after to push home the winning run and extended the Cubs lead to 5-3.

That was it for the Cubs offense in terms of scoring, as the Guardians' pen did a great job of keeping things close the rest of the way. Sure, the Cubs did have their chances with traffic on the bases, but if the traffic doesn't score, there isn't much to say about it. The same can be said for the Guardians, who not only had Imanaga and Ryan Pressly on the ropes in the sixth but also kept the pressure on in the later innings as Brad Keller and Daniel Palencia had to work much harder than they expected.

For Palencia, the ninth inning was an especially interesting journey for him as a leadoff error left the door open for the Guardians while a walk to Bo Naylor put the tying run on base and one down. Then came a wild pitch that moved both runners into scoring position, and with the top of the order looming, this wasn't a spot any pitcher wanted to be in.

Palencia isn't a normal pitcher, and he isn't afraid to go after you as he challenged Steven Kwan and watched him connect for a sacrifice fly that pulled the Guardians to within 5-4. That was as close as they would get as Palencia continued firing fastballs over the plate as Kyle Manzardo ended the game with the tying run 90 feet away on a fly ball to Crow-Armstrong in center.

To make things better, Jose Ramirez was left standing in the on-deck circle as that was the guy the Guardians wanted to bat late. With the win, the Cubs secured another home series and gained another game on both the Brewers and Cardinals, who both lost on Wednesday.

Chicago had seven hits in the game, two coming from Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong, who drove in all five runs. The Cubs will go for the sweep on Thursday as they send Cade Horton to the mound against Luis Ortiz.