Shota Imanaga pitches well, but Cubs blanked by Yankees

Source: chicago.suntimes.com · Published: 2026-08-01

<img src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/9d3f024/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4840x3227+0+0/resize/840x560!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F13%2Fb2%2F15e8a1314ecdb02fb4f807ed6024%2Fyankees-cubs-baseball.jpg" alt="Cubs starter Shota Imanaga allowed two runs and four hits, struck out six and walked none in 6<b>‰</b> innings Friday against the Yankees." /> <p><a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/cubs" >Cubs</a> left-hander Shota Imanaga understood the challenge the Yankees posed, even with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger sidelined.</p><p>He did his part. The Cubs just didn’t give him the run support he needed.</p><p>Imanaga allowed two home runs in what otherwise was a terrific start, and the Cubs were shut out for the 10th time in a 2-0 loss Friday to the Yankees at Wrigley Field.</p><p>‘‘He’s been fantastic,’’ outfielder Ian Happ said of Imanaga. ‘‘The ability to throw a splitter competitively quite a bit and what he’s been able to do to lefties with that sinker, it’s been fun to watch. Not enough run support for him today, but he was fantastic.’’</p><p>After taking three of four games from the Cardinals in St. Louis, the Cubs were shut down by right-hander Will Warren and two relievers. They managed five hits in dropping the opener of the weekend series.</p><p>Imanaga, who was coming off scoreless outings in victories against the Twins and Pirates, was a tough-luck loser. He allowed two runs and four hits in 6 2/3 innings and struck out six without a walk.</p><p>Imanaga (7-9) gave up a long homer to Amed Rosario in the fourth and a drive to Spencer Jones in the fifth. But he didn’t get the support this time after the Cubs combined to outscore the Twins and Pirates 21-1 in his previous two starts.</p><p>‘‘I feel like right now I’m thinking about a lot of things where I had come up with a game plan against their hitters [and] the hitters come up with a game plan against me,’’ Imanaga said through an interpreter. ‘‘Do I go with my game plan or see what they’re doing and make those adjustments according to what they seem like their game plan is? And just thinking about what adjustments I need to do for each start or each inning.’’</p><p>Warren (8-5) held the Cubs to four hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out seven, walked none and retired 12 batters in a row before Alex Bregman and Happ chased him with back-to-back singles in the seventh. Paul Blackburn got Nico Hoerner to ground into a force to end that threat.</p><p>Pedro Ramirez singled with one out in the ninth against David Bednar, but Michael Busch flied out and Bregman grounded out to end the game.</p><p>Imanaga retired the first 11 batters he faced before Rosario launched a 450-foot drive to center. Jones made it 2-0 with a drive to right an inning later. Imanaga has allowed 24 homers this season.</p><p>Imanaga left to cheers in the seventh after retiring Trent Grisham on a fly ball for the second out.</p><p>Tyler Ferguson then got three outs before exiting with two on in the eighth. Maine East graduate Antoine Kelly, making his major-league debut after being called up from Triple-A Iowa, struck out slugger Ben Rice to end that threat and pitched around a walk in the ninth.</p><p>Kelly said he only had his parents, girlfriend, uncle and agent on hand, rather than a large group of friends and family, because ‘‘it was so last-minute.’’</p><p>He also admitted he wasn’t a Cubs or White Sox fan growing up. His team? The Brewers.</p><p>‘‘It’s probably really bad to say,’’ he said. ‘‘Big Brewers guy.’’</p><bsp-listcarousel class="PageListE" data-module data-column-count=3 data-hide-authors="true" data-hide-categories="true" data-hide-dates="true" data-hide-descriptions="true" data-show-loadmore="true" ><a class="AnchorLink" id="list-c90005" name="list-c90005"></a><div class="PageList-header" > <div class="PageList-header-title-wrap" > <div class="PageList-header-title"> <a class="" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/cubs" target="{borderColor=#dfdfdf, pageNumber=1, titleUrl=https://chicago.suntimes.com/cubs, pageCount=4711, inverseColors=false, footerBgColor=#000000, title=Latest on the Cubs, bodyFont=font-3, showListNumbers=false, imagePositionHorizontal=null, rteBodyFont=font-3, headerBottomBorderColor=#111010, subTitle=null, stickyHeader=true, listTitleColor=#000000, tableCellBorderColor=#ccd1d5, count=14133, relatedListFont=font-1, hideAuthors=true, tertiaryTextColor=#6c6c6c, buttonHoverTextColor=#ffffff, tableFont=font-1, carouselAutoPlay=false, pagination=[{body=[Next Page], href=?p=2, _template=/link/Link.hbs, contentId=null, pianoSectionSlug=null, target=null}], promoTitleFont=font-2, ctaButtonText=[], primaryTextColor=#2a2a2a, buttonTextColor=#ffffff, linkTextColor=#1a1a1a, hideTitles=false, footerLinkColor=#ffffff, carouselSpeed=null, buttonHoverBgColor=#a91d23, rteHeadingFont=font-1, secondaryColor=#656565, hideCategories=true, _template=/page/list/includes/PageList-header.hbs, font3=Arial, font4=Source-serif-4, ctaUrl=null, hideImage=false, footerLinkHoverColor=#d3242c, _styledTemplate=/page/list/PageListE.hbs, hideAudioPlayback=false, pullQuoteIcon=[{image=null, narrowImage=null, _template=/image/Image.hbs, alt=null}], secondaryTextColorInverse=#ffffff, description=[], listColumns234=null, showSecondItemMedia=false, tertiaryTextColorInverse=#ffffff, footerTextColor=#ffffff, hideDescriptions=true, headerSecondaryBgColor=#000000, primaryTextColorInverse=#ffffff, titleColor=null, ampLink=null, listHeaderPosition=null, showActionBar=true, linkHoverColor=#d3242c, buttonBgColor=#d3242c, ctaTarget=null, suppressPagination=false, promoButtonText=null, backgroundColor=null, headerSecondaryTextColor=#ffffff, anchorId=list-c90005, listTitleFont=font-2, headlineFont=font-1, promoDescriptionFont=font-3, primaryColor=#d3242c, items=[{type=Image, categoryUrl=https://chicago.suntimes.com/cubs, title=Cubs&#x27; Justin Steele says recovery is progressing, but no timetable for his return, timestamp=1785540600000, _styledTemplate=null, description=[{items=[Steele said he is pain-free. 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