Shōta Imanaga has been so good this year that I think all of us hoped he had turned the page on 2025 and would have a 2024-type season all year.
Until Monday, that was the case. Unfortunately, Imanaga got hit hard and had his worst start of the year (and to be honest, he had a couple of clunkers like this in ‘24, too), and the Cubs’ 15-game home winning streak ended ith a 9-3 defeat at the hands of the Brewers.
Christian Yelich homered in the second to give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead. Now, the wind was blowing
out at 15 miles per hour on a warm evening at Wrigley Field, but that one didn’t need any help — it bounced off the right-field video board and measured 409 feet.
The Brewers put four on the board in the fourth and honestly, with a bit of luck Imanaga could have gotten out of that inning scoreless. Milwaukee had five hits in the inning, but the only one hit hard was a two-run double by Sal Frelick. A couple of seeing-eye singles and one that Nico Hoerner couldn’t get an out on produced most of the damage that gave the Brewers a 5-0 lead.
The Cubs couldn’t do anything with Brandon Sproat over the first four innings, even though the first two Cubs hitters of the game, Hoerner and Michael Busch, drew walks. About that, from BCB’s JohnW53:
The Cubs failed to score in the first inning after their first two batters walked.
In their last six games that had begun that way, from April 9, 2022 through July 18, 2025, the Cubs had scored three, six, five, six, five and three runs. They had won five of the games, only lost the next-to-last at home vs. the Padres, 8-7, on April 6 of last year.
The last time they did not score was on May 4, 2021, but they beat the Dodgers at home, 4-3.
So, not scoring in that situation is not only unusual, but the Cubs had generally won games like that in recent years. Not this time, though.
Imanaga was finally removed after serving up a three-run homer to Jake Bauers in the fifth. From John:
The eight runs off Imanaga tie for the second most he has surrendered in his 64 career starts.
He gave up 10 to the Mets in 3.0 innings on June 21, 2024, and eight to the Mets on Sept. 25 in 5.2 innings of last year. Both games were at home.
This was the eighth start in which he gave up at least five runs. His ERA this year was 2.32 going into Monday. Now it is 3.38.
I remember that 2024 game well. If it’s any consolation, in his first five starts after that game, Imanaga posted a 2.93 ERA and threw well most of the rest of 2024.
The Cubs did make an attempt to get back in the game. Carson Kelly’s single leading off the fifth erased any thoughts of a no-hit bid by Sproat. After Pete Crow-Armstrong struck out, Dansby Swanson deposited a baseball on Waveland [VIDEO].
That ball was crushed! [VIDEO]
And in case you were wondering where that ball wound up:
There have already been more home runs hit to Waveland this year, in 24 home games, than all of last year, when there were only three.
Nico followed with a walk and Busch doubled him in [VIDEO].
Well. Now it’s 8-3 and there’s only one out, another couple of hits and the Cubs are back in the game. Unfortunately, Alex Bregman grounded out and Ian Happ was called out on strikes to end the inning.
The Brewers made it 9-3 off Ethan Roberts in the sixth, the first run Roberts has allowed all year.
The Cubs put newcomer Ty Blach in the game in the seventh. He wound up throwing three scoreless innings, helped out by this nice throw by Happ to get Luis Rengifo trying to stretch a single into a double [VIDEO].
Blach did exactly the job the Cubs put him on the roster for — to eat up some innings and save the rest of the bullpen. He’s 35 and not likely going to be around for long, but that was a nice effort for the evening.
The Cubs did have some baserunners after the three-run seventh, but nothing doing, and overall the team was 0-for-9 with RISP. You know that’s been an issue much of the year, so I won’t belabor it, especially in a 9-3 blowout.
Here are Craig Counsell’s postgame comments [VIDEO].
I agree with Counsell about Imanaga’s command being the issue. Hopefully this is something that can be addressed quickly and he can turn it around in his next start.
One last note on this game from John:
This was the Cubs’ 100th regular-season game at home vs. the Brewers in which they allowed at least five runs.
They are 28-72 in those games.When they have given up no more than four runs, the Cubs are 91-39 — .700.
The Cubs are 74-21, .779, when they have scored at least five vs. the Brewers at Wrigley, and 45-89, .336, with four or fewer.
The Cubs’ lead in the NL Central over the Brewers dropped to half a game with this loss (and Milwaukee is one game ahead in the loss column). And this series is not going to get any easier with Jacob Misiorowski on the mound for Milwaukee Tuesday evening. Ben Brown will get the start for the Cubs and he’s been really good in his two starts so far this year. Game time is again 6:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
