Miami — Shota Imanaga delivered a strong pitching performance Friday, helping the Chicago Cubs secure a 6-1 victory over the Miami Marlins at LoanDepot Park. The left-hander, sporting a new shorter haircut, limited Miami to one run and three hits over six-plus innings, walking no batters and allowing no home runs—accomplishments he has achieved just twice in 28 starts this season.
Imanaga’s splitter was the centerpiece of his outing, generating a career-high 17 swing-and-misses. This marked the highest number of whiffs on a splitter by a major league pitcher since Keaton Winn of the San Francisco Giants recorded 18 last September. The success of the pitch prompted frequent use, with catcher Carson Kelly and Imanaga consistently relying on it to keep the Marlins off balance.
“He’s a pro, he knows what he needs to do, and it’s a long year,” Kelly said of Imanaga. “You’re going to have these ups and downs, and I think for him the last couple haven’t been great. But before that, he was doing really, really good, so just making some adjustments, and it was a good one for him to go out there and do his thing.”
Imanaga also maintained his four-seam fastball’s velocity deep into the outing, topping out at 92.6 mph and sitting consistently between 91.4 and 91.8 mph through seven innings. Marlins manager Craig Counsell noted the improvement in endurance compared to Imanaga’s previous start.
“In his last start he had to work really hard to put up a zero in the first inning,” Counsell said. “He maintained [velocity] tonight really well. I think that’s how he’s best—when he’s pitching like that in a consistent manner.”
Defensively, center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong made a standout contribution with a leaping catch near the wall in the bottom of the sixth inning, preventing Heriberto Hernández from potential extra bases and preserving a four-run cushion. Crow-Armstrong also reached base three times and scored twice.
The Cubs’ bullpen received a reprieve following Imanaga’s strong outing, with Aaron Civale delivering three scoreless innings to earn his second save of the season.
The win boosted the Cubs’ record to 80-62, allowing them to overtake the Philadelphia Phillies by half a game for the top National League wild-card spot. Chicago holds the tiebreaker over Philadelphia by winning the season series 6-1. The Phillies fell to the Atlanta Braves 5-2 on Friday.
Imanaga, who has struggled recently with a 4.97 ERA over the past two months, acknowledged the challenge of rebuilding trust with his team and fans.
“Building trust is kind of like Dominoes or Jenga where it takes time and it’s hard to build up, but in an instant it can disappear,” he said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “So I want to slowly build that trust back up and be that pitcher that everybody can trust.”