Shōta Imanaga is human.
After a historic start to his MLB career, the Chicago Cubs rookie pitcher was roughed up by the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night. Imanaga allowed seven earned runs to Milwaukee in a truncated outing that lasted just 4 1/3 innings. The Brewers prevailed, 10-6.
Christian Yelich got the Brewers party started with a 441-foot home run on the first pitch in the first inning to give Milwaukee a 2-1 lead.
Imanaga went through the rest of the first and second innings unscathed. But the Brewers struggled in the third. With runners on the corners, Will Adames drove in a run with a one-out single to center field. Gary Sánchez then scored Yelich and Adames with a double to left field.
Blake Perkins then sent an 82 mph splitter on the first pitch that hung over the plate over the left field wall that scored two runs and extended Milwaukee’s lead to 7-1.
The seven earned runs in three innings more than doubled the five Imanaga allowed in 53.2 innings over his previous nine starts.
The damage against Imanaga had already been done. He spent a 1-2-3 fourth inning, then was retired by manager Craig Counsell when he walked Adames with one out in the fifth. The Brewers added three more runs off the Cubs relievers en route to a 10-6 victory.
Imanaga finished the outing allowing seven earned runs on eight hits, two home runs and a walk. He managed just one strikeout.
The good news is that his effectiveness throughout the season remains notable. Even with the swollen output, his ERA in 58 innings sits at a tidy 1.86. That’s thanks to a 0.84 ERA that remained the lowest in MLB history through the first nine starts of a player’s career.
