Interleague Cubs-Nationals (September 22, 2024, Chicago)
Cubs’ Shota Imanaga pitched well against the Nationals
Photo By ＡＰ
Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga (31) started in the home game against the Nationals on the 22nd (23rd Japan time). He pitched well, allowing only six hits and no runs in the seventh inning, earning his 15th win of the season. This marks his sixth consecutive win, surpassing his five-game winning streak since the start of the season, making him the longest this season.
After the game, Imanaga said, “I’m glad I was able to pitch without being affected by the environment. It was difficult because I didn’t know when the game would start (due to the rain delay), but I was glad that I was able to follow the plan, such as when to take naps and eat. I came from camp aiming to be in the right condition for September. What I’ve been doing was not wrong.” He seemed even more confident with his 15th win and six consecutive wins.
His 15 wins as a first-year major league pitcher puts him in third place behind Yu Darvish (16 wins with the Rangers at the time) in 2012 and Kenta Maeda (16 wins with the Dodgers at the time) in 2016, and is tied with Daisuke Matsuzaka (15 wins with the Red Sox at the time) in 2007. He also surpassed Kazuhisa Ishii (14 wins with the Dodgers at the time) in 2002 to become the sole leader among Japanese left-handed pitchers in their first year in the major leagues.
On the 16th (17th in Japan), in a game against the Athletics, Imanaga became the eighth Japanese pitcher to reach the required number of innings pitched in his first year in the majors, and was happy to say, “My goal was to pitch 162 innings (the required number of innings pitched).” He pitched seven innings that day, bringing his total for this season to 173 1/3, and also marking a career high that surpassed the 170 he recorded in 2019 when he was with DeNA.
The start of the game was delayed for over two hours due to rain, but this had no effect on Imanaga. He calmly and calmly dealt with the hitters of the National Basketball Association. He had only allowed one hit, a single in the second inning, through the third inning. In the fourth inning, he was in a pinch with a runner on second base and no outs after Wood, the first batter, hit a double down the right field line, but he remained unfazed. He got Yepes and Chaparro to ground out to third base in succession, and did not allow the runner on second base to advance. And finally, he struck out No. 5 Louise with a 92.7 mph (about 149.7 km/h) fastball.
In the fifth inning, after easily getting two outs, he allowed two consecutive hits, putting runners on first and second, but he got Cruz to ground out to third and prevented a run. In the sixth inning, with two outs, Chaparro hit a double down the left field line, but he got Louise to fly out to second base with a weak hit. In the seventh inning, he allowed a single to leadoff batter Tena, but struck out the next batter swinging, and ended with a double play on a grounder to shortstop. In his last outing, he struck out 11 batters, an impressive performance, but on this day he struck out four, forcing them to hit. Moreover, he walked no batters, and his ERA was 2.91, again in the two-point range.
If he continues like this, he may start one more game in the regular season. The team’s wild card race is extremely tough, but Imanaga is on his way to 16 wins, the most for a Japanese pitcher in his first year.
Read more
