Shota Imanaga is human.
After a historic start to his MLB career, the rookie Chicago Cubs pitcher was roughed up by the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night. Imanaga allowed seven earned runs to Milwaukee in a truncated out that lasted just 4 1/3 innings. The Brewers won 10-4.
Christian Yelich got the Brewers party going with a 450-foot home run on the first pitch of the first inning, giving Milwaukee a 2-1 lead.
Imanaga got through the remainder of the first and second inning unscathed. But the Brewers surged ahead 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 a 132-mph splitter on the first pitch that hung over the left-field plate that scored two runs and extended Milwaukee’s lead to 7-1.
The seven earned runs in three innings were more than double the three Imanaga allowed in 53.2 innings in his nine previous starts – all wins.
The damage against Imanaga had already been done. He got through a 1-2-3 fourth inning, then was pulled by manager Craig Counsell when he issued a one-out walk to Adames in the fifth. The Brewers added three more runs off Cubs reliever en route to the 10-6 win.
Imanaga closed the outing, allowing seven earned runs on eight hits, two home runs and one walk. He recorded a single strikeout.
The good news is that his season-long ERA is still remarkable. Even with the blown outing, his ERA through 58 innings is a decent 1.86. That’s thanks to a 0.84 ERA that was the lowest in MLB history through a player’s first nine career starts.
