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ST. LOUIS — Ian Happ didn’t know how to explain how he came out of his slump to homer in three straight games.
“I’m going to give you a bunch of cliches,” Happ said of his swing. “But it feels good.”
Happ’s three-run shot in the first inning Friday had the Chicago Cubs feeling good in the opener of their series against the St. Louis Cardinals. After winning the final two games in Pittsburgh and arriving in St. Louis in the middle of the morning, things looked bright for once as they tried to right themselves after a 10-game losing streak.
But ***** Imanaga was back to his old ways, and thus, so were the Cubs.
Staked to that three-run lead, Imanaga handed it right back in the bottom of the first on a hit batter, a four-pitch walk and a three-run shot by Nelson Velazquez.
The Cardinals wound up with a 6-5 win, handing the Cubs their 11th loss in 13 games before a raucous crowd of 37,564, most of whom kept their shirts on.
Imanaga (5-5) served up three home runs and blew two early leads, losing his fourth consecutive start. The most effective Cubs starter for the first seven weeks of the season, the former All-Star has fallen on hard times since mid-May. He had a 2.32 ERA and five home runs allowed over his first nine starts but has posted an 11.49 ERA and allowed eight homers in his last three starts.
Cubs pitchers have served up a major-league-worst 82 home runs, led by Jameson Taillon (19) and Imanaga (13).
How bothersome is that trend?
“Yeah, that’s bothersome,” manager Craig Counsell replied.
Nothing more to add.
Friday’s start was reminiscent of Game 2 of the National League Division Series last October in Milwaukee, in which Seiya Suzuki hit a three-run homer in the first as the Cubs hoped to tie the series. But Imanaga gave it right back on a three-run homer by Andrew Vaughn in the bottom of the inning.
After that loss, Counsell declined to go with Imanaga in the do-or-die Game 5, which the Cubs lost to end their season.
“The offense put up three runs and gave up three runs right there. That’s tough for the team, for the atmosphere of the team,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “If the home run was something else, it wouldn’t be three runs right there.”
What has gone wrong the last three starts?
“The opposing team, they’re analyzing what pitches I’m using and executing their game plan,” Imanaga said. “I need to execute my game plan better.”
Seems like a plan.
Counsell said Imanaga will give up home runs, but he has to limit the damage by keeping men off base ahead of them.
“We struggled the first 10 pitches of the game, essentially,” Counsell said. “It didn’t look like he had a great feel for where the ball was going, and that’s it. That’s a big spot in the game.”
The Cubs took the lead again in the second on Michael Busch’s RBI single, but Imanaga gave up another tying home run to .159-hitting Thomas Saggese in the fourth, then a go-ahead home run to Ivan Herrera in the fifth.
The Cardinals scored an insurance run off Phil Maton in the eighth to make it 6-4, and that proved essential when the Cubs scored a run in the top of the ninth.
Though Cardinals starter Andre Pallante was removed after three innings, allowing four runs on eight hits, six Cardinals relievers allowed one run on three hits over the final six innings.
“We did a good job getting guys on base,” Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman said. “Obviously when you get a starter out of the game in three innings, you did really good. Not good enough.”
Happ called it “a tough one,” another cliche that applies to the recent Cubs slump.
“Had some opportunities,” he said. “But that’s the game of baseball.”
Continue reading...
“I’m going to give you a bunch of cliches,” Happ said of his swing. “But it feels good.”
Happ’s three-run shot in the first inning Friday had the Chicago Cubs feeling good in the opener of their series against the St. Louis Cardinals. After winning the final two games in Pittsburgh and arriving in St. Louis in the middle of the morning, things looked bright for once as they tried to right themselves after a 10-game losing streak.
But ***** Imanaga was back to his old ways, and thus, so were the Cubs.
Staked to that three-run lead, Imanaga handed it right back in the bottom of the first on a hit batter, a four-pitch walk and a three-run shot by Nelson Velazquez.
The Cardinals wound up with a 6-5 win, handing the Cubs their 11th loss in 13 games before a raucous crowd of 37,564, most of whom kept their shirts on.
Imanaga (5-5) served up three home runs and blew two early leads, losing his fourth consecutive start. The most effective Cubs starter for the first seven weeks of the season, the former All-Star has fallen on hard times since mid-May. He had a 2.32 ERA and five home runs allowed over his first nine starts but has posted an 11.49 ERA and allowed eight homers in his last three starts.
Cubs pitchers have served up a major-league-worst 82 home runs, led by Jameson Taillon (19) and Imanaga (13).
How bothersome is that trend?
“Yeah, that’s bothersome,” manager Craig Counsell replied.
Nothing more to add.
Friday’s start was reminiscent of Game 2 of the National League Division Series last October in Milwaukee, in which Seiya Suzuki hit a three-run homer in the first as the Cubs hoped to tie the series. But Imanaga gave it right back on a three-run homer by Andrew Vaughn in the bottom of the inning.
After that loss, Counsell declined to go with Imanaga in the do-or-die Game 5, which the Cubs lost to end their season.
“The offense put up three runs and gave up three runs right there. That’s tough for the team, for the atmosphere of the team,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “If the home run was something else, it wouldn’t be three runs right there.”
What has gone wrong the last three starts?
“The opposing team, they’re analyzing what pitches I’m using and executing their game plan,” Imanaga said. “I need to execute my game plan better.”
Seems like a plan.
Counsell said Imanaga will give up home runs, but he has to limit the damage by keeping men off base ahead of them.
“We struggled the first 10 pitches of the game, essentially,” Counsell said. “It didn’t look like he had a great feel for where the ball was going, and that’s it. That’s a big spot in the game.”
The Cubs took the lead again in the second on Michael Busch’s RBI single, but Imanaga gave up another tying home run to .159-hitting Thomas Saggese in the fourth, then a go-ahead home run to Ivan Herrera in the fifth.
The Cardinals scored an insurance run off Phil Maton in the eighth to make it 6-4, and that proved essential when the Cubs scored a run in the top of the ninth.
Though Cardinals starter Andre Pallante was removed after three innings, allowing four runs on eight hits, six Cardinals relievers allowed one run on three hits over the final six innings.
“We did a good job getting guys on base,” Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman said. “Obviously when you get a starter out of the game in three innings, you did really good. Not good enough.”
Happ called it “a tough one,” another cliche that applies to the recent Cubs slump.
“Had some opportunities,” he said. “But that’s the game of baseball.”
Continue reading...
