Imanaga leaves with cramps; Cubs hit four homers to beat Pirates
PITTSBURGH — Heading into Tuesday's action, every team the Cubs had played this season owned a winning record. Things were about to change with a three-game series against the Pirates, who started the night seven games below .500.
The Cubs hit 4 home runs, may have avoided a significant injury on the mound and rolled past the Pirates 9-0 at PNC Park.
After throwing 5 scoreless innings, Cubs starter Shota Imanaga left the mound one batter into the sixth. The diagnosis was cramps in both quads, which doesn't seem alarming.
“I don't think there will be any issue for the next start,” Imanaga said through translator Edwin Stanberry. “I've had it in the past where I've had that feeling coming along and I kind of pushed past it, and that affects me negatively.
“So I feel like today I was able to stop it a few steps before it would become a bigger issue. I think it took some courage to say I should come out of the game, but I'm glad I did.”
Manager Craig Counsell shook up the batting order for this game, moving catcher Carson Kelly to the cleanup spot while dropping slump-ridden shortstop Dansby Swanson to No. 8. The switch worked like a charm, since Kelly's 2-run homer started the Cubs scoring in the fourth inning and Swanson got going with a solo homer in the eighth.
The other home runs were 2-run shots by Pete Crow-Armstrong, who sent a line drive three rows from the top of the right field seats; and Seiya Suzuki, who also had a double and triple.
“Usually I start (checking) in the lower part of the lineup, and I kind of am like, 'Hold on, I know I'm playing today,'” Kelly joked. “Then I look up a little bit higher. I'm like, 'OK, I'm up there.' So no, it's great. Whenever I'm in there, whatever position it is, go out and give it my all.”
Catchers these days seem to fall most often into the Nos. 8 or 9 slots in the order. Kelly suggested you could count the number of times he hit cleanup on one hand.
Actually, though, he had 102 previous at-bats hitting fourth in the majors. He has far more batting eighth — 655, according to baseball-reference.com — but he's not a novice.
“I think no strikeouts is kind of what you take away from today,” Counsell said. “I know we had some home runs, obviously, and that's great, but to go through a game without any strikeouts, that just means we're having good at-bats to me.”
Pittsburgh left-hander Andrew Heaney came into the game on a streak of 16 consecutive scoreless innings, then retired the Cubs in order in the first three frames. Finally, in the fourth, Suzuki doubled with two outs and Kelly followed with a deep drive that landed 418 feet away in the left-field seats.
It was Kelly's seventh home run of the season. On the morning of April 30, the Cubs catcher still has a higher OPS than Aaron Judge (1.415 to 1.235).
Kelly also had a good view of Imanaga's outing. The left-handed starter said he consulted with the Cubs pitching coaches this week and made a priority of establishing the top of the strike zone. When hitters are looking for something up, he can come back with the splitter that drops low.
“The heater's got some really good carry and ride,” Kelly said of Imanaga's fastball. “So it just continues to ride through the zone and it feels like it never comes down, which is a pretty cool thing.”
Because Imanaga's injury was just cramps, it looks like the Cubs are OK with starting pitchers for now. At the same time, Cade Horton tossed 6 innings for the Iowa Cubs on Tuesday, allowing 3 hits and 1 earned run. His ERA in Triple-A this season is 1.17.