The Cubs on Tuesday rallied for the tying and go-ahead runs in a five-run eighth inning, as the Los Angeles Dodgers committed three errors in a 6-3 loss to Chicago on a night that featured a matchup of Japanese star pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga.
The National League West-leading Dodgers blew a 3-1 lead and lost to the Cubs for the second straight night, assuring their first series loss since Aug. 5-7 against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. Los Angeles’ division lead was cut to four-and-a-half games over the second-place San Diego Padres.
Chicago are four games back of Atlanta and the New York Mets, who are tied for the last National League wild card.
Photo: Charles LeClaire-USA Today
Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong robbed Max Muncy of a potential two-run homer with two outs in the ninth.
“Honestly, it feels like he has some like Velcro or something in his glove because he keeps making these great plays,” designated hitter Seiya Suzuki said through an interpreter.
Yamamoto struck out his first four batters of his first start in nearly three months, facing off against Chicago’s Imanaga (13-3) in a matchup of former Japanese big league rivals pitching against each other for the first time in the MLB.
Photo: Kiyoshi Mio-USA Today
“They’ve traveled halfway around the world and they’re still competing against each other,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said before the game. “That’s pretty cool.”
Imanaga allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings, struck out four and walked none.
“Today I pitched well because I was going against him,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “I had a limit and I kind of went past that. It was a good day.”
In Pittsburgh, Andrew McCutchen hit a three-run blast to reach the 20-homer plateau for the 10th time in his career, as the Pirates beat the Miami Marlins 6-4.
The 37-year-old designated hitter turned on a fastball from Miami’s Adam Oller (1-3) with two on and two out in the fifth inning and sent it into the first row of bleachers in left field to give Pittsburgh a five-run lead.
McCutchen has had eight of his 20-homer seasons with Pittsburgh, the second-most in franchise history behind Hall of Famer Willie Stargell.
Still, McCutchen cannot help but think where he might rank on some of the franchise charts if the team had not traded him to San Francisco in early 2018, sending him on a five-year odyssey that ended with a return to the Pirates before last season.
“It’s nice to be able to be with those guys and those greats, it’s amazing, but it would be cool if I was here my whole career and then see where I would be at,” McCutchen said.
Elsewhere, the Detroit Tigers dominated the Colorado Rockies 11-0, the Atlanta Braves devastated the Washington Nationals 12-0, the Phillies put down the Tampa Bay Rays 9-4 and the Kansas City Royals blanked the New York Yankees 5-0.
The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Mets 6-2, the Minneapolis Twins took down the Los Angeles Angels 10-5, the Baltimore Orioles outplayed the Boston Red Sox 5-3 and the Cleveland Guardians kept the White Sox off the board in a 5-0 victory.
The Cincinnati Reds blanked the Cardinals 3-0, the Oakland Athletics pipped the Houston Astros 4-3 in 12 innings, the Milwaukee Brewers survived the San Francisco Giants 3-2, the Arizona Diamondbacks dominated the Texas Rangers 6-0 and the Padres beat the Seattle Marines 7-3.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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