Shota Imanaga Allows Five Runs on Seven Hits in 4 1/3 Innings; Cubs Come Back Twice to Top White Sox 7-6

AP

13:07 JST, June 5, 2024

CHICAGO (AP) — Ian Happ’s second double of the night drove in two runs to put the Chicago Cubs ahead in the eighth inning, and the North Siders came back twice to beat the crosstown White Sox 7-6 at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night.

Happ’s third hit of the game, lined to the right-field corner off Jordan Leasure, drove in Cody Bellinger and Christopher Morel to erase a one-run White Sox lead and deal them a 12th straight loss.

Luis Robert Jr. launched a 438-foot solo shot to the left-center bleachers in his return to the lineup to break a tie in the seventh and put the White Sox ahead 6-5. The All-Star center fielder added a single in his first game in nearly two months after being sidelined by a right hip flexor strain.

Morel and pinch-hitter Patrick Wisdom each hit two-run homers in the sixth to erase the White Sox’s four-run lead and tie the game at 5. The Cubs won for just the third time in 12 games.

Light-hitting Lenyn Sosa lined a two-run homer and Korey Lee doubled in two runs in the White Sox’s five-run rally in the fourth inning off Cubs starter Shota Imanaga.

Morel hit his team-leading 11th homer. But the third baseman also made an error fielding Paul DeJong’s chopper to set up the White Sox’s rally in the fourth.

Luke Little (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win. Hector Neris worked around a walk in the ninth for his eighth save.

White Sox starter Chris Flexen allowed one run on three hits in five innings, striking out four and walking none before the bullpen faltered. Leasure (0-1), the last of four White Sox relievers, allowed two runs on two hits in the eight.

Imanaga was charged with with five runs — one earned — on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings in his 11th start. The 30-year-old left-hander from Japan struck out six and walked none as his ERA nudged up to 1.88.

Imanaga was relieved by Tyson Miller following a 42-minute rain delay in the top of the fifth.

The White Sox took a 5-0 lead in the fourth. Four of the runs in the rally were unearned

With runners on first and second, Morel flubbed an attempt to backhand DeJong’s bouncer down the line. That allowed Andrew Vaughn to race home from second and open the scoring.

Lee lined a double to the left-field corner to make it 3-0. He came home on Sosa’s homer, his first this season and eighth of his career.

Robert, who hit 38 homers and drove in 80 runs in a breakout season in 2023, had been out since April 6.