Baseball

Seiya Suzuki Hits 15th Home Run; Shota Imanaga Goes 5 2/3 Innings, Allowing Three Earned Runs; Cubs Beat Royals 9-4

Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 27, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Chicago Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki (27) hits a two-run home run in the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

16:59 JST, July 28, 2024

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Wisdom hit a grand slam as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning, Seiya Suzuki also homered and the Chicago Cubs beat the Kansas City Royals 9-4 on Saturday night.

Wisdom hit for Pete Crow-Armstrong and laced the homer 440-feet off Sam Long into the fountains in left for a 7-4 lead.

“That was pretty cool,” Wisdom said. “I don’t think it really hit me until I was rounding second base and I saw the dugout going nuts so that was pretty special for sure.”

The runners were put on base by Seth Lugo (12-5), who went 6 1/3 innings. He allowed six earned runs on five hits while walking two and striking out two.

“He gave us a really good chance to win. He is out there in the seventh after giving up three runs,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “Not as many strikeouts; they did a good job of putting the ball in play and forcing some action. Lugo gave us a chance to win but you have to give them credit for putting the ball in play.”

Julian Merryweather (1-0) pitched an inning for the victory. Cubs starter Shota Imanaga went 5 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits and three strikeouts.

AP Photo/Colin E. Braley
Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga delivers to a Kansas City Royals batter during the first inning of a baseball game in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, July 27, 2024.

“I thought Shota was good and I think they did a really good job against him,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “They were really good against the high fastball and the splitter and fouled off a ton so credit to them because I thought he threw a lot of good pitches.” Overall, just a good night in all phases.”

Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Chicago Cubs Seiya Suzuki (27) reacts after hitting a two-run home run in the first inning.

Suzuki hit his 15th homer, scoring Michael Busch to make it 2-0 in the first. Hunter Renfroe his 10th homer for Kansas City in the second.

Crow-Armstrong tripled and scored in the third inning to make it 3-1.

Kansas rallied in the sixth to take a 4-3 lead. Bobby Witt Jr. doubled in Maikel Garcia, but was thrown out rounding second base. Later, Salvador Perez singled, Freddy Fermin doubled and Renfroe followed with a two-run single.

David Bote and Nico Hoerner drove in runs in the ninth for Chicago.