Shota Imanaga struck out a career-high 11 batters and won his fifth game in a row. Dansby Swanson hit a three-run homer and matched his season high with four RBIs, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 9-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Monday night.
Chicago (77-73) stayed five games behind the New York Mets (82-68) for the last NL wild card spot, with 12 games left to play.
Imanaga (14-3) gave up five hits in six innings, including Brent Rooker’s 38th homer, a two-run shot in the third inning. The 31-year-old left-hander walked three batters and reached 14 wins for the first time in his career during his first year in the majors after spending eight seasons in Japan.
“He’s a rookie and he’s really talented and good,” said Chicago manager Craig Counsell. “I hope there’s other things he’s got left to accomplish.”
Imanaga pitched 166 1/3 innings this season, surpassing his goal of 162 innings for 2024.
“I’m being honest, I’m not too concerned about the number of wins I have,” Imanaga said through a translator. “I think it’s more important to help the team win.”
Imanaga got 11 of his 22 strikeouts with his split-finger fastball.
“That pitch was super-effective,” Counsell said. “We thought they would be aggressive with the fastball, so the split turned out to be a really good pitch tonight.”
Rooker hit a home run for the second game in a row and added a single as Oakland lost its third consecutive game. The previous two losses were against the White Sox, who hadn’t won back-to-back games in nearly three months.
Isaac Paredes and Miguel Amaya each had three hits and drove in two runs as part of an 18-hit attack. Paredes is 14 for his last 29 (.483) with seven RBIs in his last eight games.
Seiya Suzuki also had three hits, one of seven Cubs starters with multiple hits in the game.
