Seiya Suzuki hit two home runs and a triple, and Shota Imanaga pitched seven innings, giving up two runs, as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Miami Marlins 14-2 on Saturday.
Pete Crow-Armstrong, who had an inside-the-park home run the day before, also hit a home run, a 437-foot shot into the upper deck seats. Miguel Amaya added three hits and a walk, making him 8 for 12 in his last three games. Patrick Wisdom also homered for the Cubs, who collected 17 hits.
“We got to relax a little bit late in the game,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “It sets up the pitching really well.”
Imanaga (10-3) allowed four hits, walked two, and struck out three. It was his seventh start in which he pitched seven innings.
“I was able to go into the seventh but my goal is to try to get into the eighth inning,” Imanaga said through a translator. “They were aggressive early in the count, and I noticed that. It was kind of my game plan — let them hit it and keep going from there.”
The Cubs (65-65) are 14-7 since July 31 and reached .500 for the first time since June 5. They had been nine games under .500 at 39-48 on July 3.
“We dug ourselves a big hole,” Counsell said. “It’s taken us a bit, but this stretch, specifically at the end of August, we’ve played consistent baseball. It means that a lot of people are contributing. Consistency means you’re getting contributions up and down the roster.”
The Marlins have lost eight of their last nine games and are now at an NL-worst 46-83.
Chicago quickly got on the board against Miami starter Valente Bellozo (2-2) with Suzuki’s solo home run in the first inning, driving Bellozo’s fastball over the center field wall.
