Christian Yelich, Blake Perkins, and Willy Adames hit home runs, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 10-6 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night, marking Shota Imanaga’s first loss.
Joey Ortiz, a rookie, hit a double against Imanaga in the first inning. Then, Yelich smashed a 441-foot home run, giving the Brewers an early 2-0 lead. Imanaga, who had an impressive 0.84 ERA before this game, had his ERA climb to 1.86 after allowing seven runs.
Yelich’s home run not only ended Milwaukee’s long scoreless streak against Cubs starters but also marked the only runs scored against Imanaga in the first inning.
“We had some really good at-bats and got some pitches to hit and didn’t really miss them.
We took advantage of our opportunities tonight. We got some big hits with guys on and that was the difference,” Yelich commented on the team’s performance.
Ian Happ’s solo home run in the second inning brought the Cubs closer. Perkins made an impressive catch at the center field fence in the third inning, denying Christopher Morel a potential two-run homer.
The Brewers had a big third inning, scoring five runs. Adames had a run-scoring single, Gary Sánchez drove in two runs with a double, and Perkins hit a two-run homer, extending Milwaukee’s lead to 7-1.
Imanaga had a tough outing, giving up a season-high eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. It was his second-shortest outing of the season. He had one walk and one strikeout in the 82-pitch outing.