ROOKIE Shota Imanaga had another strong start and Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the fifth inning Wednesday night (Thursday in Manila) as the visiting Chicago Cubs beat the New York Mets 1-0.
Nico Hoerner had two hits and a stolen base for the Cubs, who have won two of the first three games of the four-game series. Jeff McNeil collected a pair of hits for the Mets, who have lost seven of 10.
Imanaga (5-0) gave up three hits and one walk while striking out seven over seven scoreless innings. The seven innings are a career high for Imanaga, who lowered his ERA from 0.98 to 0.78.
Imanaga entered the game as the first starting pitcher to begin his career with a 4-0 record or better and an ERA below 1.00 in his first five starts since Dave Ferriss (5-0 with a 0.60 ERA) for the Boston Red Sox in 1945.
In other games, it was the Twins 9, White Sox 5; Tigers 4, Cardinals 1; Brewers 7, Rays 1; Royals 6, Blue Jays 1; Athletics 4, Pirates 0; Phillies 2, Angels 1; Red Sox 6, Giants 2; Braves 5, Mariners 2; Yankees 2, Orioles 0; Padres 6, Reds 2; Marlins 4, Rockies 1; Nationals 1, Rangers 0; Guardians 3, Astros 2 (10 innings); and Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 0.
Twins 9, White Sox 5
Jose Miranda and Willi Castro had three hits apiece and Alex Kirilloff homered as Minnesota defeated host Chicago, extending its winning streak to 10 games.
Ryan Jeffers’ two-run double punctuated the Twins’ four-run ninth. His two RBIs matched Miranda for the team high. Tommy Pham homered, doubled and drove in two runs, and Robbie Grossman doubled twice to keep Chicago afloat before bullpen woes took a toll. The Twins scored six runs in the seventh inning or later.
Twins starter Bailey Ober (3-1) worked six innings, allowing four runs and six hits while striking out three. White Sox reliever Dominic Leone (0-1) took the loss after yielding two runs in two-thirds of an inning with two walks and two strikeouts.
