Imanaga ties 11‑K mark

Shota Imanaga matched his career high with 11 strikeouts on April 15, holding the Philadelphia Phillies to one run over six innings in an 11-2 Cubs win. (mlb.com) The Chicago left-hander gave up a leadoff home run to Trea Turner, then allowed only three more Phillies to reach base across the next 21 plate appearances. He finished with three hits allowed, one walk and 11 strikeouts at Citizens Bank Park. (espn.com) Imanaga generated 26 swings and misses, tying Yu Darvish’s Cubs single-game mark in the pitch-tracking era that began in 2008. His splitter alone produced 14 whiffs, and he paired it with 34 four-seam fastballs and 19 sweepers. (mlb.com) The outing extended a sharp early-season run for Imanaga after an injury-marred 2025. In four starts this season, he has a 2.45 earned run average with 31 strikeouts and five walks in 22 innings. (mlb.com) Most of the damage against that earned run average came in his first inning of the season on March 29, when Washington’s Joey Wiemer hit a three-run homer. Since that frame, opponents are batting.127 against him, according to MLB.com. (mlb.com) Chicago’s offense gave the start breathing room. Nico Hoerner drove in a career-high five runs, Matt Shaw doubled three times with two runs batted in, and Dansby Swanson homered as the Cubs collected 15 hits. (espn.com) The win gave the Cubs the rubber game of the three-game series in Philadelphia. Chicago returns home to open a series against the New York Mets on Friday, April 17, while the Phillies host the Atlanta Braves that night after an off day on Thursday. (espn.com; mlb.com) For Imanaga, the headline number was 11 strikeouts. The deeper number was 26 missed swings, a sign that the version of him the Cubs saw in 2024 is showing up again in April 2026. (mlb.com)