Whether it’s the offense coming alive or simply beating an inferior team, the Chicago Cubs have sure enjoyed their time near South Beach. The Cubs took care of business against the Miami Marlins on Friday and Saturday. While it was a team effort, the Cubs can save much of the credit for Seiya Suzuki and Shōta Imanaga.
Pete Crow-Armstrong has had himself a series thus far. On Friday, he ran around the bases in just 14 seconds to complete an inside-the-park home run. He wasn’t done, though. He launched a natural home run into the upper deck on Saturday.
The Cubs exploded for 14 runs on 17 hits on Saturday to fry the fish. Five Cubs registered more than one hit, including Michael Busch (2), Mike Tauchman (2), PCA (2), and Miguel Amaya (3). The other one was Suzuki with three hits.
Suzuki’s three hits were two home runs and a triple, 11 total bases. His teammate, Shōta Imanaga, pitched a seven-inning gem. Imanaga allowed just two runs on four hits. Together, they made history (again).
Before Saturday afternoon, never in MLB history has a pair of Japanese-born players combined for three extra-base hits and earn a win in the same game. That’s right, Shohei Ohtani has not even done this himself. The history books have changed thanks to the efforts of Seiya Suzuki and Shōta Imanaga in the Cubs’ victory Saturday.
In his first at-bat, Suzuki launched a 412-foot bomb over the center field wall. He followed that up with a second home run in the third inning. After being intentionally walked in the fourth and striking out in the fifth, Suzuki tripled in the seventh inning, driving in another run. That’s three extra-base hits, 11 total bases, three runs, and four runs batted in.
Meanwhile, Shōta Imanaga was dealing on the mound. His only two mistakes of the day were solo home runs to Connor Norby and David Hensley. Those were the only runs to cross the plate for Miami. Imanaga went seven innings before the bullpen took care of the rest.
Together, that’s three extra-base hits, a quality start, and a win. Another MLB first captured by Imanaga. This time, he got to thank a teammate along the way.
Shōta Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki will team up to begin 2025 in their home country. The Cubs will face the Los Angeles Dodgers to open the MLB regular season in Tokyo, Japan. Two games will be played at the Tokyo Dome on March 18th and 19th.
This will not only be special for the Cubs with Imanaga and Suzuki on the roster. The Dodgers will likely have Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto starting games in their home country. These four will be the stars of the show next March.
In 2000, the Cubs played two games against the New York Mets in Japan. The two teams split the games. Mark Grace homered to help Jon Lieber and the Cubs win the first game. The Mets won game two after scoring four runs in the 11th inning.
