Fastball

Japanese Connection Proves Historic in Chicago Cubs Win on Saturday

The Chicago Cubs throttled the Miami Marlins on Saturday afternoon as Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga took their place in history.

Brady Farkas

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Shota Imanaga (18) pitches against the Miami Marlins in the first inning at loanDepot Park on Aug 24.
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Shota Imanaga (18) pitches against the Miami Marlins in the first inning at loanDepot Park on Aug 24. / Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Cubs throttled the hapless Miami Marlins 14-2 on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Cubs are now 65-66 on the season. Miami is 46-83 and remains one of the worst teams in all of baseball.

The Cubs offense was driven by youngster Michael Busch (3-for-5, two RBI) and Seiya Suzuki, who went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI. Suzuki had a triple and two home runs.

On the mound, Shota Imanaga continued his solid rookie year by going 7.0 innings. He allowed just two runs on four hits. He walked two and struck out three in moving to 10-3. He now has a 3.08 ERA and will be in contention for the Rookie of the Year Award with Jackson Merrill and Paul Skenes.

The duo of Imanaga and Suzuki also made some unique baseball history, according to @OptaSTATS:

The @Cubs are the first team in MLB history to have one Japanese-born player notch 3+ extra-base hits (Seiya Suzuki) and another Japanese-born player earn the win (Shota Imanaga) in the same game.

(And no, Ohtani has never done this by himself.)

Over the last 30 years, the Japanese influence on the major leagues has continued to expand. It began with Hideo Nomo coming over in the mid-1990s and continues with the likes of Suzuki, Imanaga and Ohtani.

The Cubs will take on the Marlins again on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:40 p.m. ET as Javier Assad (CHC) pitches against Adam Oller (MIA).

Assad is 6-3 with a 3.11 ERA.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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