MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich, Blake Perkins and Willy Adames hit homers and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 10-6 Wednesday night, handing Shota Imanaga his first loss.
Rookie Joey Ortiz, batting leadoff for the first time, hit a double against Imanaga (5-1) in the first. Two batters later, Yelich crushed a 441-foot home run to right center to give the Brewers an early 2-0 lead.
Imanaga entered the game with a major league-leading 0.84 ERA. He had allowed five earned runs in his first nine starts before being charged with seven on Wednesday as his ERA climbed to 1.86.
Yelich’s first homer since April 10 at Cincinnati also ended Milwaukee’s 32 2/3 streak against Cubs starters this season and accounted for the only first-inning runs allowed by Imanaga.
“He has some good things. He’s a really good pitcher,” Yelich said. “We had some really good hitters and made some pitches and didn’t really miss them. We took advantage of our opportunities tonight. We had some big success with the guys and that was the difference.
Ian Happ’s solo homer off Bryse Wilson in the second brought the Cubs within a run.
Perkins jumped the center field fence to rob Christopher Morel of a two-run homer in the third.
Perkins said his ability to make the play comes from practicing catching at the wall during batting practice.
“It’s knowing the flight of the ball from the start, I feel like I’ve made that play so many times. It’s just natural now,” he said.
The Brewers scored five runs in the third. Adames singled with a run, Gary Sánchez made a pair with a double and Perkins finished the inning with a two-run homer to increase Milwaukee’s lead to 7-1.
Imanaga allowed a season-high eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, his second-shortest outing of the season. He had a walk and a strikeout while throwing 82 pitches. He entered having struck out at least seven batters in five straight starts.
“He wasn’t as sharp as we’ve seen him in the past. They hit his mistakes. It wasn’t a good night for Shota, Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.
Imanaga said he mostly struggled with his changeup.
“I didn’t throw it where I wanted to,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “They were making adjustments and I didn’t have the consistency today.”
The Cubs scored a run in the fourth on Michael Busch’s groundout. They added two more in the fifth.
Perkins made a spectacular dive on the warning track to take away an extra base hit from Happ in the seventh. Milwaukee added three more runs in their half of the inning, two on Adames’ ninth home run of the season.
The Cubs added two runs in the ninth.
Perkins’ stellar defense earned praise from Yelich.
“He pretty much won the game for us on defense, not even counting what he did for us at the plate,” Yelich said. “It’s probably the best match I’ve ever seen him play and it was a great moment for it.”
Wilson, who stood near the mound with his hands raised above his head for several seconds after Perkins’ home run steal against the fence, agreed.
“For him to have the game he had today is awesome and it makes everyone happy because of the person he is off the field,” Wilson said. “He’s a great guy and for him to start to become the player that he can really be, it’s really fun to watch.
Jared Koenig (5-1) pitched two scoreless innings of relief to earn the win.
FOLLOWING
RHP Jameson Taillon (3-2, 2.58 ERA) pitches for the Cubs and RHP Colin Rea (4-2, 3.98) starts for the Brewers in the series finale on Thursday.
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