Isaac Paredes homered to highlight a four-RBI performance and Shota Imanaga matched a career-high 10 strikeouts, lifting the host Chicago Cubs to a 7-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday.
Paredes belted a three-run homer in the first inning and added an RBI single in the third to propel the Cubs to their fifth win in seven outings.
Imanaga (9-2) overcame a two-run homer by Royce Lewis to snap a string of three straight no-decisions. He allowed just the two runs on two hits in seven innings and one walk. Imanaga also struck out 10 batters in a no-decision against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 21.
Chicago’s Dansby Swanson highlighted his three-hit performance with a wind-blown RBI triple in the sixth inning. He subsequently scored on a wild pitch by Randy Dobnak.
Pete Crow-Armstrong added an RBI single for the Cubs in the eighth inning to cap the scoring.
Minnesota’s Christian Vazquez launched a solo homer inside the left field foul pole in the eighth inning off Drew Smyly.
Brooks Lee doubled to lead off the sixth inning for the Twins, who mustered just three hits as their five-game winning streak ended. Minnesota’s Byron Buxton was out of the lineup for the second straight day due to lower back tightness.
Seiya Suzuki and Cody Bellinger each recorded a two-out single in the first inning before Paredes deposited a 2-2 fastball from Pablo Lopez (10-8) over the wall in left field. The homer was Paredes’ 17th of the season and first in eight games since the Cubs acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays.
Paredes came through again in the third inning with a two-out single to shallow right field, plating Michael Busch and giving Chicago a 4-0 lead.
The Twins halved the deficit in the fourth after Carlos Santana worked a one-out walk and Lewis sent a first-pitch fastball over the wall in left-center field. Lewis’ homer was his 14th of the season and third in his past five games.
Lopez absorbed his first loss since July 5 after permitting four runs on seven hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out two.
