The Chicago Cubs look to record their fifth straight win while getting to .500 for the season on Monday when they open a three-game interleague series against the host Cleveland Guardians.
Left-hander Shota Imanaga (9-2, 3.06 ERA) is set to take the mound on Monday for his first-ever meeting with Cleveland. The 30-year-old Japanese star got the start last Tuesday at the beginning of the Cubs’ winning streak, striking out a career-high-tying 10 batters over seven innings in a 7-3 victory vs. the Minnesota Twins.
“Shota, he was outstanding,” Chicago manager Craig Counsell said. “The strikeouts, a big indication for sure. There were very few balls hit hard.”
The Cubs continued their winning ways on Wednesday by capturing the rubber match of the three-game set vs. the Twins before recording a two-game series sweep of the crosstown White Sox. Miguel Amaya’s two-run single in the eighth inning fueled the Cubs to a 3-1 victory over the White Sox on Saturday, Chicago’s eighth win in its past 10 games.
Dansby Swanson had an eventful day on Saturday. He watched as his wife, Mallory, scored the lone goal as the United States women’s soccer team secured a gold medal at the Paris Olympics with a 1-0 victory over Brazil. Dansby Swanson followed that up with two singles later that night to boost his career hit total to 1,001.
“Probably a day they’ll never forget,” Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger said. “His wife scores the game-winning goal in a gold match and he gets his 1,000th career hit all in the same day. That’s a pretty special day right there.”
Monday could be a special day for the Cubs, albeit on a much lesser scale. Should Chicago win in the opener of its series vs. Cleveland, it will reach .500 for the first time since it was 31-31 on June 5.
“We played a good series,” Counsell said of his team’s performance against the White Sox. “We took care of business. We won two games. … We dug ourselves a hole. We’re trying to dig out of it. We’re trying to put ourselves within striking distance here. Just keep playing good baseball.
“There’s time. But we got to play good baseball and we know we don’t have much room for error.”
The Guardians, in turn, answered seven straight losses with a pair of wins to earn a four-game series split with the Twins.
“To come back and win the next two, even that last inning where they get bases loaded and no outs, to get out of it was really cool,” said David Fry, who joined Jose Ramirez in belting a solo homer in Cleveland’s 5-3 victory on Sunday.
The American League Central-leading Guardians have a 3 1/2-game advantage over second-place Minnesota.
Cleveland, which boasts a sterling 35-20 record at home, will turn to right-hander Ben Lively (10-7, 3.59) on Monday.
Lively, 32, saw his modest two-start winning streak come to an end on Wednesday after permitting four runs on four hits — including two homers — in five innings of a 7-3 setback against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Lively hasn’t fared well in two career starts against the Cubs. He is 0-2 with a 19.00 ERA after yielding 19 runs on 18 hits — including eight homers — in nine innings.
