The Brewers opened the first meeting of the season between the clubs by beating the Cubs 9-3 on Monday night at Wrigley Field, and Shota Imanaga was the centerpiece of the damage. Milwaukee scored eight runs against the left-hander, who allowed nine hits and lasted 4 2/3 innings as the Brewers kept control from start to finish.
Jake Bauers delivered the blow that broke the game open, launching a three-run home run in the fifth inning as Milwaukee widened the gap. The result mattered because the Brewers are the three-time reigning division champs, and this was the first chance for the Cubs to test themselves against the team they are trying to catch. Ian Happ said before the three-game set opened that “There’s definitely some big series in September,” but added that early in the season it is “another series of baseball,” a reminder that the standings battle is still taking shape even when the opponent carries the weight of recent history.
That history was part of the backdrop in Chicago. In Game 2 of the NL Division Series last October, Imanaga allowed four runs and two homers and was gone after eight outs, another rough outing against Milwaukee that never gave the Cubs a foothold. On Monday, Cubs manager Craig Counsell did not sugarcoat the latest one. “Shota just didn’t have a good night,” he said. “He just didn’t have real good command — the command that he usually has.... It was, frankly, not being able to put the ball where he wanted to put it.”
Through an interpreter, Imanaga gave his own blunt assessment: “Overall, their game plan overcame my skills.” The Brewers, meanwhile, keep looking like the team everyone in the division is chasing. Counsell said Milwaukee is “the team that’s won the division for the last three years — that’s what we want to do,” and added, “Last year, they beat us, and they had a fabulous season. We’ve got to improve to get there.”
The game also came as the Cubs try to steady a bullpen that has already become a talking point. Phil Maton, the biggest addition to the relief group last winter, allowed the go-ahead three-run homer in the Cubs’ loss to the White Sox on Sunday and entered Monday with a 9.49 ERA midway through his second month as a Cub. He has allowed more than one run in six of his 14 appearances this season, and his frustration was obvious. “I’m incredibly frustrated,” Maton said. “You’re brought over here, and there’s a lot of responsibility to not only pitch well but get the game going in the right direction. And I feel there’s been lots of situations where Craig’s trusted me in tight ballgames and I just haven’t gotten it done. That’s the hardest part.”
For the Cubs, the opener offered an early glimpse of how wide the gap can look when Milwaukee’s lineup is on time and their pitching gets the edge. For the Brewers, it was the kind of road win that reinforces why they have controlled the division for so long and why the Cubs still have work to do before the games in September carry the weight Happ described.
