The Athletics arrived at the June 4 finale at Wrigley Field with a chance to finish off a sweep of the Cubs, and they handed the ball to J.T. Ginn to try to do it. Chicago turned to Shota Imanaga, the left-hander the Cubs needed to steady a game that carried home-sweep stakes after their own rough stretch.
That was enough to make the matchup feel bigger than a routine midweek finish. The Athletics had won the previous night by scoring twice in the eighth inning, tying the game and then taking a one-run lead into the ninth before holding on, a comeback that gave them their 30th victory and moved them ahead of the Texas Rangers into second place. With momentum from that rally, they were chasing their first sweep since early April.
The lineup around Ginn showed how seriously the Athletics were taking the chance. Henry Bolte led off, Shea Langeliers and Nick Kurtz followed, and Colby Thomas batted cleanup after homering the night before. Brent Rooker and Darell Hernaiz got the day off, while Jonah Heim handled catching duties, Alika Williams played shortstop and Jeff McNeil and Zack Gelof occupied second and third base.
For Chicago, the urgency sat on Imanaga’s shoulders. He had opened the season with a 2.32 ERA through his first nine starts, but the recent line told a different story: eight earned runs in one outing, seven in the next and five more most recently against the Cardinals. The Cubs were trying to avoid a home sweep while hoping the pitcher who had once given the Athletics six innings of two-run ball in Oakland a couple of years earlier could find that version again.
That made the finale a simple test with a hard edge. The Athletics were trying to turn a comeback into a sweep, and the Cubs were trying to keep a home series from slipping away behind a starter who had been excellent in April and shaky ever since. What happened after Ginn and Imanaga took the mound was the one thing the setup did not yet answer.
