Shota's latest gem leaves former Cubs star raving

CHICAGO -- Jon Lester got a front-row seat to Shota Imanaga’s start at Wrigley Field on Sunday against the D-backs, and the former Cubs great and 2016 World Series champ had the type of impression you may expect amid Imanaga’s stellar season.

“He’s lived up to what everybody's been talking about,” Lester said before the Cubs’ 2-1, 10-innings win over Arizona that helped Chicago avoid the three-game sweep. “The Cubs got somebody special. As long as he stays healthy and keeps pitching for them, I think the sky's the limit for him.”

Lester is serving as a game and studio analyst on Marquee Sports Network during this homestand, and he joined the broadcast booth for three innings on Sunday. It coincided with Imanaga’s latest gem, and one of his finest starts this season.

Imanaga allowed one run on two hits in seven innings, with one walk and a career-high 10 strikeouts. The lefty did not allow a hit through 5 2/3 innings, before Randal Grichuk singled in the sixth.

The Cubs’ offense came alive late after being held in check for much of the afternoon. Nico Hoerner hit a first-pitch leadoff double in the ninth and scored on Seiya Suzuki’s first-pitch single two batters later. Hoerner walked with the bases loaded in the 10th to give the Cubs a walk-off win.

Lester perhaps can relate to Imanaga’s experience this season as well as anyone, especially as far as the expectations Imanaga encountered after signing a lucrative free-agent contract with the Cubs last offseason. Lester experienced that in 2015 after he signed a six-year deal with Chicago that previous winter.

Imanaga, who was named an All-Star this season, is 8-2 with a 2.86 ERA in 18 starts, with 108 strikeouts compared to just 17 walks in 104 innings.

“To come and perform the first year, be an All-Star, that's just huge,” Lester said. “Because then you get settled in and you become comfortable. I think that's a big thing when you get to a new team. It's just getting to where you're comfortable and know you can perform.”

Imanaga’s comfort level has been evident all season. Sunday was a microcosm of his ability to withstand any potential pressure and perform.

This is a crucial stretch for the Cubs, who are among a slew of teams in a crowded NL postseason picture. There are just nine days to go before the Trade Deadline, which could play a role in Chicago’s path the next two months. The Cubs were in danger of being swept in their first series out of the All-Star break.

“It’s the time of year when definitely outside factors can creep in,” Hoerner said when asked of the significance of Sunday’s win. “But I think it's also an opportunity. I think it just depends on how you want to frame it mentally. It’s all in our control and everything [is] in front of us. I feel like that's what we've been preaching in here and definitely what I believe in.”

Imanaga was at ease on Sunday, perhaps with the help of lessons from teammates months prior.

“During Spring Training, I talked with Dansby [Swanson], Craig Counsell, [Justin Steele] about how to deal with pressure,” Imanaga said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “I didn't really feel pressure out there, and I think talking to my teammates, talking to my coaches about it, I think that helped.”

Imanaga struck out the side in the first inning on just 11 pitches, getting Ketel Marte and Grichuk swinging and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. looking.

Imanaga held Arizona to just two baserunners through five innings; he hit Christian Walker with a sweeper in the second inning and he walked Grichuk in the fourth. Grichuk recorded Arizona’s first hit, hitting a two-out single through the box on an 0-2 splitter down and away.

The Wrigley Field crowd acknowledged Imanaga’s 5 2/3-innings no-hit bid with a nice hand for the lefty at that moment.

“He's handled [the pressure], really, about as good as you can,” Swanson said. “Obviously, things are easy when it's going good, like it was early in the year. And then after some outings that were a little rough for him, his ability to bounce back and be a pro and continue to work on his craft, it just shows a lot about who he is, his character.”