Imanaga dominant on mound, Paredes has a homer and 4 RBIs and Cubs top Twins 7-3

CHICAGO -- — Shota Imanaga gave up two hits through seven innings, Isaac Paredes hit a three-run drive for his first homer with the Cubs, and Chicago beat the Minnesota Twins 7-3 on Tuesday night.

Imanaga retired the first 10 hitters he faced before issuing his only walk of the game, then gave up a two-run homer to Royce Lewis, but the Cubs went on to end Minnesota’s five-game winning streak. The 30-year-old left-hander struck out 10 — nine swinging — to tie his career high.

“Shota, he was outstanding,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “The strikeouts, a big indication for sure. There were very few balls hit hard today.”

Imanaga (9-2) credits improvement on his split-finger fastball for the jump in strikeouts. The lefty has 30 in his last four starts.

“Working in my splitter helps to go for swings and misses and getting strikeouts with it,” Imanaga said trough a translator.

Paredes, acquired from Tampa Bay in a July 28 trade, finished with two hits and four RBI. Dansby Swanson had three hits, including a run-scoring triple in the sixth, to help the Cubs win for the fifth time in seven games.

Paredes entered batting just .111 with three hits in his first seven games with Chicago.

“I really needed a game like this to get rolling and build that confidence,” said the All-Star third baseman through an interpreter. “I was doing too much, obviously was trying to impress everybody and my teammates.”

Imanaga also yielded a double to rookie Brooks Lee with a gusty wind blowing in from center at Wrigley Field.

Christian Vázquez hit a solo shot off reliever Drew Smyly in the eighth.

Minnesota starter Pablo López (10-8) allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings. The Twins fell four games behind rained out first-place Cleveland in the AL Central, but remained in the second AL wild card.

“I was fighting myself on the mound too much, which led to a lot of pitches up in the zone,” López said. "But when you just keep missing up and up, batters are bound to put the barrel on it and make stuff happen. So just overall, not a good night.”

Paredes put Chicago ahead 3-0 in the first with his 17th homer of the season. Michael Busch, running with two outs, scored all the way from first on Paredes’ bloop single in the third to make it 4-0.

Carlos Santana became the first Twins baserunner when he walked with one out in fourth. Lewis hit Imanaga’s next pitch, a high inside fastball, to cut it to 4-2.

“The next pitch was in a bad location,” Imanaga said. “I was trying to get ahead with a strike. There is probably where I messed up.”

Imanaga retired the next five before Lee doubled to lead off the sixth.

The Cubs upped it to 6-2 in the sixth on Swanson’s RBI triple to right center. Swanson scored on Randy Dobnak’s wild pitch.

Rookie Pete Crow-Amstrong singled in a run the eighth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: CF Byron Buxton was out of the lineup for a second straight game with lower back tightness. Manager Rocco Baldelli said Buxton is day-to-day and expects him back no later than Friday versus Cleveland. … INF Kyle Farmer (right shoulder strain) was set to begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A St. Paul.

Cubs: OF/1B Cody Bellinger was at DH for the eighth straight game since returning on July 30 from a broken left middle finger. The 2019 NL MVP is still having difficulty throwing. … RF Seiya Suzuki returned to the lineup after missing Monday’s game with neck stiffness.

UP NEXT

Twins RHP Joe Ryan (7-7, 3.59) faces Cubs RHP Javier Assad (5-3, 3.19) in the series finale on Wednesday.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb