Weather aside, everything clicks for Cubs in 8-1 win over Dodgers

Bad weather at Wrigley Field shortened left-hander Shota Imanaga’s second big-league start.

That’s about the only thing that went wrong for the Cubs on Sunday against one of the most powerful teams in the majors.

Imanaga cruised through four scoreless innings before a two-hour, 51-minute delay, and the Cubs beat the Dodgers 8-1 to take the weekend series and finish a 5-1 homestand. Before the conditions turned unplayable, Imanaga needed only 43 pitches to get his 12 outs, building on his debut when he threw six scoreless innings against the Rockies.

“I thought Shota was great,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “I thought it was more of what we saw [in the home opener], just doing what he’s good at, then filling up the strike zone, most importantly.”

In his first two starts, Imanaga has struck out 12 and walked none. He has held opponents to a .114 average and looked the part of a key piece of the rotation as he learns the ins and outs of major-league baseball and the tendencies of the teams he’s facing.

“It’s only been two outings; I feel like the season’s going to be really long,” Imanaga said. “It’s not necessarily anything to build confidence. I just want to make sure I’m healthy and then be able to pitch the whole season.”

Imanaga also got the best of Japanese countryman Shohei Ohtani in their matchup.

In their first-inning encounter, Ohtani got ahead 3-1 in the count, but Imanaga rallied for the strikeout, getting the superstar with a 94.4 mph fastball on the ninth pitch of the at-bat. The second meeting wasn’t quite as dramatic, with Ohtani popping out softly to Christopher Morel to end the third inning.

“When he stood in the box, he’s very tall,” Imanaga said. “He has a presence about him, and he has a really good swing.”

The Cubs don’t have anybody who quite looms like Ohtani, but that’s not stopping their offense from producing.

They scored eight or more runs for the fifth time. Their on-base percentage is .363, and they improved to 6-0 when scoring five runs or more.

“A lot of the guys played with each other for quite a bit of time, me being a little newer, being able to watch some of these guys and the way they go about their at-bats, just studying the pitchers and the way they go about their pregame routines, just tough at-bats one through nine,” said Michael Busch, whose three-run double in the first inning gave the Cubs the lead. “That wears out a team, and it wears out pitchers. Just try to keep it going this week.”

Busch wasn’t the only ex-Dodger to make an impact. Cody Bellinger homered in the sixth inning to complete the Cubs’ scoring.

“The most positive for me is having different players kind of be the guy every night,” Counsell said. “That’s hopefully what leads to a consistent offense, is that we’re not relying on one or two players, that we’re getting contributions from different places in the lineup. That’s important.”

On Sunday, the biggest offensive boosts were from Busch, Bellinger and Mike Tauchman, who had an RBI double. That offense, combined with Imanaga’s strong but brief appearance and the work of the bullpen, ended a good homestand on a positive note.

“This was a successful homestand, absolutely,” Counsell said. “[A 5-1 record] and got a Dodgers series mixed in there, so feel good about what we’ve accomplished and on to the next challenge.”