Blake Perkins #16 of the Milwaukee Brewers is doused following a game against the Chicago Cubs at American Family Field on May 29, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE - Christian Yelich, Blake Perkins and Willy Adames hit home runs and the Milwaukee Brewers came to life against Shota Imanaga to beat the Chicago Cubs 10-6 on Wednesday night.
Rookie Joey Ortiz, batting leadoff for the first time, hit a double off Imanaga (5-1) in the first. Two batters later, Yelich crushed a 441-foot home run to right-center to give the Brewers an early 2-0 lead.
Imanaga entered the game with major league-leading 0.84 ERA. He had allowed five earned runs in his first nine starts before being charged with seven on Wednesday as his ERA climbed to 1.86.
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Yelich’s sixth home run, his first since April 10 at Cincinnati, also halted Milwaukee’s 32 2/3-inning scoreless streak against Cubs starters this season and accounted for the only first-inning runs allowed by Imanaga.
Ian Happ’s solo homer off Bryse Wilson in the second pulled the Cubs to within a run.
Perkins made a leaping grab at the center field fence to rob Christopher Morel of a two-run homer in the third.
The Brewers scored five runs in the third. Adames had a run-scoring single, Gary Sánchez drove in a pair with a double and Perkins capped the inning with a two-run homer to push Milwaukee’s lead to 7-1.
Imanaga gave up a season-high eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, his second-shortest outing of the season. He had one walk and one strikeout in the 82-pitch outing.
The Cubs pushed across a run in the fourth on Michael Busch’s groundout. They added two more in the fifth.
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Perkins made a spectacular diving catch of on the warning track to take away an extra-base hit from Happ in the seventh. Milwaukee added three more runs in their half of the inning, two on Adames’ ninth homer of the season.
The Cubs added a pair of runs in the ninth.
Jared Koenig (5-1) pitched two innings of scoreless relief to get the win.