CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Chicago’s starting pitcher Shota Imanaga threw the first seven innings of a combined no-hitter as the hometown Cubs recorded a 12-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.

Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge each tossed a perfect inning to complete the 18th no-hitter in franchise history.

Imanaga (12-3) struck out seven and walked two while throwing 95 pitches for the Cubs (72-68).

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Chicago Cubs will look to win the first series they have played at Fenway Park since 2017 and extend their winning streak to five games in a Saturday rematch against the Boston Red Sox.

However, with Kyle Hendricks and Justin Steele both injured, the Cubs did not name a starter for Saturday’s game until manager Craig Counsell gave the nod to rookie right-hander Ben Brown (0-0, 3.72 ERA) following the series opener.

Hendricks officially was sidelined on Monday due to a lower back strain.

“What’s clear for me in this stretch is that we’re going to have to push our starting pitching a little farther in games,” Counsell said after Hendricks was shelved. “I think we’re equipped to do that and in a good spot to do that, but it’s definitely going to be part of the next two weeks.”

Shota Imanaga helped the Cubs achieve that goal in Friday’s series opener in Boston, tossing 6 1/3 solid innings on 88 pitches in a 7-1 win.

A 14-hit attack supported Imanaga. Michael Busch was 3-for-4 with a double, and Pete Crow-Armstrong was 2-for-3 and drove in two RBIs for the second consecutive game following an 0-for-16 streak to begin his career.

“It’s kind of even hard to put into words,” shortstop Dansby Swanson said of Crow-Armstrong. “He cares so much. He works so hard. He wants to do so well and has got a great heart.”

Two of Brown’s six appearances have been starts, and he has allowed just one run on four hits over a combined 10 2/3 innings in those games.

Brown, who made his MLB debut on March 30, has thrown three scoreless frames in two relief outings since his last start on April 15 at Arizona.

The Red Sox are 3-8 this season at Fenway, where they have lost four straight series openers and allowed opponents to score seven or more runs six times.

On Friday, Tyler O’Neill’s solo home run in the fourth inning produced Boston’s only run against Imanaga.

O’Neill, however, has not hit any of his eight home runs this season with a runner on base.

“Us as a unit, where we’re at right now, we have to be better … understanding what we have to do to have traffic for the big boys,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “That’s the bottom line.”

Along with O’Neill, Rafael Devers is 7-for-13 over his last three games following a five-game injury absence. Cora expects him to return defensively to third base on Saturday.

Boston right-hander Josh Winckowski (1-1, 4.20 ERA) will make his second start of the season and only his third since the beginning of 2023. He dealt 3 1/3 innings of one-run ball last Sunday at Pittsburgh but did not factor into the decision.

Winckowski has been pressed into a starting role with Brayan Bello, Garrett Whitlock and Nick Pivetta on the 15-day injured list.

Winckowski, 25, is excited for another opportunity to prove himself out of a Red Sox rotation that has the best starters’ ERA in the American League (2.15).

“Specifically, people were saying we needed help in the rotation and that the rotation (stunk). So I’m really happy for all the guys to be proving everyone wrong,” Winckowski said. “I think the team definitely carries a chip on its shoulder to go win as many games as we can.”

–Field Level Media

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Chicago Cubs host the Boston Red Sox on Sunday in the rubber match of both teams’ first series since the All-Star break.

Following an 8-3 loss on Friday in which five different Boston batters homered, Chicago evened the series on Saturday with a 10-4 romp.

Cody Bellinger hit a third-inning grand slam that gave the Cubs a 6-0 lead. The gap never dipped below five runs the rest of the way.

“He’s been more than expected since he’s been here,” Chicago manager David Ross said of Bellinger. “He’s the total package, right? The defense, the clubhouse presence, the at-bat. And the power is showing up.”

Bellinger homered twice in Friday’s loss and is hitting .476 (20-for-42) in the month of July.

Every Chicago batter connected for at least one hit in Saturday’s win. Five drove in runs, led by Bellinger, who had the four RBIs thanks to his eighth career grand slam. Patrick Wisdom drove in two with a fourth-inning home run, and Nico Hoerner, Christopher Morel and Miguel Amaya each had one RBI.

Cubs All-Star left-hander Justin Steele (9-2, 2.56 ERA) looks to pitch Chicago to the series win on Sunday. Steele has won in each of his last three starts in which he earned a decision, though his most recent outing — a six-inning appearance on July 5 at National League Central rival Milwaukee — was a no-decision.

Steele gave up three earned runs and nine hits in that contest, a 4-3 Cubs win. Both were the most Steele has allowed since giving up 10 hits and five earned runs on May 26 against Cincinnati.

The appearance against Cincinnati was Steele’s most recent loss. Sunday marks Steele’s first time facing the Red Sox.

Right-hander Kutter Crawford (3-4, 4.11) will take the mound for Boston for his first career appearance against the Cubs.

Crawford last pitched on July 6, giving up three runs and seven hits over four innings in a no-decision against Texas.

The right-hander has struck out 58 over 61 1/3 innings on the season and recorded two of his three wins in 2023 over his last four starts prior to the All-Star break.

Boston aims to bounce back from its first loss since July 4. The Red Sox had won six straight games prior to Saturday’s setback.

“People make a big deal out of one game,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We’ll show up (Sunday) and play good baseball. We just didn’t make one play (Saturday), and that was it. We walked two, we hit one guy, we don’t make a play, they score six (runs).”

By scoring six runs in the third inning on Saturday, the Cubs matched the most runs scored by an opponent in a single game during Boston’s recent winning streak. The 10 total runs Chicago scored were just two fewer than Boston surrendered in its four previous games combined.

Though the Red Sox are five games above .500, Saturday’s loss dropped Boston to last place in the American League East.

–Field Level Media

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – When the Boston Red Sox signed left fielder Masataka Yoshida to a five-year, $90 million deal this offseason, few expected him to put his name on a list with Ted Williams.

But he did just that.

Yoshida is Boston’s first left-handed hitter to string together eight straight multi-hit games since Williams accomplished the feat in 1940. He will try to keep the hits coming on Saturday when the Red Sox play the second game of a three-game set against the host Chicago Cubs.

During his impressive run, Yoshida has gone 17-for-34 (.500) with two homers, five RBIs and eight runs. He went 2-for-5 on Friday, helping the Red Sox pick up an 8-3 victory over Chicago in the series opener.

It wasn’t just Yoshida powering Boston to its sixth straight win, though, as the Red Sox clubbed a season-high six homers. Rafael Devers hit a pair of solo shots, while Adam Duvall, Triston Casas, Justin Turner and Yu Chang also went deep.

“We’re gonna hit, we know that. It’s just a matter of staying with an approach,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “We’re playing good baseball right now. It’s a good brand of baseball, it’s fun, and hopefully we can continue (Saturday).”

Left-hander James Paxton (5-1, 2.73 ERA) will hope the lineup can produce similar results on Saturday when he makes his 11th start of the season.

Paxton has been stellar over his past seven outings, going 4-0 with a 1.93 ERA.

In his most recent start, Paxton allowed two runs on six hits in six innings during a victory against the Oakland Athletics on July 8. He walked one and struck out three.

Paxton has never faced the Cubs.

Right-hander Marcus Stroman (9-6, 2.96 ERA) will get the nod for Chicago as he attempts to get back on track.

Through his first 16 starts this season, Stroman went 9-4 with a 2.28 ERA. In three outings since then, he is 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA, most recently surrendering four runs on four hits in five innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 6.

Due to his recent struggles, Stroman opted to sit out of Tuesday’s All-Star Game and focus on getting ready for the second half of the season.

“It’s been a huge process,” Stroman said. “I’m very thankful for everybody who’s helped me get to this point. I’m definitely looking forward to having a little bit of a break — kind of just reset my energy, clear my mind and have a good second half.”

Stroman will be presented with a good opportunity to find his early-season form on Saturday, as the right-hander is 6-4 with a 3.65 ERA in 15 career starts against the Red Sox.

Although the Cubs have alternated wins and losses over their past six games, center fielder Cody Bellinger has been a beacon of consistency. He has hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games, going 26-for-59 (.441) with four homers, nine RBIs and 15 runs during that span.

Bellinger accounted for most of Chicago’s offense during the loss on Friday, smacking two solo home runs.

–Field Level Media

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CHICAGO – Regional Sports Networks are upping the ante each and every year and Chicago’s Marquee Sports Network is leading the trend of RSN’s producing original “network quality” programs.

Class is in Session with Doug Glanville is a monthly show that explores the sports industry within the larger lens of its effect on society. It premieres its newest episode this Friday, April 23, on Marquee Sports Network. Presented by UI Health, this month’s episode focuses on the decision by Major League Baseball to move the All-Star Game from Atlanta to Colorado and how the Players Alliance is giving a voice to minority players and providing outreach in communities across the country.

To view a trailer, click below:

https://www.marqueesportsnetwork.com/doug-glanville-discusses-mlb-all-star-game-and-players-alliance-on-newest-episode-of-class-is-in-session/

Guests for this episode include:

Jason Heyward – Chicago Cubs outfielder, 12-year major league veteran and member of the Major League Player Committee for The Players Alliance
Curtis Granderson – 16-year major league veteran and President of The Players Alliance
Ken Rosenthal – Senior writer for The Athletic and MLB Network insider
Doug Glanville, the show’s host, creator and one of its executive producers, was nominated for a 2021 Sports Emmy Award for his “Enough” video essay and draws on his experience as a veteran MLB player, baseball analyst, writer, and college professor of sport and society as he interacts with this distinguished panel of guests.

“Having the opportunity to learn and engage with true insiders and their knowledge of the impact and motivation around MLB moving the All-Star Game is unique,” said Glanville. “Between Curtis, Jason and Ken, we get an education on all the factors at play and why it was so significant for MLB to take a stance. The conversations are deep and examine historical context through current player insight.”

During the wide-ranging discussion, Glanville and the panel of guests discuss what led to MLB’s decision to move the All-Star Game, the role of players in that decision and how The Players Alliance is going above and beyond to impact all communities, including Atlanta.

Jason Heyward, a native of the Atlanta area, shared his support for moving the game out of Atlanta, while acknowledging that he remains committed to his hometown.

“It’s cool to know that the Players Alliance will still be going to Atlanta, and will still be reaching out in these communities … I’m looking forward to being a part of that any way I can,” said Heyward.

Glanville, a nine-year MLB veteran, is a Marquee Sports Network analyst and the host of “Class is in Session with Doug Glanville” presented by UI Health, a half-hour panel show exploring the intersection between sports and larger society. Glanville was selected by the Cubs in the first round of the 1991 MLB draft and made his major league debut with Chicago in 1996.

After spending five-plus seasons with Philadelphia and Texas, he returned to the Cubs in 2003 and hit a go-ahead triple in the 11th inning of Game Three of the NLCS against the Marlins. He was the first African American Ivy League graduate to play in the MLB.

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