July 27, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Chicago Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki (27) hits a two-run home run in the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
16:59 JST, July 28, 2024
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Wisdom hit a grand slam as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning, Seiya Suzuki also hit a home run and the Chicago Cubs beat the Kansas City Royals 9-4 Saturday night.
Wisdom scored before Pete Crow-Armstrong and hit Sam Long’s 440-foot home run into the fountains in left for a 7-4 lead.
“That was pretty cool,” Wisdom said. “I don’t think it really hit me until I rounded second base and saw the dugout going crazy, so that was definitely special.”
The runners were put on base by Seth Lugo (12-5), who threw 6 1/3 innings. He allowed six earned runs on five hits, while walking two and striking out two.
“He gave us a really good chance to win. He’s out there in the seventh inning after giving up three runs,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “Not a lot of strikeouts; they did a good job of putting the ball in play and forcing some action. Lugo gave us a chance to win, but you have to give them credit for putting the ball in play.”
Julian Merryweather (1-0) pitched an inning for the win. Cubs starter Shota Imanaga threw 5 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits and striking out three.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga throws the ball to a Kansas City Royals batter during the first inning of a baseball game in Kansas City, Missouri, Saturday, July 27, 2024.
“I thought Shota was good and I thought they did a really good job against him,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “They were really good against the high fastball and the splitter and they hit a lot of errors, so kudos to them because I thought he threw a lot of good pitches. All in all, just a good night in all phases.”
Chicago Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki (27) reacts after hitting a two-run homerun in the first inning.
Suzuki hit his 15th home run to score Michael Busch and make it 2-0 in the first. Hunter Renfroe hit his 10th home run for Kansas City in the second.
Crow-Armstrong tripled and scored in the third inning to make it 3-1.
Kansas came back in the sixth inning to take a 4-3 lead. Bobby Witt Jr. drove in Maikel Garcia, but was thrown out as he rounded second base. Later, Salvador Perez singled, Freddy Fermin doubled, and Renfroe followed with a two-run single.
David Bote and Nico Hoerner scored runs for Chicago in the ninth inning.
