CHICAGO (AP) — Mired in a long slump, Isaac Paredes needed something to feel good about.
The new Cubs third baseman could smile Tuesday night.
Paredes, an American League All-Star this season acquired by the Cubs from Tampa Bay in a July 28 trade that sent Christopher Morel to the Rays, hit a three-run drive for his first homer with Chicago, backing another great Shota Imanaga start and sparking the Cubs to a 7-3 win over the Minnesota Twins at Wrigley Field.
Paredes’ two-out homer, his 17th of the season, staked the Cubs to a 3-0 lead in the first, and he drove in another run with a bloop single that scored Michael Busch, running with two outs, all the way from first base to make it 4-0 in the third.
Paredes entered Tuesday’s game batting just .111 with three hits in his first seven games with the Cubs. After a great start to the season, he dipped in June and had a miserable July, batting .136 with a .309 OPS.
Paredes is hoping Tuesday’s performance can kick off a hot streak with his new team.
“I really needed a game like this to get rolling and build that confidence,” he said through an interpreter. “I was doing too much, obviously was trying to impress everybody and my teammates.”
The Cubs won for the fifth time in seven games and look to finish what’s so far been a successful seven-game homestand on a high note when it concludes Wednesday afternoon with a series rubber match against the Twins, who won Monday’s opener, 3-0.
The Cubs enter play Wednesday six games back of the third and final National League Wild Card spot.
Imanaga outstanding
Imanaga gave up two hits through seven innings Tuesday, retiring the first 10 hitters he faced before issuing his only walk of the game then giving up a two-run homer to Royce Lewis in the fourth.
But the 30-year-old left-hander struck out 10 — nine swinging — to tie his career high and help end Minnesota’s five-game winning streak.
“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. He 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.
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 bring the Twins within 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.”
But Imanaga retired the next five before Brooks Lee doubled to lead off the sixth.
Dansby Swanson added three hits for the Cubs, including a run-scoring triple to right-center and subsequent scamper home on a wild pitch in the sixth to give the Cubs a 6-2 lead. Rookie Pete Crow-Amstrong singled in a run in the eighth.
Christian Vázquez hit a solo shot off Cubs reliever Drew Smyly in the eighth for Minnesota’s third run.
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 they remained in the second AL Wild Card position.
“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.”
Trainer’s room
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.
First pitch at Wrigley Field is scheduled for 1:20 p.m.