MADE 4 HOLLYWOOD – Imanaga Highlights Big Japanese Show in L.A. ...

Shota Imanaga picks up win, Seiya Suzuki chips in with 3 hits in Japanese star-studded Hollywood production.

By John E. Gibson

Japan got the band back together, so to speak, under the bright lights last week at Dodger Stadium, but it was Chicago that put on a show.
Major League Baseball’s official account posted on X.com that it was just the second time in big league history that a game featured four Japanese-born players in the starting lineups. Former Nippon Professional Baseball stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers went up against Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki of the Cubs in a clash highlighting Japan’s rise in baseball.
A second MLB post said the only other game that included four Japanese-born starters came on May 4, 2007, when the Mariners took on the Yankees with Ichiro Suzuki and Kenji Jojima in the lineup for Seattle, and Hideki Matsui and Kei Igawa starting for New York.
Three of the four players in the Sept. 10 matchup at Dodger Stadium were on the national team, nicknamed Samurai Japan, that topped the US 3-2 in a memorable 2023 World Baseball Classic championship game because of its iconic ending – Ohtani striking out then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout to end the game.
“This is not Japan. It’s on American soil that we are going up against each other, and that has great meaning,” Imanaga said in an on-field interview with Japan broadcaster NHK after Chicago’s 6-3 comeback victory over the Dodgers on Sept. 10.
“There are a lot of viewers watching from Japan, so thank you to them,” said Imanaga (13-3), who allowed three runs on seven hits with no walks and four strikeouts over seven innings.
The impact of the moment also didn’t escape Cubs manager Craig Counsell.
"It's good for everyone to make it a global game,” he said. “And I think, certainly players like Shota and Yamamoto help that, for sure. Games like tonight help that, absolutely.”
Imagana, a rookie in the big leagues, served up three solo shots – a pair to Tommy Edman and long blast to Max Muncy – but the Cubs scrambled up five runs in the eighth inning after the left-hander departed.
Imanaga, who had thrown seven no-hit innings in his previous start, held Dodgers 50-homer, 50-steal-chasing superstar Ohtani off the bases in their three matchups. Ohtani did take Imanaga to the wall in the fifth inning on what looked like homer No. 47 for the LA designated hitter. But the ball came up short, and the Dodgers fell apart with three errors in the eighth to assist Chicago’s rally.
“There’s a fine line between winning and losing in the world of competition, so the difference between that being a home run and an out depends on the luck you have at that moment,” Imanaga said.
“It was a little bit of luck that helped me win that one.”
Fortune has little to do with Imanaga’s impressive numbers this season. He has compiled a 3.03 ERA over 160.1 innings in 27 outings and is one of the front-runners for Rookie of the Year.
His 2.7 wins above replacement (WAR), according to FanGraphs, is also slightly better than Yamamoto’s 2.6 WAR, but the L.A. rookie has only tossed 78 innings. Yamamoto early on this season (6-2) also looked to be among the candidates for top rookie and his 2.88 ERA is sparkling. But arm trouble kept him out of action for too long, while Imanaga has racked up the wins.
Meanwhile, Suzuki, who was selected for the ’23 WBC squad but missed the tournament because he was injured, went 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI for the Cubs. His run-scoring hit in the eighth got the Cubs to within a run, with the tying run scoring on an error on the same play.
Yamamoto was the bright spot for the Dodgers. The right-hander was making his first appearance in about three months. He fanned his first four batters, and finished with a sharp four innings, allowing four hits with no walks and eight flashy strikeouts.
"It was really about the best I’ve been able to throw so far this year,” Yamamoto said in a postgame media scrum. “For coming back off a layoff from facing batters, I wasn’t feeling like I usually do, but I wanted to go into the game as calmly as possible.
“My offspeed pitches really felt great and that helped me get the strikeouts, and I’m hoping to maintain this good feeling moving forward.”
There were a lot of big names and big contracts on the field – Ohtani reportedly signed for $700 million and Yamamoto $325 million, while Suzuki’s deal is reportedly worth $85 million and Imanaga got $53 million – but it was a 22-year-old rookie outfielder and native of nearby Sherman Oaks, Calif., who really put on a show in center field.
Pete Crow-Armstrong, who came to Chavez Ravine as youth and watched the Dodgers from the stands with dream of one day becoming a big leaguer, made at least three run-saving plays to keep the Dodgers from adding to their early lead.
Crow-Armstrong even ended the game by pulling back a Muncy drive in the ninth inning that would’ve been home run. He saved the game for Imanaga, who put on a good show.