SEATTLE — The Chicago Cubs might lament coming two pitches away from sweeping the Seattle Mariners.
After back-to-back walk-off losses at T-Mobile Park, the Cubs’ offense took advantage of Mariners starter Bryce Miller’s poor command. Miller, whose 5.1% walk rate tied for fifth-lowest in the majors entering the game, walked seven batters, none more costly than in the third. Ian Happ’s grand slam off the right-field pole — following three straight walks — was part of a five-run inning to fuel the Cubs to a blowout 19-2 victory Sunday.
Happ drove in another run with a bases-loaded walk during the Cubs’ nine-run eighth inning. His grand slam was the 63rd go-ahead home run of his career, tying Happ with Bill Nicholson for ninth-most in franchise history.
“Offensively, we did a really good job the first couple games of the series, and I think we scored five in each game but had opportunities to score more, and when we have days like that it feels like one of these is coming,” Happ said. “I think that’s how good the offense has been this year and to drive a bunch of runs in and put it away was really nice.”
Pedro Ramírez’s grand slam came against Mariners position player Jhonny Pereda. It’s the third time since at least 1910 the Cubs have hit two grand slams in a game, also accomplishing the feat Sept. 5, 2021, and June 3, 1998. Pete Crow-Armstrong slugged a two-run home run, his 33rd of the season, to give the center fielder his sixth game this year in which he’s tallied at least one home run and one stolen base, the most in MLB.
Nine Cubs recorded at least one hit in the win to help snap their three-game losing streak. The victory was particularly timely in their postseason pursuit, with the Philadelphia Phillies closing the gap on their hold of the National League’s top wild-card spot. As the Cubs’ game got underway in Seattle, the Phillies rallied from a four-run deficit with two outs in the ninth inning against the Cardinals for a walk-off win, their ninth straight.
“Look, we have to win baseball games,” manager Craig Counsell said before their big win. “Do you know what the other teams around you are doing? Of course you do. We have to win games, and when you don’t really control what the other teams do, like, it’s your team and you winning games. That’s really all you do. I’m not sure what me looking and worrying about that stuff will do for the Cubs.”
More concerning than dropping the series, though, was Shota Imanaga’s performance Sunday.
Imanaga only lasted two-plus innings as the left-hander struggled with his command. Following singles by Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor to begin the third, Counsell pulled Imanaga and went to veteran Aaron Civale. Imanaga allowed five hits, two runs (one earned), one home run, two walks and struck out four on 72 pitches (41 strikes).
Civale was excellent in relief, leading Counsell to call him the story of the game. He delivered four shutout innings, the most by a Cubs reliever in a non-opener or injury-related appearance since Chris Flexen on June 27, 2025. Civale allowed only one hit, a single, and didn’t walk a batter while striking out two.
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“There’s a lot of trust with what each of us do,” Civale said. “There’s a lot of confidence that’s being instilled, and then just situations of when guys are being used, how they’re being used. It all plays really well. So just taking the ball whenever you’re called upon and going out there and getting outs.”
Imanaga’s start was concerning on multiple levels. He landed a first-pitch strike to only three of the 14 Mariners he faced, including none to the six batters in the first inning. Imanaga’s velocity was also notably down, averaging minus-1.1 mph on his fastball, minus-1.4 mph with his splitter and minus-1.8 mph on the sweeper.
For now, Counsell is viewing Imanaga’s struggles Sunday as an isolated outing. Imanaga will have to prove that to be true his next time out.
“He was having a bad day,” Counsell said. “Frankly, keeping it to two through the two innings was pretty good. Civale got him out of the third, but he just was not on today. He was struggling today, and you could just tell the misses were far bigger than normal. Velocity was down a little bit from the beginning, so we just have to regroup and get him the next time.”
As Counsell exited the dugout to make the pitching change, Imanaga walked to the back of the mound and stared toward the outfield. All he could think about in that moment was how he had needed to give a fatigued bullpen a break. Instead, his start put more stress on the group.
“As a starter, you want to keep the team in the game,” Imanaga said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “I think today I couldn’t feel like the last couple starts when I was more tenacious and kept us in the game. I think today I was trying to, and it wasn’t. I feel like I stressed out the relievers too much. So hopefully next start, even if I don’t feel great, keep us in the game, stay tenacious, and just hope to help the team.”
Counsell didn’t express any big-picture worries about Imanaga’s outing.
The Cubs will need more consistency from Imanaga during the stretch run. But, more broadly, the continued buy-in across the Cubs’ roster has played a key role in their success this season. Whether it’s starters embracing their moves to the bullpen — Javier Assad, Colin Rea, Civale and, briefly, David Peterson — or an established veteran like Happ dealing with a reduction in playing time against left-handers, the Cubs know what they are working toward.
“We have a group that understands the bigger aspirations for us and especially what we did last year and understanding how good of a team and a group that we have,” Happ said. “And so there’s a pretty common focus on whatever it takes to win baseball games.”
The Cubs end their West Coast trip with three games in Arizona against the Diamondbacks and then get a favorable road schedule in September. They have only four road series during the month, one of which is in Milwaukee, and they end the regular season in Boston.
“Seasons always come down to the last week,” Counsell said. “The thing that I always think is the schedule, the standings go up and down and then obviously you love to make it as easy as you can on yourself, but then you’re always in the last 10 days of the season and that’s how it happens. That’s how it works.”