Imanaga pitches 6 sharp innings, Crow-Armstrong doubles, steals 33rd base as Cubs beat Marlins 6-1

MIAMI (AP) — Shota Imanaga allowed three hits and one run in six innings and Pete Crow-Armstrong doubled and stole his 33rd base as the Chicago Cubs beat the Miami Marlins 6-1 on Friday.

Imanaga (9-10) struck out four and improved to 4-2 in nine starts since the All-Star break. Aaron Civale pitched the final three innings for his second save.

Armstrong continued to bolster his case for NL MVP, drawing a four-pitch walk, scoring twice and making a leaping grab at the center-field wall to rob Miami’s Heriberto Hernández of a potential extra-base hit in the sixth.

Alex Bregman singled twice and walked, stretching his hitting streak to eight games, dating to Aug 28. Nico Hoerner also had three hits and an RBI. Pedro Ramírez drove in two runs.

Marlins starter Janson Junk (6-9) struck out five and limited the Cubs to one run on three hits through five innings. Chicago then scored three in the sixth against relievers Jack Ralston and Josh Ekness.

Crow-Armstrong led off the sixth with a walk against Ralston, who then allowed one-out walks to Michael Busch and Bregman. Ekness entered, walked in a run and allowed an RBI single to Hoerner before Ramírez's sacrifice fly, making it 4-0.

The Marlins broke up the shutout bid in the seventh when Griffin Conine scored on Esteury Ruiz's groundout. Conine singled twice, and Deyvison De Los Santos doubled.

Busch hit a solo home run against Bradley Blalock in the ninth, driving the right-hander's sweeper 427 feet to right-center for his 18th homer of the season.

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the second when Ian Happ scored on Ramírez's fielder's choice.

RHP Javier Assad (6-1, 3.46) will start the second game of the series for the Cubs against Marlins RHP Ryan Gusto (1-3, 3.86 ERA).

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