Michael Busch produces walk-off to top off Shota Imanaga's impressive start as Cubs beat Padres 3-2
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MAY 07: Michael Busch #29 of the Chicago Cubs rounds the bases after hitting a walk-off solo home run in the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field on May 07, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.
Griffin Quinn/Getty
A sheet of rain fell down from the sky over Wrigley Field. From the on-deck circle, the Cubs’ Michael Busch heard fans cry out in a mixture of surprise, dismay and jubilation as the weather set up a Hollywood ending to the Cubs’ battle with the Padres on Tuesday.
Through the rain, Busch made his way to the batter’s box to lead off the ninth inning of a tie game. As Padres reliever Enyel De Los Santos delivered the first pitch of the inning, lightning flashed above. And Busch extended through the high fastball, sending it into the right field bleachers for the first walk-off home run of his career.
“It was pretty special,” Busch said after the Cubs’ 3-2 win. “It all happened so fast. I was just thinking about that 10, 15 minutes ago, I don’t think I’ve ever had a walk-off home run in my life.”
Busch’s walk-off ensured the Cubs got a win out of yet another impressive pitching performance by Shota Imanaga. The lefty didn't allow a run until the eighth inning, when he surrendered a go-ahead two-run homer to the Padres' Jurickson Profar. Imanaga received a standing ovation when he came out of the game with no outs in the eighth, logging the deepest outing of his MLB career.
“He really was in trouble one inning today, excluding the home run,” manager Craig Counsell said. “And that inning, I thought he raised his level.”
Imanga had coasted through the Padres lineup twice through the first first five innings. Then in the sixth, with the top of the order back up, he gave up a bloop hit to Fernando Tatis Jr. and a bunt single to Jake Cronenworth to put two runners on base with one out.
“That was a big turning point of the game,” Imanaga said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “I was going to face [Manny] Machado and [Xander] Bogaerts, two amazing hitters. So in my head, if I got a strikeout, that'd be great.”
Imanaga struck out both of them to get out of the inning, with Cubs fans rising to their feet before the final strike, as Imanaga preserved the Cubs’ one-run lead. Catcher Miguel Amaya put his whole body into a fist pump. Imanaga slapped his glove and shouted.
“Recently, it's been hard for me to get up in the morning,” Imanaga said. “So I think if I switch the fans cheering to my alarm, I think I'll get up pretty fast.”
The next inning Imanaga retired the side in order. Then in the eighth, Profar managed to reach down, just out of the zone, and lift a splitter over the fence.
The Cubs tied up the game on a sacrifice fly by Christopher Morel in the bottom half of the inning, setting up Busch to be the hero in the ninth.
“It was right on time,” said Cody Bellinger, who went 3-for-4 with a fourth-inning home run in his first game back from the IL. “The rain was coming.”
Said Amaya: “It was fantastic. He didn’t want a rain delay.”