Twins top Imanaga, Cubs 8-1

Simeon Woods Richardson outpitched Shota Imanaga with five scoreless innings, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago Cubs 8-1 on Tuesday night.

Royce Lewis drove in two runs, and All-Star Byron Buxton and Jeffers greeted Imanaga (5-3) with back-to-back doubles to start a two-run first inning.

The left-hander, who was an All-Star as an MLB rookie last year, finished six innings for the first time since April 4 after missing nearly two months with a strained hamstring.

The Twins again shielded Woods Richardson (5-4) from the toughest matchups, turning to the bullpen for the third time through the heart of the order of Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch, who present as daunting a challenge in the second through fifth spots as there is in baseball.

Justin Turner’s 200th career home run in the ninth ended the shutout.

RHP Cade Horton (3-2, 4.15 ERA) starts the middle game of the series on Wednesday for the Cubs, opposite Twins RHP David Festa (2-3, 5.48).



(AP Photo Bruce Kluckhohn)