With two of the top starters in the National League going toe-to-toe, runs were always going to be at a premium Wednesday night in Baltimore.

Shota Imanaga and the Cubs’ bullpen made sure the Orioles had no opportunity to score.

The Cubs’ All-Star turned in 6 shutout innings against baseball’s best offense, before turning it over to the relief corps, who picked up the final 9 outs in the Cubs’ 4-0 win against Baltimore.

It’s the Cubs’ third straight win, their first time winning three in a row since they won 4 in a row from April 23-26. They’ve won back-to-back series for the first time since taking 2 of 3 from Seattle and Arizona in mid-April.

Things started a touch shaky for Imanaga. In the 1st, he allowed a 1-out walk and single before striking out Anthony Santander and Jordan Westburg to stymie the threat, using 29 pitches to escape the opening frame.

The Cubs offense rewarded him after that.

Christopher Morel crushed a 416-foot solo home run to center field off Corbin Burnes to stake the Cubs to a 1-run lead. They added another later in the frame on a Nico Hoerner RBI single that scored Dansby Swanson.

The Cubs added another run in the 5th on a Seiya Suzuki RBI single.

From there, Imanaga was pretty much in cruise control.

He worked out of a leadoff double in the 2nd, a 2-out single in the 3rd and a 1-out double in the 5th. It was the 6th, though, where Imanaga showcased just how brilliant he’s been this season.

In that inning, the Orioles sandwiched a single and a double around a flyout, bringing the tying run to the plate. Imanaga hunkered down — he struck out Austin Hayes on 6 pitches and then punched out Jorge Mateo on 3 pitches, putting an emphatic exclamation point on his night.

An injury scare did put a damper on the night for the Cubs as Cody Bellinger exited the game in the 7th after he was hit in the hand by a pitch from Cionel Pérez.

The Cubs bullpen carried the torch from there — albeit with some excitement.

With an out in the 7th, Luke Little hit James McCann and allowed a single to Gunnar Henderson. He worked an 0-2 count against Adley Rutschman when the rains opened up forcing a rain delay.

After 19 minutes, Little needed just one pitch to strike out the Orioles’ DH. Porter Hodge picked up the final out in the frame and pitched a scoreless 8th. Héctor Neris picked up the final 3 outs in the 9^th for the Cubs.