The Cubs avoided a sweep in Cincinnati, salvaging the finale of the 4-game set, 4-2 against the Reds. The Cubs offense jumped on Cincinnati early and backed up Shota Imanaga’s bounceback outing.

Here’s three observations from the Cubs’ win:

Shota back on track

After his two worst outings of his young, major-league career, Imanaga looked like the dominant pitcher who has taken the league by storm. After the Cubs offense staked him to a 3-run lead in the top of the 1^st, Imanaga needed just 8 pitches to strike out 2 batters and pitch a perfect, shutdown inning.

Amidst a 3-game slump, Imanaga was the perfect pitcher for manager Craig Counsell to stop the bleeding. The Reds had been a pesky bunch offensively the first three games — they had scored 15 runs in the first three games of the series and were a threat to swipe bags anytime they got on base.

That was never a concern on Sunday.

Imanaga cruised through the first 6 innings of his outing. Through that time, Imanaga allowed just 3 Reds to reach base — Luke Maile on a home run, Santiago Espinal on a 2-out single in the 2^nd and a 1-out walk to Spencer Steer in the 4^th. Imanaga, Mark Leiter Jr. and the Cubs defense combined to mitigate the Reds’ biggest threat in the 7^th.

After allowing 3 straight singles to open the frame, Ian Happ threw behind on the third hit to second to nab Espinal for the first out of the inning. Imanaga then struck out TJ Friedl and Leiter struck out Jake Fraley to kill the rally.

Imanaga has been the stabilizing force for the Cubs’ rotation this season — they are 10-2 in his starts this season. Sunday’s outing was just as big as any — it got both he and the Cubs back on track with an off day before the Cubs head to Tampa Bay.

Offense shows early success …

The Cubs batters jumped on Reds starter Frankie Montas early and often, chasing him after just 1.1 innings and 4 runs, highlighted by a 3-run double from Ian Happ in the 1st.

When the Cubs started the season 17-9, part of their success was being able to start hot offensively. In that span, the Cubs scored 21 1^st inning runs and 8-0 when scoring in the opening frame.

In the 39 games since that (entering Sunday) the Cubs had scored just 10 1^st inning runs and were 4-2 when scoring in that frame. The Cubs set the tone early Sunday and it led to another win. The Cubs won’t always be scoring in the 1^st but being able to jump on teams early will be crucial.

… but bats still struggle to tack on

While the early offense was welcome, it was still concerning that they couldn’t tack on and put away Cincinnati earlier in the game. The Cubs had the leadoff man on in 6 of the first 8 innings Sunday, tallied 11 hits, but didn’t score after the 2^nd inning.

At the end of the day, a win is a win, but being able to add on will be necessary this season.  The Cubs are 25-11 when scoring 4 or more runs this season and putting teams away will have a trickle-down effect. It allows Counsell to rest players or avoid leverage relievers, keeping them fresh throughout the season. It allows a starting pitcher to not have to perfect and allows a greater margin for error.