Toronto Blue Jays at Chicago Cubs

· Major League Baseball

Toronto Blue Jays

59-66, 30-35 Away

Final
1 - 0

Chicago Cubs

61-64, 34-28 Home

Bowden Francis throws 7 scoreless innings as Blue Jays shut out Cubs 1-0

Loperfido’s solo shot off Shota Imanaga (9-3) in the second was all Toronto needed to end a two-game skid.

“To come through for those guys, especially in what ended up a one-run game, it felt good,” said Loperfido, who hit his first home run for the club three weeks after being traded from Houston.

Francis (6-3) matched his longest career outing, set six days earlier against the Los Angeles Angels.

He was perfect the first time through the order but loaded the bases in the fourth. He escaped the jam by catching Dansby Swanson looking at a third strike.

“I luckily got a call there,” said Francis, who came up big in a big moment in his seventh career start. “It worked out.”

The right-hander allowed just one other baserunner the rest of the way and finished with three hits and seven strikeouts while walking none to win for the fourth time in six starts.

“He was in total control today,” manager John Schneider said. “Just big pitch after big pitch. You can’t say enough about him.”

Chad Green, the last of three Blue Jays relievers, worked the ninth to secure the shutout and record his 13th save in as many chances.

Imanaga allowed four hits, walked one and struck out six in the first five innings. It was his first loss since June 21, a span of nine starts.

“You had to hit a ball really good today to get it out and give (Loperfido) credit, he hit it really good,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said after a windy afternoon on the city’s north side.

“We just weren’t able to deliver offensively today.”

The crowd of 36,117 gave its loudest ovation to former Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould, who led the seventh-inning singalong with his children.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Leo Jiménez got a day off after leaving Saturday’s game with right knee soreness.

Cubs: DH Seiya Suzuki took an Isaac Paredes foul ball off his shin while standing in the on-deck circle in the eighth but walked it off and remained in the lineup. … LHP Jordan Wicks ( right oblique strain ) will start Tuesday for Triple-A Iowa and make at least one more rehab start before the club decides when to bring him back. He’s been on the 60-day injured list since June 15.

Toronto will send RHP Kevin Gausman (11-8, 4.20 ERA) to the mound Monday night against visiting Cincinnati.

Cubs RHP Javier Assad (5-3, 3.19) is scheduled to open a three-game series against visiting Detroit on Tuesday night.

How can I watch Toronto Blue Jays vs. Chicago Cubs?

TV Channel: Blue Jays at Cubs 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Cubs: 59.8%

Blue Jays: 40.2%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Swanson grounded out to third.
	9th Inning	Bellinger stole second.
	9th Inning	Hoerner lined out to right.
	9th Inning	Bellinger singled to center.
	9th Inning	Suzuki flied out to center.
	9th Inning	Green relieved Cabrera

Statistics

TOR		CHC
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
9	Ground Balls	10
9	Strikeouts	8
1	Runs Batted In	0
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
8	Hits	4
0	Stolen Bases	1
3	Walks	1
0	Catcher Interference	0
1	Runs	0
0	Ground Into Double Play	0
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
35	At Bats	32
1	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
15	Runners Left On Base	12
0	Triples	0
1	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	0
0	Doubles	1
17	Fly Balls	14
0	Caught Stealing	0
162	Pitches	120
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	2
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	1
11	Total Bases	5
38	Plate Appearances	33
162.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
1	Extra Base Hits	1
3.3	Runs Created	0.0
.229	Batting Average	.125
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.314	Slugging Percentage	.156
.171	Secondary Average	.094
.289	On Base Percentage	.152
.604	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.308
0.5	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.7
3.3	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	0.0
15.0	Batter Rating	7.0
35.0	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	1.00
4.26	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.64
.086	Isolated Power	.031
0.33	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.13
.079	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.030
-.057	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.031
2.0	Runs Produced	0.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	0.0
0.4	Patience Ratio	0.2
0.3	Balls In Play Average	0.2
71.8	MLB Rating	59.5
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0