Shota Imanaga, Cubs beat Reds 8-3 for 15th consecutive home victory

This is what happens when the Cubs are off to their best start at Wrigley Field since 1923, nine years after its doors first opened for an outlaw team in an outlaw league that shortly went out of business.

Japanese player Shota Imanaga was asked Thursday about a Chinese concept that some new-age American home buyers factor into their decision whether they’re buying the right house.

Feng Shui, as defined by the National Geographic Society, is the “ancient Chinese art of arranging buildings, objects and space in an environment to achieve harmony and balance in a way that will bring peace and prosperity.’’

So what do you think, Shota? You just pitched the Cubs to an 8-3 victory over the Reds, the team’s ninth consecutive win and 15th straight at home, its longest home winning streak since 1935. Overall, after sweeping the Reds in four, the first three in walk-off fashion, the Cubs are 18-5 in this antique edifice. How would you rate the Feng Shui (pronounced feng shway) of the Friendly Confines?

Does first place in the National League Central and a 26-12 record, which matches the Yankees and Braves for the best record in the majors, qualify as peace and prosperity?

After a few seconds of translator Edwin Stanberry explaining the question to him, Imanaga offered his answer.

“I’m not the type of person to believe in something that I can’t physically see,’’ he said, “but I feel like at Wrigley, there’s this, like, power you can’t see, but you can kind of feel. With the fans and the cheering, you know the other team, they feel the
pressure when they’re on the mound or up to bat. And then on the other side, when we’re up to bat or we’re pitching, you feel that extra push and support of this power you can’t see.

“So I think there is something to that.’’

So, now that we’ve dipped into the mystic, let’s switch back to the brick and mortar of this latest Cubs victory. In six innings, Imanaga had 10 strikeouts, matching his season high. The Reds swung and missed at half of the 28 splitters he threw, and 22 of the 56 pitches he threw overall. Prized rookie Sal Stewart’s sixth-inning home run accounted for the only run off Imanaga.

The Reds scored once in the ninth and loaded the bases, causing manager Craig Counsell to turn to closer Daniel Palencia to record the final out, on a called third strike to Nathaniel Lowe to end it.

Unlike the last three nights, most of the suspense drained out of this one early — in the fourth inning, when Reds starter Rhett Lowder walked the first two batters, repeating the way he started the third, then left with what was described as shoulder discomfort after throwing ball one to Michael Busch.

Reliever Connor Phillips entered, and the inning quickly disintegrated for the Reds, the Cubs scoring seven times on four singles, a double, a walk, a sacrifice fly and one grievous mental blunder.

With the bases loaded and just one run in to that point, Dansby Swanson hit a grounder to third. Reds third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes stepped on the bag for one out, and his throw home easily beat Ian Happ. But it didn’t register with catcher Tyler Stephenson that a force at home was not an option, and he did not tag Happ.

Michael Conforto, who started in right field for Seiya Suzuki and drew a bases-loaded walk in the inning, also homered, singled and doubled.

“Every day it’s an electric atmosphere,’’ said Conforto, who hit a walk-off home run Monday. “The guys are having a blast.

“Like I said the other day, it’s like a dream.’’