SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. (Interstat) — Shota Imanaga pitched seven innings of two-run ball, but the Chicago Cubs’ offense sputtered in a 4-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night at Truist Park.

The Cubs, who entered the game with the National League’s best record at 27-15, managed only four hits and scored their lone run in the fifth inning. The Braves, now 30-13, broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the eighth inning, powered by Mauricio Dubón’s two-run homer and a go-ahead double from Mike Yastrzemski.

Imanaga, a left-hander, allowed five hits and struck out six over seven innings. He walked none and surrendered only a solo home run to Drake Baldwin in the fourth inning. The outing lowered his ERA to 2.85, but the Cubs could not provide him with run support. Imanaga took the loss, dropping to 4-3.

Braves right-hander JR Ritchie, the top star of the game, started and threw 4⅓ innings, yielding two hits and one earned run with four strikeouts. Ritchie, who came off a rough start against Seattle on May 4 in which he allowed three earned runs in five innings, looked sharp from the outset. He retired the first six batters he faced, striking out two, before running into trouble in the fifth.

The Cubs broke through against Ritchie in the top of the fifth. Carson Kelly led off with a single to right field. Pete Crow-Armstrong grounded out softly to Ritchie, moving Kelly to second. Dansby Swanson drew a walk. Nico Hoerner then singled to left, scoring Kelly and giving the Cubs a 1-0 lead. Swanson advanced to second, and Hoerner took second on the throw. But Ritchie struck back by getting Moisés Ballesteros to fly out sharply to center, pushing Swanson and Hoerner to third and second. Alex Bregman grounded out to third to end the inning and limit the damage.

The Braves had already tied the game an inning earlier. With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Baldwin crushed a 1-2 pitch from Imanaga over the center-field wall for his 11th home run of the season, knotting the score at 1-1. The 22-year-old catcher, serving as designated hitter, became the third Braves player to reach double-digit homers this year.

After the Baldwin homer, Imanaga settled back in. He retired Ozzie Albies on a groundout, then allowed a single to Matt Olson before inducing an inning-ending double play from Austin Riley. Imanaga faced the minimum in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, working around a two-out single in the third and a walk in the second. He exited after seven frames with the game still tied.

The Cubs’ best chance to retake the lead came in the eighth. With one out, Alex Bregman singled sharply off reliever Tyler Kinley. Ian Happ walked after a pitch challenge overturned a called strike, putting runners on first and second. But Seiya Suzuki struck out swinging against left-hander Dylan Lee, and Michael Busch popped out to end the inning.

The Braves then seized the game in the bottom of the eighth against the Cubs bullpen. Imanaga had been replaced by right-hander Julian Merryweather, but the official play-by-play shows the inning began with a groundout by Nico Hoerner and strikeout by Ballesteros before Bregman’s single. After the Suzuki strikeout, the Braves took the field.

Leading off the bottom of the eighth, Michael Harris II singled to second. Ha-Seong Kim followed with a single to left, moving Harris to second. Pinch-hitter Dominic Smith struck out. Then Yastrzemski, batting for José Azocar, doubled sharply to center. Harris scored easily, and Kim attempted to score from first. Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong retrieved the ball and threw to shortstop Dansby Swanson, who relayed to catcher Carson Kelly, but Kim was called safe at the plate. However, the play-by-play indicates Kim was actually thrown out at home on the throw from Crow-Armstrong to Swanson to Kelly, meaning the run by Harris stood and there were two outs. That sequence gave the Braves a 2-1 lead.

Dubón then stepped in and crushed a 1-2 pitch to left field for his third home run of the season, scoring Yastrzemski and extending the lead to 4-1. The homer was Dubón’s second of the series; he had gone 1-for-4 on the night with the home run and two RBIs. Baldwin flied out to end the inning.

Robert Suarez, who earned the win with a scoreless eighth inning, allowed one hit and struck out two. He improved to 4-0. Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two, to earn his eighth save. Martín Pérez had earlier thrown a scoreless seventh, striking out two, and Dylan Lee recorded two strikeouts in a scoreless eighth as well.

The Cubs threatened in the ninth against Iglesias. Michael Busch walked to lead off, but Michael Conforto grounded into a double play, shortstop Ha-Seong Kim to first baseman Matt Olson. Pete Crow-Armstrong popped out to end the game.

The loss was the Cubs’ second straight to the Braves, following a 5-2 defeat on Tuesday. The Cubs fell to 27-16, while the Braves improved to 30-13, maintaining the best record in the National League.

Attendance was announced at 35,540. The game lasted 2 hours, 22 minutes.

The Cubs used only two pitchers: Imanaga and the reliever who faced the eighth inning. The Braves employed six pitchers: Ritchie, Pérez, Lee, Kinley, Suarez, and Iglesias.

For the Cubs, Hoerner had two hits and the only RBI. Bregman had two hits. The rest of the lineup combined for no hits and 11 strikeouts. The Cubs struck out 12 times overall.

The Braves collected eight hits. Dubón’s homer was the decisive blow. Baldwin’s solo shot was his 11th. Yastrzemski’s double was his fifth. Harris and Kim each had a single.

The game marked the first of a three-game series at Truist Park. The teams will play again Thursday, with the Cubs sending left-hander Justin Steele to face Braves right-hander Spencer Strider.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Chicago Cubs 8, Atlanta Braves 6. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Atlanta with a 50.10 percent probability to win. The Cubs entered the game as a -1.5 favorite on the run line. The total of five runs went over the over/under of 8.5.