Chicago Cubs, from left, starting pitcher Shota Imanaga, catcher Miguel Amaya and relief pitchers Porter Hodge and Nate Pearson, pose for a photo after combining to pitch a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the team’s 12-0 victory in a baseball game on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Chicago.
In this long exposure photo, Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga throws during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Chicago.
11:36 JST, September 5, 2024
CHICAGO (AP) — Shota Imanaga and two Cubs relievers combined for a no-hitter to lead Chicago to a 12-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
Imanaga (12-3), a 31-year-old left-handed pitcher in his first season with the Cubs after eight seasons pitching in Japan, struck out seven and walked two in seven innings, throwing 66 of 95 pitches for strikes.
He needed 25 pitches to get through the second inning. His season high is 103 pitches against St. Louis on June 15. Imanaga did not get out in the eighth inning.
Imanaga agreed to a four-year, $53 million contract in January. Chicago paid a placement fee of $9,825,000 to the Yokohama BayStars of Japan’s Central League.
Nate Pearson threw a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Porter Hodge a perfect ninth in the Cubs’ 18th no-hitter, the first since Zach Davies, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel combined to hold Los Angeles hitless at Dodger Stadium on June 24, 2021.
Chicago’s players celebrated when shortstop Dansby Swanson threw a grounder from Oneil Cruz to first baseman Michael Busch for the final out, but they celebrated less enthusiastically than they did for individual no-hitters.
Chicago had not thrown a no-hitter at Wrigley Field since Milt Pappas against San Diego on Sept. 2, 1972 — Pappas was one pitch away from a perfect game when Bruce Froemming called the ball four on a full-count pitch to Larry Stahl. Garry Jestadt then popped out.
This was the fourth no-hitter this season, following complete-game efforts by Houston’s Ronel Blanco against Toronto on April 1, San Diego’s Dylan Cease at Washington on July 25 and San Francisco’s Blake Snell at Cincinnati on April 2.
Nico Hoerner, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Dansby Swanson each had three of Chicago’s 17 hits, with Swanson and Crow-Armstrong both one triple shy of the cycle.
Domingo Germán (0-1), who threw a perfect game for the New York Yankees last year against Oakland, allowed seven runs — six earned — and nine hits in three innings.
Seiya Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs hits a single off starting pitcher Domingo Germán of the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning of a baseball game on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, in Chicago. Ian Happ scored on the play after a fielding error by left fielder Bryan Reynolds.
Seiya Suzuki hit an RBI single in the first inning and Chicago took a 4-0 lead in the second inning when Crow-Armstrong hit a run-scoring double in the second inning and Happ hit a two-run single.
Swanson’s two-run homer and Crow-Armstrong’s solo shot increased the lead to 7-0 in the third. Cody Bellinger hit a two-run homer in the sixth against Kyle Nicolas.
