CHICAGO — Shota Imanaga and two Cubs relief pitchers threw a no-hitter and Chicago beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-0 on Wednesday night.
Imanaga (12-3), a 31-year-old left-hander in his first season with the Cubs after eight seasons as a pitcher in Japan, struck out seven and walked two in seven innings.
He threw 66 of his 95 pitches for strikes.
He needed 25 pitches to complete the second inning.
His season high was 103 pitches against St. Louis on June 15.
Imanaga did not get an out until the eighth inning.
Imanaga agreed to a four-year, $53 million contract in January after Chicago paid him $9.825 million to move to the Yokohama BayStars of Japan's Central League.
Nate Pearson went 1-2-3 through the eighth inning and Porter Hodge was perfect through the ninth, giving the Cubs their 18th no-hitter and their first since Zach Davies, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chaffin and Craig Kimbrel held Los Angeles hitless at Dodger Stadium on June 24, 2021.
It was the fourth no-hitter this season, following complete games by Houston's Ronel Blanco against Toronto on April 1, San Diego's Dylan Cease against Washington on July 25 and San Francisco's Blake Snell against Cincinnati on April 2.
