(670 The Score) Led by ace Shota Imanaga’s brilliance, the Cubs made history Wednesday evening.
Imanaga fired seven scoreless innings of no-hit ball, and a pair of Cubs relievers followed with two more no-hit frames as the club recorded a combined no-hitter in a 12-0 win against the Pirates at Wrigley Field. Imanaga struck out seven and walked two in his dominant outing before being pulled after throwing 95 pitches. Relievers Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge each threw a scoreless inning as well.
It was the 18th no-hitter in Cubs history and the second of the combined variety. It also marked the first no-hitter thrown by the Cubs at Wrigley Field since 1972, according to the Marquee Sports Network broadcast.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell pulled Imanaga after his seven scoreless innings because he wanted to keep his health in mind and have him best prepared for the closing stretch of the season as the club tries to chase down the final National League wild-card berth.
"Look, it's always hard to do (to pull him) in that situation," Counsell said. "But you're taking care of Shota. It's 100% about taking care of Shota and making sure we're doing the right thing for him. It's not fun to do, but when you're prioritizing a player's health and making sure — you don't know what's going to happen moving forward, and we want him to stay healthy. He's had a career-high in innings and is doing a great job. He actually didn't know he had a no-hitter going at all, which is funny.
"He's got starts left that are important, and just his long-term health is important. We're always going to prioritize that."
Before Wednesday, the last no-hitter the Cubs threw was on June 24, 2021, when they had a combined no-hitter in a win against the Dodgers. Zach Davies started that game.