ARLINGTON -- Based on how Astros starter Tatsuya Imai began Monday’s game against the Rangers, a no-hitter seemed to be as far-fetched as Santa making an appearance in May. It turns out magical things can happen on other holidays, as well.
Imai, the former Japanese star whose rocky start to his tenure in Houston played a part in the Astros’ poor start, came through with the best outing of his short career by throwing six hitless innings and combining with two relievers to throw the first no-hitter in the Major Leagues in nearly two years in a 9-0 win over the Rangers on Memorial Day.
The no-no -- the third at Globe Life Field -- was the first in the Major Leagues since the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge against the Pirates on Sept. 4, 2024.
“Proud of our pitching,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “We’ve been grinding, man, and our guys went out there and competed. That first inning, you would never have thought that was going to be the outcome of the game, but I tip my hat to Imai. He continued to pitch, he continued to compete, he got two big double plays, eight ground-ball outs. He continued to pound the zone and fought through it. Strong six innings and the rest is history.”
After Steven Okert threw a scoreless seventh inning, Espada summoned 23-year-old Dominican right-hander Alimber Santa from the bullpen for his Major League debut, and he delivered with six outs to polish off the 18th no-hitter in Astros history and first since Ronel Blanco no-hit the Blue Jays on April 1, 2024.
Santa struck out Brandon Nimmo looking to end the game and -- after a brief ABS challenge from the Rangers -- the Astros jumped up and down in a celebration on the field of their Lone Star Series rivals. Houston has won four games in a row and is 5-2 on its 10-game road trip.
“I never pictured myself coming in and finishing off a no-hitter,” said Santa, who had the ball from the final pitch in his locker. “What I pictured was coming in and throwing strikes and maybe striking out one batter.”
It’s the fifth combined no-hitter in Astros history -- the first since Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly in Game 4 of the 2022 World Series against the Phillies. No other team has more than two combined no-no’s in their history. The Astros have thrown eight consecutive no-hitters without being no-hit since Matt Cain threw a perfect game against them in 2012.
“Incredible,” Okert said. “Obviously, Imai went out and did what we hoped for for six innings, but no hits? That’s crazy. I feel like a combined no-hitter is pretty hard. It’s kind of hard when you’re counting on three guys to all have it on the same day. It was a lot of fun.”
Imai, who signed with the Astros for three years and $54 million in the winter, had a 7.27 ERA after three starts with Houston and was placed on the injured list with arm fatigue after a disastrous outing April 10 in Seattle. He returned May 12 and gave up six runs in four innings against the Mariners before a solid start a week ago at the Twins -- three runs in 4 2/3 innings.
On Monday, he walked the first two batters he faced -- Joc Pederson and Alejandro Osuna -- while throwing eight balls and two strikes, prompting a visit from pitching coach Josh Miller, who told him to be aggressive. Imai got Nimmo to hit into a double play and then proceeded to retire 15 of the final 17 hitters he faced.
“Everywhere I pitch, it’s going to be my first time pitching in those stadiums, and I need to figure out how to use the mound in the first inning,” Imai said. “Moving forward, I want to adjust a little bit faster in the first inning and attack the zone.”
Imai, who threw a season-high 97 pitches, relied mostly on his four-seam fastball (48 pitches) and slider (45), getting three swings and misses on each. When the Rangers made contact, it wasn’t hard. They had an average exit velocity of 90.5 mph on balls put in play against Imai, who entered the game with a 8.31 ERA.
“He just continued to throw the ball in the zone,” Espada said. “It wasn’t pretty but it was effective. We have a really good defense. Christian Vázquez again, he continues to press the right buttons and lead our staff.”
Imai got some tremendous defense along the way, including an incredible play by shortstop Jeremy Peña on a 105.4 mph grounder off the bat of Pederson in the third, completing the throw to first.
“When I saw the play, I thought, ‘This is the Gold Glove shortstop,’” Imai said.
Jake Meyers ran down two balls in right-center field on the warning track in the fifth.
“I don't remember who told me, but before being with the Astros, someone told me that if the ball is hit to center field, he’s going to catch everything,” Imai said. “Today that happened.”
Peña led off the game with a hit-by-pitch, stole second and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Yordan Alvarez, who led off the fourth inning by clubbing his 16th homer of the season for a 2-0 lead. Red-hot Christian Walker added a three-run homer in the seventh -- his fourth homer in three games and 15th of the season -- to make it 7-0.
With the game out of reach, Espada gave the ball to Santa, who became the second player in Major League history to pitch in a no-hitter in his debut, according to Elias. Bumpus Jones of the Reds threw one by himself on Oct. 15, 1982.
“Yordan told me, ‘Santa, you don’t know what you just did,’” Santa said. “I know it’s something historic.”