Cubs 12, Pirates 0: Shōta Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge combine on a no-hitter

It’s the first no-hitter thrown by the Cubs at Wrigley Field in over half a century.

You know, the Cubs might not make the postseason this year — and despite this 12-0 win over the Pirates they didn’t gain any ground on the Mets and Braves — but we will all have one wonderful, indelible memory to share all winter after Shōta Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge combined on a no-hitter. It’s the first no-hitter by a Cub at Wrigley Field in 52 years and two days, since Milt Pappas no-hit the Padres 8-0 on Sept. 2, 1972. More on that from BCB’s JohnW53:

Wednesday’s game was their 4,113th at Wrigley Field since then. They also had a home game at Tokyo in 2000, so 4,114 home games since then.

And in part, we have Isaac Paredes’ poor defense to credit for this gem. Paredes had an awful day at third base, making three errors. The Pirates were actually credited with a hit with one out in the first inning, when Paredes’ throw on a ground ball by Bryan Reynolds bounced in to Michael Busch and he couldn’t handle it. Reynolds was erased on a double play, and an inning later the scoring on the hit was changed to an error, correctly in my view.

The Cubs, who couldn’t score at all Tuesday, got right to work in the first inning. Ian Happ led off with a single and went to second on a walk by Busch.

A throwing error put Busch on third and Suzuki on second, but when Cody Bellinger hit a fly ball to medium right field, Busch tried to score and was thrown out [VIDEO].

The Cubs put three on the board in the second. Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson led off with singles and Pete Crow-Armstrong doubled in Nico [VIDEO].

One out later, Happ singled in Swanson and PCA to make it 4-0 [VIDEO].

Imanaga had a bit of control trouble in the second, issuing two walks, but got out of it on a line drive to Happ. He then retired 10 more Pirates in a row until Paredes made his second error with one out in the sixth.

By that time the Cubs had blown the game open. In the third, Bellinger led off with a single and went to second on a wild pitch. After a pair of strikeouts, Swanson made it 6-0 with his 14th home run [VIDEO].

PCA was the next hitter and he also homered, his eighth [VIDEO].

The Cubs went down 1-2-3 in the fourth but put another pair on the board in the fifth. With one out, Paredes was hit by a pitch. He went to second on a single by Hoerner and scored on a double by Swanson [VIDEO].

PCA followed with an RBI single to make it 9-0 [VIDEO].

So we’re only in the fifth inning and both Swanson and PCA had singled, doubled and homered. With PCA’s speed, a cycle seemed possible, but he struck out in his only further at-bat. Swanson had two at-bats, but struck out and flied to left.

The Cubs scored two more in the sixth. With two out, Suzuki walked and Bellinger homered, his 15th [VIDEO].

Oh, yes. You want to hear more about Imanaga. After Paredes’ error ended Imanaga’s streak of setting down 10 Pirates in a row, Imanaga struck out Reynolds, but Paredes then made another error to put runners on first and second.

Never mind all that, said Imanaga, with this strikeout of Oneil Cruz [VIDEO].

In the seventh, Imanaga retired the first two Pirates on a fly to left and ground out, and then completed his outing with another K, this one of Jared Triolo [VIDEO].

And so this is Imanaga’s brush with no-hit fame:

It was the right thing to do, and it was Counsell’s call to remove Imanaga after 95 pitches (66 strikes):

He walked just those two in the second inning and struck out seven. Here are the seven K’s [VIDEO].

Pearson threw the eighth, and it seemed almost effortless, three easy outs on just 10 pitches. Here’s the final out of that inning [VIDEO].

The Pirates put first baseman Rowdy Tellez on the mound in the bottom of the eighth, as they had done vs. the Cubs in Pittsburgh last week. The Cubs took the opportunity to score one more run. Busch led off with a single and went to second on a single by Suzuki.

Two outs later, Miles Mastrobuoni singled in Busch [VIDEO].

Counsell made another wise move, bringing in Hodge to throw the ninth. He might be a rookie, but he has real mound poise, and it showed in him recording another three routine outs, all on ground balls to Swanson at short.

Here’s the entire ninth inning! [VIDEO]

That was just a wonderfully-played game all the way around. Good hitting by the Cubs, great pitching by three Cubs, only 114 total pitches thrown. (Sure, Paredes could have played better defense, but it wound up not mattering.) Here’s a postgame interview with Hodge and catcher Miguel Amaya [VIDEO].

This was the 18th no-hitter in Cubs history (13th in the Modern Era, since 1900). It’s also the second combined no-hitter for the Cubs, after that four-pitcher gem against the Dodgers June 24, 2021 (Zach Davies, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel). You know, funny thing. Right after that no-hitter — the Cubs were 42-33 after that win — that team collapsed, losing 11 in a row and falling out of contention, leading to the big selloff at that year’s trade deadline. Wouldn’t it be something if this no-hitter spurred the 2024 Cubs on to a great ride through the rest of September and a postseason berth?

Yeah, I know, I’m dreaming. Still...

And at the very least, we’ll have great memories of this evening at Wrigley Field on a gorgeous night and a game that was completed in two hours, 10 minutes in front of an announced crowd of 30,369.

This will always be a great memory for me:

Al Yellon

Al Yellon

For me personally, it’s the fourth no-hitter I’ve seen in person. The other three:

• Jack Morris for the Tigers over the White Sox, April 7, 1984
• Carlos Zambrano for the Cubs over the Astros in Milwaukee, Sept. 14, 2008
• Cole Hamels for the Phillies against the Cubs, July 25, 2015, the one that broke the Cubs’ streak of 7,920 consecutive games without being no-hit

Tomorrow morning, I’ll have articles on all the Cubs no-hitters through history, and all the combined no-hitters in MLB history.

A couple more things before I wrap this. First, from BCB’s JohnW53, about all the runs scored in this game:

The Cubs have scored 114 runs in their last 13 games, beginning with their 10-2 win over the Tigers on Aug. 22.

That ties their all-time high in any 13 games, done only twice before, in 1930, May 24-June 7 and May 30-June 13.

And:

Wednesday’s shutout was the Cubs’ 750th at home in the Modern Era. The first was by 1-0 over Boston in 17 innings on Sept. 21, 1901.

The Cubs’ next shutout at Wrigley Field will be their 600th there.

The Cubs will certainly enjoy their off day Thursday. Congratulations to Imanaga, Pearson and Hodge, names now etched in Cubs history forever.

Then they’ll prepare to take on the Yankees in a three-game series beginning Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field. As of now, the Cubs don’t have any starters listed for the series, but if they stay in rotation it will likely be Javier Assad throwing the series opener. Luis Gil will start Friday for New York. Game time Friday is 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network (and MLB Network outside the Cubs and Yankees market territories).