No-hitter! Cubs make history behind starter Shota Imanaga vs. Pirates

Led by starter Shota Imanaga, three Chicago Cubs pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates , the 18th in franchise history.

Imanaga kept the Pirates hitless for the first seven innings – removed from the game with 95 pitches – before handing the baton to Nate Pearson for the eighth and Porter Hodge the ninth in the Cubs' 12-0 win at Wrigley Field on Wednesday night.

It's the second combined no-hitter in Cubs history, three years after the team's first in 2021, when Zach Davies, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel held the Dodgers without a hit.

An MLB rookie as a 31-year-old after a career in Japan, Imanaga is 12-3 with a 2.99 ERA in 26 starts this season and was named an All-Star.

"He actually didn't know he had a no-hitter going at all, which is funny," Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters after the game.

Counsell got some boos for taking Imanaga out approaching 100 pitches and Chicago's skipper said it was "not fun to do."

"It's 100% about taking care of Shota and making sure we’re doing the right thing for him," Counsell said.

The Cubs went from 1972 (Milt Pappas) to 2008 (Carlos Zambrano) without a no-hitter, but have five in the past 16 years: Jake Arrieta (2015 and 2016), Alec Mills (2020) and the 2021 combined no-no. Wednesday marked the first Cubs no-hitter at Wrigley Field since Pappas more than 50 years ago.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No-hitter! Cubs make history behind starter Shota Imanaga vs. Pirates