Cubs throw combined no-hitter, blowout Pirates |
CHICAGO - It has been a long time since the Chicago Cubs (72-68) accomplished what they did at Wrigley Field on Wednesday, 52 years to be exact, and it came in historic fashion. Coming off a pair of ugly losses to the Pittsburgh Pirates (65-74) that all but eliminated any hopes of this team making the postseason, the Cubs turned to their stud rookie Shota Imanaga in an effort to avoid the sweep.
Imanaga has, without question, been the team's MVP this season, as 23 of his 26 starts this season have seen him allow three earned runs or fewer. This was another one of those starts as Imanga overcame a sluggish start to give the Cubs seven no-hit innings before handing things off to Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge with a chance at history. Not only did the Cubs make history by throwing the first no-hitter at Wrigley Field since 1972, but it was also the first combined no-hitter ever thrown at Wrigley, as the Cubs stomped the Pirates 12-0. No hits featured. #YouHaveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/rWoJkIhjDp This was one of those games that the Cubs had to have, and with Domingo German on the mound for the Pirates, you could see the confidence right from the jump. Three batters into the game, the Cubs took a 1-0 lead. Ian Happ started things off with a leadoff single before moving up to second on a Michael Busch walk. A few pitches later, Seiya Suzuki put the Cubs in front for good, as his RBI single went down as the winning run. Seiya strikes first! pic.twitter.com/LbFXmqK9cZ As mentioned, Imanaga wasn't sharp early, and after walking two batters at the top of the second, there was some concern on the faces of the Cubs fans as Jack Neely began throwing after Imanaga had worked out of that inning. Neely never entered the game, but there will still be some questions as to why he was warming up in the first place. While Imanaga was about to get dialed in, German couldn't do anything right, which was an exact carbon copy from the last time he faced them at PNC Park. Already trailing in the second, German continued to struggle as a pair of singles from Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson set the Cubs offense up with no outs in the second. Those hits were followed by the Pete Crow-Armstrong double as Chicago opened up a 3-0 lead. Add on three! 🫡#Cubs 4-0. pic.twitter.com/2KuRdpeEkS PCA has been on fire lately, and with three more hits in this one his average is approaching .250 for the season as he came in on the Happ single to make things 4-0 after two. As was the case during their six-game winning streak, crooked numbers played a role in that success. That was again the case on Wednesday as the Cubs scored multiple runs in four innings, including back-to-back three-run innings in the second and third. The bottom of the order did the damage in the third as Swanson and Crow-Armstrong connected for back-to-back two-out homers in the third to make this a 7-0 game, with Swanson belting a two-run shot and PCA a solo blast. Pete Crow-Armstrong - Chicago Cubs (8) Dansby Swanson - Chicago Cubs (14) Not only that, but both players came a triple shy of the cycle as they continue to fuel this offense's second-half surge. Take away the walks early on and Isaac Paredes's horrible day, when he committed three errors in the field, and Imanaga was nearly flawless. He settled into a nice groove and retired 12 straight at one point before an error ended that streak. With Swanson and Crow-Armstrong tacking on two more RBIs to push the lead to 9-0 through five, all the attention went back to Imanaga as he continued to handcuff the Pirates offense. It didn't always come easy, take the top of the sixth when he had to pitch around a pair of Paredes errors, but with no hits through six, the excitement was building. The offense did lead to some of that excitement, with Cody Bellinger going deep in the sixth to extend the lead to 11-0, but this was all about Imanaga and the pitching on this night. Approaching 100 pitches through seven, the only question remained: how long would Craig Counsell ride his left-hander knowing the no-hitter was on the line? Imanaga made his case by retiring the side in order in the seventh, including a strikeout to Jared Triolo to end the inning as he was at 95 pitches through seven. Had this been a close game, this would've been an easy decision to make, but given the Cubs had an 11-0 lead, all of the fans wanted to see him finish things off. Considering Justin Steele was just put on the IL with elbow tendonitis, Counsell wasn't going to risk another injury as he pulled Imanaga from the game after seven and put the no-hitter in the hands of the bullpen. “Look, it’s always hard to do in that situation. But you’re taking care of Shota,” Counsell said. “It’s not fun to do, but you’re prioritizing the player’s health. … He actually didn’t know he had a no-hitter going at all, which is funny.” It may not have been a popular decision, but it was the right decision as Pearson and Hodge took care of the things the rest of the way on a combined 19 pitches as the Cubs capped off their combined no-hitter with an emphatic 12-0 win. “It’s just like mixed emotions waiting for that ball to finally get to the first baseman for the final out,” Hodge said. “It’s just so nerve-wracking, is what I felt.” “That ball’s going to the Hall of Fame,” Amaya said. “It feels so special to be a part of Cubs history.” Chicago collected 17 hits in the win, with Swanson, Crow-Armstrong, and Hoerner all having three-hit games. Happ, Suzuki, and Bellinger added two-hit games as the Cubs offense was alive and well. Along with most of the damage coming from those guys, it was nice to see Miles Mastrobuoni get a late at-bat and come through with an RBI single for the game's final run in the eighth. Chicago will have an off day on Thursday before they welcome Anthony Rizzo and the New York Yankees to town on Friday. This will be the first time Rizzo returns home since being traded in 2021, so expect there to be a lot of emotions. A historic W. 👏 pic.twitter.com/uBhzKTQNpe NO-NO IN CHICAGO‼️ “Every time he’s stepping on the mound, we got a really good chance of winning.” The Cubs combined no-hitter tonight is yet another strong performance for Chicago as of late 👀 Can they sneak into the playoffs?@The_ChrisMyers and @Sweendog9 give their thoughts pic.twitter.com/EnAzdVpizh
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Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge throw a combined no-hitter for the Cubs. pic.twitter.com/DPk0jQtFG4
Nate Pearson on Shota Imanaga. pic.twitter.com/lqGLQBdOU3
