Ten of Tatsuya Imai’s first 12 pitches were balls, and I was not sure if this game would end well for the Astros. To be fair, that’s been a fair assumption for both Houston and Imai this season.
But that’s the beauty of baseball, the unexpected can happen on any given day.
Between Imai, Steven Okert, and Alimber Santa, the Astros achieved their first no-hitter since 2024 and the franchise’s 18th overall (fifth combined no-hitter).
For one game, both the lineup and pitching staff were in sync. A rare occasion given the context of this season. Contributions were found throughout the roster on this Memorial Day. Nick Allen and Christian Vázquez combined for four hits, driving in two runs. Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker each had a home run. Imai threw six innings of no-hit and zero-run baseball. Santa, in his Major League debut, threw two clean innings, striking out one as he preserved the no-hitter to finish out the game. What a game to remember for the right-hander!
Now 24-31, the Astros are four games back for the AL West lead and only 2.5 games back in the AL Wild Card race. Still an uphill battle for Houston, but this four-game winning streak provides some hope. Especially if Hunter Brown and Josh Hader return in the coming weeks and further fortify the pitching staff. There is still plenty of baseball left, for better or worse. But, for tonight, let’s celebrate another Astros’ no-hitter. Those never get old, solo or combined.
Feature photo from @astros on X, Source Link
Santa looks like the real thing just looking at his stuff. Kudos to Jeremy Pena for an unbelievable play early on to keep Imai’s no hit in place.
Beautiful image, and a magical night. Season not over, um hmm
Santa, retire while you’re way ahead ? Can’t get much better than This !
In the Discord gamethread from innings 1 and 2:
I don’t know what others think but The more I think about it the more I think it was a dick move for Nimmo to challenge that strike 3. It’s 9-0. You’re not winning the game, it’s not worth taking away from the moment to challenge that pitch.
The second big surprise of the evening….the new manager. Aggressive, sharp, inspiring. Who’s this guy?
Stat nerd question: Is this the first time for an MLB debut relief pitcher to be part of no hitter?
Yes because he’s only the second pitcher to be part of a no hitter in his mlb debut and the other guy was an 1892 complete game no hitter
Was thinking about the Memorial Day Massacre, and we all know how that season went. What to call this one? the Memorial Day Miracle?
Miracle on (7)34 St(adium).
Best I got.
Is Dana Brown’s job more or less secure now? Allen and Chewmake say more. But, let’s pause a bit. We need to answer one question before I can continue. How independent is Dana Brown? Did he sign/trade Abreu, Walker, Hader, and Correa? Those deals tied up a lot of money and reduced his ability to maneuvering. Does DB have the authority to fire Espada and the trainers? How about Snitker and Cintron?
Never mind. I can’t evaluate DB fairly.
The walkathon in Inning 1 followed by no hitter is unusual, but not unheard of. I’m not going to try to remember specific examples, but I vaguely recall that occasionally a pitcher starts the game as “effectively wild” and if he get through it without damage, he might on rare occasion pitch a no hitter.
I feel like I remember joking about Cole throwing a no hitter once in 2019 when he was walking everyone in inning 1 and then he actually did go 6+ deep that game before allowing his first hit.
An interesting component of Imai’s pitching is that he has a high ground ball rate (around 52%). Until Hunter Brown gets back, Imai basically is the only GB pitcher in the rotation. He has been very inefficient in balls/strikes, but the ground ball orientation gives him a path to stay in the game for 6 innings. Even with the inefficiency, ground balls take advantage of a pretty decent infield defense and the opportunity for GIDPs.
what did you think about pulling pena late in the game? it was 9-0, but i would have thought an infield defense of shewmake, allen and pena would be stronger than shewake, allen, matthews, if you’re tryign to optimize defense for Santa. Maybe not that big of a difference though. They were all great.