On Monday night, three Houston Astros pitchers - Tatsuya Imai, Steven Okert and Alimber Santa - combined for a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers prevailing 9-0.
Imai pitched six innings with Okert pitching an inning with Santa pitching the final two innings in his major league debut.
It marks the first no-hitter in MLB since September 2024 when Chicago Cubs pitchers Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge threw a combined no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
It is the 18th no-hitter in Astros history. The last Astros no-hitter took place in April 2024 when Ronel Blanco tossed one against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Of further note, this is the fifth combined no-hitter in Astros history which is by far the most in MLB history. In 2003, six Astros pitchers (Roy Oswalt, Peter Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, the late Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner) combined for a no-hitter against the New York Yankees. In 2019, four Astros hurlers (Aaron Sanchez, Will Harris, Joe Biagini and Chris Devenski) combined for a no-hitter against the Seattle Mariners.
Two more combined no-hitters would follow in 2022. In a case of déjà vu all over again, the Astros would use multiple pitchers to no-hit the Yankees. This time they only needed three pitchers (Cristian Javier, Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly) to pull it off. Then Javier and Pressly would be involved in a second combined no-hitter along with Bryan Abreu and Rafael Montero. Only this time it was in Game 4 of the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. It should also be noted that Christian Vazquez who caught tonight's combined no-hitter also caught the combined World Series no-hitter.
Although the Astros have a subpar 24-31 record thus far in 2026, the no-no gives them four straight wins and victories in 7 of their last 10 games. Despite their record, the Astros are only 3½ games back of the Athletics who are leading the AL West with a .500 record. Perhaps this combined no-hitter will further their momentum in the AL West.
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