Cubs' Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson, Porter Hodge toss combined no-hitter vs. Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates showed up Wednesday at Wrigley Field in search of a sweep.

Chicago Cubs starter Shota Imanaga and relievers Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge had other ideas as they combined to no-hit the Pirates in a 12-0 rout.

Imanaga tossed seven hitless innings, striking out seven.

The only runners the Pirates (65-74) managed off him were on two walks (Connor Joe and Jared Triolo) as well as three errors, all committed by third baseman Isaac Paredes.

“We knew he was a good pitcher,” manager Derek Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “He threw the ball on the plate, and we didn’t hit a ton of balls hard.”

Imanaga did not get a chance to complete his no-hitter as he was removed at 95 pitches after seven innings.

That evoked memories of a similar situation involving Pirates rookie phenom Paul Skenes earlier this year, when he was pulled from a July 11 start vs. Milwaukee after tossing seven no-hit innings at 99 pitches.

Imanaga, a Kitakyushu, Japan, native in his first MLB season, had a career high of 103 pitches entering Wednesday.

After the game, Cubs skipper Craig Counsell said the decision was not easy but done in the interest of Imanaga’s health.

“It’s really important for me to stay healthy for the whole season, throw my innings, make my starts, so (Counsell) told me maybe it’s time to switch pitchers,” Imanaga told reporters in Chicago through a translator. “I just trusted his judgment.”

Pearson took over in the eighth, recording two popouts and a groundout to maintain the no-hitter.

In the ninth, the Cubs turned to Hodge, who retired the Pirates in order.

Chicago’s combined no-hitter of the Pirates follows one thrown by Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene and Art Warren on May 25, 2022, a game the Reds ultimately lost.

The last true no-hitter against the Pirates was thrown by Lucas Giolito of the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 25, 2020.

Domingo German (0-1, 7.84 ERA), making his second start for the Pirates, was torched for nine hits and seven runs (six earned) in just three innings.

German struggled from the jump, allowing a leadoff single to Ian Happ in the first, followed by a walk of Michael Busch.

Seiya Suzuki then scored Happ with an RBI hit, giving Chicago an early 1-0 lead.

Chicago continued to make contact against German in the second, as Pete Crow-Armstrong doubled to make it 2-0 after Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson had singled.

Then, Happ promptly cleared the bases with an RBI single, putting the Cubs up 4-0.

In the third, German recorded two quick punchouts but could not prevent Chicago from running up the score even more, as Swanson hit a two-run shot to left field. Armstrong-Crow followed with another homer, and by the end of the third, Chicago led 7-0.

“From my point of view, I couldn’t execute my pitches today,” German said through assistant coach and translator Stephen Morales. “I left a lot of pitches over the strike zone, and they connected really well.”

Jalen Beeks took over for German, running into trouble in the fifth.

After plunking Paredes, Beeks allowed three straight hits, including another RBI double for Swanson and a single by Crow-Armstrong, allowing the Cubs to go up 9-0.

By the end of the fifth inning, the Cubs had 12 hits.

While Imanaga maintained his no-hitter, Paredes did him no favors in the field, recording an error in the first and two more in the sixth.

But with two men on, Oneil Cruz struck out to end the frame.

In the bottom of the sixth, Bellinger hit a two-run homer off Kyle Nicolas, making the score 11-0.

With the game way out of reach, the Pirates again turned to first baseman Rowdy Tellez to eat an inning.

Tellez, pitching for the third time this year, allowed one run on three hits.