Astros’ first – Tatsuya Imai settled after a shaky start and, with two relief pitchers, helped the Astros throw the first Major League no-hitter in nearly two years in a 9-0 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field.
ARLINGTON — Monday night, Tatsuya Imai didn’t look like a man about to become a headline. He walked the first two batters he faced and threw only two of his first 10 pitches for strikes. For a right-handed pitcher who had arrived in Houston on a three-year. $54 million deal. the beginning was the kind of trouble that doesn’t just test mechanics — it tests belief.
Pitching coach Josh Miller came out to visit. The message landed. Imai got a double play grounder. then allowed just two of the next 17 batters he faced to reach the finish of six scoreless innings. Two relief pitchers completed the job. and the Astros combined for the first no-hitter in the Major Leagues in nearly two years. beating the Rangers 9-0 at Globe Life Field.
The timing mattered. This was the first Major League no-hitter since the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge threw one against the Pirates on Sept. 4, 2024.
For Imai, the performance also moved the story away from the rough stretch that came before it. He had a 7.27 ERA after three starts and was placed on the injured list with arm fatigue after a disastrous outing on April 10 in Seattle. when he allowed three runs and four walks while getting one out. He returned on May 12 and gave up six runs in four innings against the Mariners before a solid start a week ago at the Twins. when he allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings.
The Astros’ offense made sure the momentum belonged to them from early on. Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña led off the game with a hit by pitch. stole second. and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Yordan Alvarez. Alvarez led off the fourth inning by clubbing his 16th hammer of the season — coming off Rangers starter Kumar Rocker— for a 2-0 lead. A perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Christian Vázquez and an RBI single by Peña turned that advantage into 4-0 in the fifth.
By the time Christian Walker got rolling, the game was already tilting hard. Walker added a three-run homer in the seventh. It was his fourth homer in three games and his 15th of the season, putting him one behind Alvarez. Walker has three RBIs in each of his last three games, giving him 40 for the season.
Still, the no-hitter stayed the centerpiece — not because it arrived cleanly, but because it didn’t. Imai’s early struggle was real: two runners aboard, two strikes in 10 pitches. The turn came after Miller’s visit. and from there the Astros went quiet in the best possible way. finishing what they started with a six-inning anchor and a pair of relief arms closing the door on every last batter.
Astros Rangers Tatsuya Imai no-hitter Globe Life Field MLB Jeremy Peña Yordan Alvarez Christian Vázquez Christian Walker