Cubs pitch combined no-hitter vs. Pirates: Shota Imanaga throws seven shutout innings, bullpen completes game

Cubs pitchers only allowed two walks on the night, but the defense earned three errors

By Matt Snyder Sep 4, 2024 at 10:33 pm ET• 2 min read

For the second time in club history, the Cubs have spun a combined no-hitter. 

Starter Shota Imanaga did the heavy lifting in this one, which ended up an 12-0 Cubs blowout, against the Pirates. The 31-year-old rookie struck out seven against two walks through his seven innings of scoreless, no-hit work. He threw 95 pitches before Cubs manager Craig Counsell deemed it would be stretching things too far to go for the no-hitter. His high pitch count for the season is 103. 

"You're taking care of Shota," Counsell said after the game (via 670 The Score). "It's 100% about taking care of Shota and making sure we're doing the right thing for him. It's not fun to do."  

An item of note here: Isaac Paredes made two consecutive errors in the sixth inning on routine plays. That ended up costing Imanaga seven extra pitches. We're left wondering if Counsell would've sent Imanaga back out for the eighth with 88 pitches and if this would've mattered.

Nate Pearson threw the eighth and Porter Hodge shut things down in the ninth.