Chicago Cubs Hurler Not Given Chance to Join Seattle Mariners Legend in History
The Chicago Cubs pummeled the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-0 on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field. While the offense was certainly a story, the real story was the Cubs pitching, which threw a combined no-hitter.
In the effort, rookie Shota Imanaga went 7.0 scoreless innings. He allowed two walks and struck out seven in moving to 12-3 on the year with a 2.99 ERA. Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge closed the game out to preserve the no-hitter in the eighth and ninth innings.
By being pulled after seven, Imanaga didn't get the chance to finish the deal himself. With that, he missed an opportunity to pair with Seattle Mariners legend Hisashi Iwakuma in baseball history.
Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today on social media:
History will have to wait:
Imanaga was bidding to become only the third Japanese pitcher to throw a no-hitter in MLB history, joining Hideo Nomo and Hisashi Iwakuma.
History will have to wait:
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) September 5, 2024
Imanaga was bidding to become only the third Japanese pitcher to throw a no-hitter in MLB history, joining Hideo Nomo and Hisashi Iwakuma. https://t.co/iHA9uLbOi1
Iwakuma no-hit the Baltimore Orioles back on Aug. 12, 2015 at T-Mobile Park. He walked three and struck out seven in a 116-pitch effort that saw the M's win 3-0.
Iwakuma pitched six seasons for the Mariners after coming over from Japan. He went 63-39 lifetime with a 3.42 ERA. He paired with Felix Hernandez to make a fun top of the rotation for some mediocre M's teams. He had three different seasons of double-digit wins, including a 16-win season back in 2016. He didn't have a losing season until his last one in 2017, in which he went just 0-2.
The current Mariners will play the Oakland Athletics on Thursday afternoon at 12:37 p.m. PT. Seattle is 70-70.
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