PredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center:No-hitter! Cubs make history behind starter Shota Imanaga vs. Pirates

Led by starter Shota Imanaga,PredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center three Chicago Cubs pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the 18th in franchise history.

Imanaga kept the Pirates hitless for the first seven innings – removed from the game with 95 pitches – before handing the baton to Nate Pearson for the eighth and Porter Hodge the ninth in the Cubs' 12-0 win at Wrigley Field on Wednesday night.

It's the second combined no-hitter in Cubs history, three years after the team's first in 2021, when Zach Davies, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel held the Dodgers without a hit.

An MLB rookie as a 31-year-old after a career in Japan, Imanaga is 12-3 with a 2.99 ERA in 26 starts this season and was named an All-Star.

"He actually didn't know he had a no-hitter going at all, which is funny," Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters after the game.

Follow every MLB game: Latest MLB scores, stats, schedules and standings.

Counsell got some boos for taking Imanaga out approaching 100 pitches and Chicago's skipper said it was "not fun to do."

"It's 100% about taking care of Shota and making sure we’re doing the right thing for him," Counsell said.

The Cubs went from 1972 (Milt Pappas) to 2008 (Carlos Zambrano) without a no-hitter, but have five in the past 16 years: Jake Arrieta (2015 and 2016), Alec Mills (2020) and the 2021 combined no-no. Wednesday marked the first Cubs no-hitter at Wrigley Field since Pappas more than 50 years ago.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.