It happens every once in a while, and it happened in Arlington, Texas on Monday night, as the Houston Astros threw a combined no-hitter against the Texas Rangers in what was a 9-0 win.
Here’s the no-hitter by the numbers:
1: Alimber Santa pitched the ninth inning for the Astros. Want extra significance? This was the first MLB appearance of Santa’s career — we could go in another direction with this, but that note will do.
2A: Speaking of the bearded man in the red suit (okay, we lied), Santa is just the second player to pitch in a no-hitter in his MLB debut, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The other? Cincinnati Reds right-hander Bumpus Jones in 1892.
2B: Regarding the bats, Houston had two home runs, with designated hitter Yordan Álvarez hitting a solo homer in the top of the fourth and first baseman Christian Walker blasting a three-run homer in the top of the seventh.
2C: Astros catcher Christian Vázquez was behind the plate for all nine innings, with him tallying two singles — including one that drove in a run in the top of the fifth — at the plate.
3A: The number of pitchers the Astros used: Tatsuya Imai (six innings), Steven Okert (one inning) and Santa (two innings).
3B: The number of wins that Houston has against Texas this season (the Astros are 3-1 against their American League West rival).
4A: Amazingly, Houston’s pitching staff recorded just four strikeouts.
4B: The Astros are now on a four-game winning streak, including two shutouts (9-0 win over the Rangers and a 3-0 victory against the Chicago Cubs).
5A: This is the fifth combined no-hitter in Astros’ history, with the previous one coming against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 of the 2022 World Series; Houston also had a team no-hitter against the New York Yankees in June of that season.
5B: While the Astros surrendered no hits, they did give up five walks.
6: In pitching six innings, Imai had the longest start of his MLB career (Monday night was the right-hander’s sixth start).
7: Okert’s one inning of relief marked the seventh time in his last eight appearances that he pitched a scoreless inning.
9: Houston put nine runs on the board.
18: In all, this is the 18th no-hitter in Astros’ history, with Ronel Blanco’s no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 1, 2024 being their last one.
136: The number of pitches thrown by Houston pitchers.
628: The number of days between the Astros’ combined no-hitter and the last no-hitter in MLB (a combined no-hitter by the Cubs on Sept, 4, 2024).
