Imanaga leads Cubs to combined no-hitter, first at Wrigley Field in 52 years

Craig Counsell walked into the interview room after Wednesday's game and said, “OK, let me have it.”

The players seemed happy after a 12-0 victory over Pittsburgh, but the fans definitely weren't OK with Counsell pulling Shota Imanaga off the mound after pitching seven hitless innings.

Imanaga, catcher Miguel Amaya and reliever Nate Pearson said they didn't even realize a no-hitter was on the line.

“After I went seven, no earned runs, Craig came to talk to me,” Imanaga said with the help of a translator. “Usually, he looks happy, telling me, 'Good job.' But he looked a little worried, so I was thinking, 'What's going on?' And that's when I learned.”

Amaya was the one person who was part of the battery for all nine innings. But he also lost track of the hit total.

“I had no idea either,” Amaya said. “I figured it out when Nate was coming in and the fans started booing,”

News travels slowly out to the enclosed bullpens under the bleachers. Porter Hodge, who worked the ninth, said he looked at a television, smiled at Pearson because he knew what was going on, but didn't want to say anything. Baseball superstitions, after all.

“I honestly didn't know we had a no-hitter going either and I ran out there and started getting booed,” Pearson said. “Then I realized, 'Oh, we've probably got something on the line here.' I kind of just locked it in and did my part.”

The three Cubs pitchers completed the 18th no-hitter in franchise history. It was also the Cubs' first no-hitter at Wrigley Field since Milt Pappas in 1972. Since then, they've all been away from home — Carlos Zambrano, Jake Arrieta twice, Alec Mills and a combined no-no led by Zach Davies.

“It feels so special to be a part of Cubs history,” Amaya said. “It feels so special to do it with these guys and especially in front of these fans.”

So why didn't Imanaga try to finish the game? He was at 95 pitches, so it would have required his longest outing of the year. And the Cubs just put Justin Steele on the injured list earlier in the day, so this is no time to mess with arm health.

“It's always hard to do in that situation, but it's 100% taking care of Shota and making sure we're doing the right thing for him,” Counsell said. “He's got starts left that are important and his long-term health is important. After the sixth, we knew it was going to be his last inning.”

Imanaga didn't voice any complaints about the decision. He hasn't missed time all season and will set a new career high for innings pitched if he continues to make all his starts.

“It's really important for me to stay healthy for the whole season, throw my innings, make my starts,” Imanaga said. “(Counsell) told me it's time to switch pitchers and I just trusted his judgment and went with it.”

One player who did have awareness on the hit total was shortstop Dansby Swanson. When the Cubs made several defensive changes after the seventh inning, he refused to take a seat.

“They said, 'Hey, you're done.' I said, 'No, I'm not,'” Swanson said. “Think about it. You can't say it. I think at first they thought it was more about trying to get a triple (for the cycle). I don't know if I can run that far. It was more for the defensive stuff. Yeah, it was really cool.”

Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong each had a double, home run, 3 hits and 3 RBI. Cody Bellinger also homered. But Swanson did the right thing by staying in, because he handled all three groundballs in the ninth.

“It's my first one I've been a part of, my third that I've almost been a part of,” Swanson said. “Lost two in the ninth. It was just really awesome to cherish. Just such a cool moment.”

Pittsburgh's Bryan Reynolds was initially credited with a hit in the first inning when a throw by third baseman Isaac Paredes bounced in front of first baseman Michael Busch and he couldn't hang on. The call was quickly changed to an error, and the play wasn't especially controversial. It should have been an out.

Paredes committed two more errors on routine plays, giving him 9 in 31 games since joining the Cubs. Christopher Morel, traded to Tampa Bay for Paredes, had 9 errors in 74 games.