Astros Combined No-Hitter: Imai, Okert, Santa Shut Out Rangers in Historic Debut

Tatsuya Imai walked the first two Rangers hitters he saw on Memorial Day. Six innings later, he had not allowed a hit. Steven Okert threw a scoreless seventh. Alimber Santa, a 23-year-old Dominican right-hander making his Major League debut, struck out Brandon Nimmo looking to finish off a 9-0 combined no-hitter, the 18th in Astros franchise history and the first in Major League Baseball since the Cubs' combined no-no against the Pirates on September 4, 2024.

That is the headline. The story underneath is that Houston, which entered the night with one of the worst records in the American League, has now won four in a row, gone 5-2 on a 10-game road trip, and gotten the most important start of the year out of the pitcher they bet $54 million on this winter.

What Happened at Globe Life Field

Imai's first inning was, by his own description, a mess. He threw eight balls and two strikes to Joc Pederson and Alejandro Osuna to start the game. Pitching coach Josh Miller came out, told him to attack the zone, and Imai then retired 15 of the next 17 hitters he faced. He finished six innings with four walks, a season-high 97 pitches, and zero hits allowed.

Per MLB.com's recap, Imai relied mostly on his four-seam fastball (48 pitches) and slider (45), generating three swings and misses on each. The Rangers averaged 90.5 mph exit velocity against him. That is contact, but it is not hard contact, and the Astros' defense did the rest.

Two plays kept the no-no alive in the middle innings:

1. Jeremy Pena, the Astros' shortstop, ranged on a 105.4 mph grounder off the bat of Pederson in the third and completed the throw to first. The play is the kind of double-play insurance that turns a wobbly start into a quality outing. 2. Center fielder Jake Meyers ran down two fly balls in right-center field on the warning track in the fifth inning, both off the bat of Rangers hitters who got under fastballs they could not square up.

Okert needed seven pitches to get through the seventh. Manager Joe Espada then handed Santa the ball with six outs to go. Santa is 23, signed out of the Dominican Republic, and had never thrown a pitch in the Major Leagues before that moment.

He struck out Nimmo looking on the final pitch of the game, after a brief ABS challenge from Texas was rejected, and the Astros celebrated on the road. Santa is the second pitcher in MLB history to be part of a no-hitter in his big-league debut, after Bumpus Jones of the Reds in 1892, per Elias.

The Numbers Behind the Game

Six markers worth holding onto:

1. The Astros' 18th no-hitter in franchise history. The fifth combined no-no. No other team has more than two combined no-hitters in their history. 2. The first MLB no-hitter since Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson, and Porter Hodge for the Cubs against the Pirates on September 4, 2024. 3. Imai entered the game with an 8.31 ERA and walked four batters in his start. He still went six no-hit innings. 4. The Astros have not been no-hit since Matt Cain's perfect game in 2012, an eight-consecutive-no-hitter streak without being on the wrong end. 5. Yordan Alvarez hit his 16th home run of the season to start a 2-0 fourth inning. Christian Walker added a three-run shot in the seventh, his 15th of the year and his fourth in three games. 6. Houston has won four straight and is 5-2 on a 10-game road trip.

The Rangers were no-hit at home, which is the third such no-hitter at Globe Life Field. The Astros' starting catcher was Christian Vazquez. The manager who pressed the right buttons all night was Joe Espada.

The Imai Bet, Six Weeks In

Houston signed Imai out of NPB this winter on a three-year, $54 million deal. The bet was that the former Japanese star's command profile would translate to MLB hitters. The first six weeks suggested the opposite. Imai posted a 7.27 ERA across three starts before going on the injured list with arm fatigue on April 10. He returned May 12 and gave up six runs in four innings to Seattle. The Memorial Day start was his second outing since coming off the IL.

This is the bounce-back the Astros needed. Imai is not yet a stabilizer at the top of the rotation. But six no-hit innings is a different ceiling profile than the one he had shown in April. His pitch mix worked. His defense covered the contact. The clubhouse won the game behind him.

That matters for a team that has been, by any honest reading, the most disappointing club in the American League West to start 2026. We covered the Astros' early-season injury wave when the bottom started falling out in April. Carlos Correa is out for the year after season-ending peroneus brevis tendon repair on his left ankle. Hunter Brown is on the 60-day injured list. The rotation has been managed game-to-game.

Betting Impact: Live AL West Odds and Astros Futures

The Astros' division and playoff futures have softened materially since opening day. They are now meaningful underdogs to make the postseason on most major books. The Memorial Day no-hitter does not change those odds in any meaningful way on its own. What it does change is the value calculation if you are looking for an upside contrarian play.

Three angles worth watching:

1. Astros division futures. Houston is the longest American League West price most books have offered in years. If Imai stabilizes at even a league-average ERA going forward, the rotation gets a real arm to slot behind the holdovers. 2. Alimber Santa rookie market. Santa is now a name. Rookie pitcher under/over markets will move on him this week. He does not have a defined role yet, which is the time to take a position if you like the arm. 3. Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker home run props. Both are in stretches that have produced consistent counting stats. Alvarez at 16 home runs and Walker on a four-homers-in-three-games run are the cleanest power plays in the Houston lineup right now.

For DFS, Imai is no longer a back-of-the-rotation throwaway. His next start could produce real strikeout upside given the path he showed on Monday. The Astros' lineup is still volatile but Alvarez, Walker, and Pena are the priority bats.

We track every American League power-pitcher prop on the MLB daily picks page.

What to Watch Next

Three things to track over the next two weeks:

1. Imai's next start. This is the single most important data point of his MLB career so far. The Astros need this version, not the 7.27 ERA version, to make a second-half push real. 2. Santa's role. Espada has flexibility. Santa could go back to Triple-A and stretch out as a starter, or stay in the bullpen as a multi-inning option. Watch the next two Astros games for signal. 3. Astros standings momentum. Four straight wins and a 5-2 road trip is a different team than the one that limped through early May. The next 30 days will determine whether Houston is a trade-deadline buyer, a seller, or a hold.

For the MLB.com recap of the no-hitter, see the official game story.

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