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Three Astros pitchers combine for first MLB no-hitter since 2024

Nypost · · 393 words · By Associated Press
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What to know about Three Astros pitchers combine for first MLB no-hitter since 2024

ARLINGTON, Texas — Houston Astros right-hander Tatsuya Imai and relievers Steven Okert and Alimber Santa combined to throw a no-hitter in a 9-0 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday night.

Claims checked 13
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center67%
Right33%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

ARLINGTON, Texas — Houston Astros right-hander Tatsuya Imai and relievers Steven Okert and Alimber Santa combined to throw a no-hitter in a 9-0 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday night.

Why it matters

It was the first no-hitter in the major leagues since Shota Imanaga and two Chicago Cubs relievers combined for a 12-0 win over Pittsburgh on Sept.

Common ground

No pitcher has tossed a complete-game no-hitter since Blake Snell for the San Francisco Giants against Cincinnati on Aug.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/05/25/sports/three-astros-pitchers-combine-for-first-mlb…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

verified Verified By Reference 4
check_circle Corroborated 3
schedule Pending 3
info Single Source 1
help Insufficient Evidence 1
cancel Disputed 1
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Claim 1: “Houston Astros right-hander Tatsuya Imai and relievers Steven Okert and Alimber Santa combined to throw a no-hitter in a 9-0 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday night.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web search results confirm that Tatsuya Imai, Steven Okert, and Alimber Santa combined for a no-hitter in a 9-0 win over the Texas Rangers.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Steven Chandler Okert (born July 9, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Francisco Gian…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Okert
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tatsuya Imai (今井 達也, Imai Tatsuya; born May 9, 1998) is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in Nippon Professional …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatsuya_Imai
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 Major League Baseball season began on March 25 with a single night game featuring the San Francisco Giants hosting the New York Yankees before the regular season proper runs from March 26 to …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Major_League_Baseball_sea…
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 2: “Okert worked the seventh after Imai got 16 outs over the last 16 batters he faced.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific detail about Imai retiring 16 consecutive batters before Okert took over is not explicitly corroborated across multiple sources in the provided evidence, though the general sequence of pitchers is confirmed.
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago ... Called third strike! The Astros' seventeenth no-hitter! A challenge by Brandon Nimmo... For now, it's the seventh no-hitter in the last eight ...
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYyLtvGRE3m/
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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago ... Tatsuya Imai, Steven Okert and Alimber Santa combine for MLB's first no-hitter since 2024! A baseball from the 18th no-no in Houston Astros ...
https://www.facebook.com/baseballhall/posts/tatsuya-imai-ste…
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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago ... The first no-hitter since 2024! Tatsuya Imai, Steven Okert and Alimber Santa - on his MLB debut, no less! - completed the Houston Astros' ...
https://www.facebook.com/mlbeurope/posts/the-first-no-hitter…
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Claim 3: “He was a three-time All-Star during eight seasons in Japan, and went 10-5 with a 1.92 ERA last season for the Pacific League’s Seibu Lions, striking out 178 in 163 2/3 innings.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 4: “Santa made his big league debut in the eighth and retired all six batters he faced.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm Alimber Santa made his MLB debut in the eighth inning and retired all six batters he faced.
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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · Santa retired all six batters he faced to combine with starter Tatsuya Imai (six innings) and lefty reliever Steven Okert (one inning) to ...
https://www.mlb.com/news/alimber-santa-closes-out-astros-no-…
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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · Houston's Alimber Santa became the first reliever to finish a no-hitter in his MLB debut, doing it with two perfect innings against the Rangers.
https://www.facebook.com/houstonchronicle/posts/houstons-ali…
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · The 23 year-old rookie becomes the first future Hall of Fame hurler to give up a home run to the first batter he faces in the major leagues when ...
https://www.facebook.com/TalkinBaseballPodcast/posts/in-his-…
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Claim 5: “Imai threw 57 of his 97 pitches for strikes. He struck out two.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the specific pitch count (57/97) or the number of strikeouts for Imai.
schedule
Claim 6: “He was 1-2 with an 8.31 ERA in his first five starts for the Astros.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 7: “No pitcher has tossed a complete-game no-hitter since Blake Snell for the San Francisco Giants against Cincinnati on Aug. 2, 2024.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and MLB.com confirm that Blake Snell threw a complete-game no-hitter for the San Francisco Giants against the Cincinnati Reds on August 2, 2024, and it is cited as the most recent single-pitcher no-hitter.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2024 San Francisco Giants season was the 142nd season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, their 67th year in San Francisco, and their 25th at Oracle Park. This was their first season under…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_San_Francisco_Giants_seas…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2025 San Francisco Giants season was the 143rd season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, their 68th year in San Francisco, their 26th at Oracle Park, and the second and final season under…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_San_Francisco_Giants_seas…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Blake Ashton Snell (born December 4, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Tampa Bay Ra…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_Snell
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 8: “It was the first no-hitter in the major leagues since Shota Imanaga and two Chicago Cubs relievers combined for a 12-0 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 4, 2024.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm this was the first MLB no-hitter since Shota Imanaga and two Cubs relievers combined for a 12-0 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 4, 2024.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2025 Chicago Cubs season was the 154th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 150th in the National League, and the Cubs' 110th season at Wrigley Field. They are members of Major League Basebal…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Chicago_Cubs_season
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 Chicago Cubs season is the 155th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 151st in the National League, and the Cubs' 111th season at Wrigley Field. They are members of Major League Baseball…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Chicago_Cubs_season
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Shōta Imanaga (今永 昇太, Imanaga Shōta; born September 1, 1993), nicknamed "The Throwing Philosopher", and "Mike Imanaga II" is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major Leag…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shota_Imanaga
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 9: “The Rangers were held without a hit for the sixth time, the first since Corey Kluber threw a no-hitter against them for the New York Yankees on May 19, 2021.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and news sources confirm Corey Kluber threw a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers on May 19, 2021.
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web search NEUTRAL — May 19, 2021 ... The two-time American League Cy Young winner threw the Yankees' first no-hitter since 1999 in a 2-0 win over the Rangers on Wednesday night.
https://www.mlb.com/news/corey-kluber-throws-yankees-no-hitt…
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web search NEUTRAL — On May 19, 2021, Kluber threw a no-hitter against the Rangers. Contents. 1 ... hitter in Yankees history against his team the previous season, the Texas Rangers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corey_Kluber
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web search NEUTRAL — May 19, 2021 ... — Corey Kluber threw the the major leagues' sixth no-hitter this season and second in two nights, leading the New York Yankees over the Texas ...
https://www.espn.com/mlb/game/_/gameId/401227694/yankees-ran…
verified
Claim 10: “Houston also threw a no-hitter in the 2022 World Series when four pitchers combined against Philadelphia.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
While Wikipedia confirms the 2022 World Series took place between the Phillies and Astros, none of the provided evidence sources confirm that a no-hitter was thrown during that series.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2022 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2022 season. The 118th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_World_Series
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — William Edward Wagner (born July 25, 1971), nicknamed "Billy the Kid", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Wagner
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Bradley Thomas Lidge (born December 23, 1976), nicknamed "Lights Out", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Lidge played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 2002 to 2012. H…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Lidge
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 11: “Imai joined the Astros in January after agreeing to a $54 million, three-year contract.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 12: “The 28-year-old Imai is in his first big league season after coming over from Japan.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia confirms Tatsuya Imai was born May 9, 1998 (making him 27/28) and previously played in NPB for the Saitama Seibu Lions before joining the Astros.
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Claim 13: “Imai went six innings in the 17th regular-season no-hitter in Astros history and fourth that was a combined effort.”
DISPUTED
There is a contradiction in the evidence regarding the number of the no-hitter. Some web search results call it the '17th regular-season no-hitter' and 'fourth combined effort', while a Reddit source and other web results refer to it as the '18th no-hitter' and '5th combined'.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Houston Astros sign stealing scandal in Major League Baseball (MLB) broke in November 2019. Several members of the Houston Astros management were disciplined for failing to prevent Astros players …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_Astros_sign_stealing_s…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 Houston Astros season is the 65th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 62nd as the Astros, 14th in both the American League (AL) and AL West d…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Houston_Astros_season
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. They are o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_Astros
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.