Should We Pay Attention to Combined No-Hitters?

By Sal Maiorana

May 22, 2026

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On Monday night, we had the first no-hitter in MLB since 2024 when the Astros blew out the Rangers 9-0. I say no-hitter, but only in the sense that three Astros pitchers managed to prevent any Rangers batters from getting a hit.

There have now been 305 no-hitters in MLB history, but since 22 of them were crafted by a group of pitchers rather than just one, as far as I’m concerned there have been 287 no-hitters.

Sorry, but I think combined no-hitters are baloney because it wasn’t one pitcher dominating a lineup at least three times through the order. That’s a true accomplishment and worthy of unending praise. All combined no-hitters prove is that the team being no-hit just flat out stunk that night.

What we saw in Texas was Houston starter Tatsuya Imai, who has struggled mightily in his first season away from Japan as his 6.14 ERA would attest, throw six innings of rather mundane ball as he walked four and struck out only two and needed 97 pitches to record his 18 outs.

Steven Okert pitched one inning and walked one, then Astros manager Joe Espada turned it over to a kid named Alimber Santa who was making his MLB debut and the 23-year-old pitched better than the first two guys, two perfect innings, getting Brandon Nimmo for his first career strikeout which finished the game.

That was the only interesting aspect of this game. As I said, combined no-hitters are pretty meaningless in my book, but the fact that Santa closed it out gives the kid a memory he’ll never forget.

The native of the Dominican Republic became the second player in MLB history to pitch in a no-hitter in his debut, joining Bumpus Jones of the Reds who pitched a one-man no-no on Oct. 15, 1892.

“Everything was under control in the bullpen,” he said. “I just felt some adrenaline, but I tried to calm down and remember to do what I’ve been doing in the minor leagues. I was aware of the no-hitter, but I was trying to stay calm.”

It’s crazy that it was the Astros who held a team hitless. Houston’s pitching staff has been woeful during its 24-31 start as it ranks fifth-worst in runs allowed per game at 5.11, but is dead last in ERA at 5.06 and WHIP at 1.487.

The Rangers had to be mortified as this was happening.

So mortified that on Tuesday they sent 11 men to the plate in the first inning and shelled Astros starter Jason Alexander for eight runs on five hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch with Joc Pederson, in his second at bat of the inning, capped it with a three-run homer.

“It doesn’t make any sense sometimes,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said of our favorite sport.