A no-hitter wasn't thrown in the major leagues all of last season. In that regard, this year is now already different. The Houston Astros just completed a combined no-hitter against the Texas Rangers on Sunday. Houston pitchers Tatsuya Imai, Steven Okert, and Alimber Santa shut down the Rangers' offense, only allowing five walks en route to a 9-0 victory. The Astros hurlers also struck out just four batters in this no-hit effort. Imai, who started Sunday's game and twirled six hitless innings with four walks and two strikeouts, is in his first season in the majors after pitching in Japan for several years. But for Santa, he tossed the final two innings of this combined no-hitter in his MLB debut after being called up from Triple-A Sugar Land on Friday. The 23-year-old had been pitching in the Astros' farm system since 2021 and posted a 1.42 ERA in 18 Triple-A appearances this year before his promotion. A look at other recent no-hittersHouston's performance on Sunday marks the first MLB no-hitter since Chicago Cubs pitchers Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson, and Porter Hodge combined to keep the Pittsburgh Pirates out of the hit column on Sept. 4, 2024. Before that, Blake Snell threw the last no-hitter completed by just one pitcher when he was on the San Francisco Giants and shut down the Cincinnati Reds on Aug. 2, 2024. While there wasn't a single no-hitter last year, there were four in 2024. And the Astros were involved then as well, with pitcher Ronel Blanco throwing the first no-hitter of that season on April 1, 2024. Dylan Cease tossed the second no-hitter that year, keeping the Washington Nationals' bats at bay on July 25, 2024, when he was pitching for the San Diego Padres. As MLB.com's Sarah Langs pointed out, the Astros have now thrown 18 no-hitters (including the postseason), which is the most of any big league team since the franchise's first season in the majors in 1962. The Los Angeles Dodgers have the next highest number of no-hitters in that time frame with 13, as well as the most overall no-hitters in MLB history with 26. The Astros' performance on the mound on Sunday guarantees that the 2026 MLB season will have at least one more no-hitter than last year. Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow