ARLINGTON, Texas — On the 25th of May, Santa traded his sleigh for a beer-soaked laundry cart. Remnants of that ride remained in the Houston Astros’ clubhouse on Monday night.Crinkled cans of Red Bull, Miller Lite and Michelob Ultra sat alongside the bottles of mustard and ketchup doused on a Dominican right-hander with a whimsical surname and an incomparable introduction to Major League Baseball.“What I pictured,” Alimber Santa said through an interpreter, “was coming in, throwing strikes and maybe striking out one batter.”When he did, Santa concluded the 18th no-hitter in the Astros’ 65-year existence while establishing a precedent that will be difficult for any prospect to match. Santa became the first pitcher in Major League Baseball history to finish a no-hitter as a reliever in his major-league debut.According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Santa is the first man in 134 years to even participate in a no-hitter in his debut. In 1892, a Cincinnati Reds right-hander named Bumpus Jones threw a complete-game no-hitter in his first major-league appearance.Santa had to settle for securing the final six outs of Houston’s 9-0 victory against the Texas Rangers. Three groundouts, two lineouts and a game-ending strikeout of $162 million outfielder Brandon Nimmo left Santa with his arms outstretched and awaiting a mob from his teammates on the pitcher’s mound.After it dissipated, slugger Yordan Alvarez approached a still-stunned Santa.“Santa, you don’t know what you just did,’” Alvarez told him.“I know it’s something historic.”Ranked as the Astros’ No. 16 prospect by The Athletic’s Keith Law during the preseason, Santa has been an organizational darling for the past four seasons. He signed for $75,000 in 2020 and, the next spring, started drawing crowds for his live batting practice sessions.“I’ve seen this kid for years and to have this moment is huge for the organization and for him,” Astros manager Joe Espada said.“It looked like he’d pitched in the big leagues before. That was an incredible first impression.”Santa represented the Astros in the Futures Game last July. This season, he sported a 1.42 ERA and 0.895 WHIP across his first 18 games at Triple-A Sugar Land. In need of a spark — and some power velocity from a right-handed reliever — Houston summoned Santa before their three-game series against the Chicago Cubs last weekend. Santa went unused during a sweep of the Cubs, meaning he entered Monday as one of the few rested arms in Espada’s bullpen. Protecting those that weren’t took priority over preserving history, so the third-year skipper sent Santa out for the final two innings.“Before I was coming in, I knew it was a no-hitter going on, but I wasn’t thinking of that. I just wanted to come in and attack the hitters and do my job,” Santa said.“Everything was under control in the bullpen. I just felt some adrenaline, but I tried to tell myself to calm down and remember to do what I’ve been doing since the minor leagues. There was some adrenaline. I was aware of the no-hitter. But I was just trying to calm myself down in the bullpen.”Alimber Santa said he knew there was a no-hitter in play when he entered Monday’s game in the eighth inning. “I wasn’t thinking of that,” he said. “I just wanted to come in and attack the hitters and do my job.” (Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)Santa’s first out arrived against former National League MVP Andrew McCutchen, a sign for Espada that the moment didn’t seem too big. Santa threw 16 of his 24 pitches for strikes. Four of the six hitters he saw fell behind against him 0-1, something even his veteran teammates have struggled to accomplish all season.When an out separated him from history, Santa could not get ahead of Nimmo. The first-pitch slider he threw sailed up and away. Nimmo fouled off two consecutive fastballs before watching a sweeper land at the bottom of his strike zone. None of Santa’s three pitches impressed team officials more. Espada acknowledged he “did not know there was that much sweep.”“Looked dynamic,” pitching coach Josh Miller added.Nimmo may concur, but for the sake of staving off embarrassment, he tapped his helmet to challenge the called strike. Santa stopped his celebration. He stands far away from home plate and, as a result, he acknowledged, “I don’t really know the zone that well.” Catcher Christian Vázquez has a better view.“(Vázquez) came up to me and said, ‘Hey stud, that’s a strike,’” Santa said.Delirium started after that became official. A throng of humanity gathered around him on the pitcher’s mound. Santa conducted a giddy postgame interview on the team’s television broadcast before descending the stairs into the clubhouse. His cart awaited.“Something beautiful,” Santa said with a wide smile.