Shota Imanaga in the context of "No-hitter"

In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine complete innings recorded no hits. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is thereby said to have "thrown a no-hitter". In most cases, no-hitters are recorded by a single pitcher who throws a complete game; one thrown by two or more pitchers is a combined no-hitter.

A no-hitter is a rare accomplishment for a pitcher or pitching staff—only 326 have been thrown in MLB history since 1876, an average of about two per year. The most recent major league no-hitter, a combined no-hitter, was thrown by starter Shota Imanaga and relief pitchers Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge of the Chicago Cubs against the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 4, 2024, while the most recent no-hitter by a single pitcher was thrown by Blake Snell of the San Francisco Giants against the Cincinnati Reds on August 2, 2024.