Connect with us

Published

on

CHICAGO — Shota Imanaga wasn’t disappointed when he was removed after seven hitless innings and 95 pitches.

“He actually didn’t know he had a no-hitter going at all, which is funny,” Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.

Nate Pearson and rookie Porter Hodge each followed with a perfect inning to finish a 12-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night, the Cubs’ first no-hitter at Wrigley Field since 1972.

“That’s 100% about taking care of Shota and making sure we’re doing the right thing for him,” Counsell said. “It’s not fun to do, but when you’re prioritizing the player’s health and you don’t know what’s going to happen moving forward, we want him to stay healthy.”

This was almost a no-hitter that almost never was. Cubs third baseman Isaac Paredes had three errors in the game, including a throwing error on the second play of the game that allowed Bryan Reynolds to reach base. The play was originally ruled a hit and later changed to an error.

Imanaga (12-3) struck out seven and walked two, throwing 66 pitches for strikes.

A 31-year-old left-hander in his first season with the Cubs after pitching in Japan for eight seasons, Imanaga has not recorded an out in the eighth inning this season and has thrown a high of 103 pitches.

He needed 25 pitches to get through the second inning. He complimented catcher Miguel Amaya, who posed for photos with the three pitchers after the final out.

“Miggy studies the hitters, and there were a few occasions today where there was a specific pitch I wanted to throw, Miggy had a different sign, and I just trusted him and it worked out,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “I can’t thank him enough.”

Imanaga agreed in January to a $53 million, four-year contract. Chicago paid a $9,825,000 posting fee to the Yokohama BayStars of Japan’s Central League.

“The way he works, the presence, the confidence that he shows up there, every pitch is with intention,” Amaya said. “He’s a grinder.”

With Imanaga and Hodge, it’s the first combined no-hitter in MLB history to have a rookie start and finish the game, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Chicago’s previous no-hitter was by Zach Davies, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel at Dodger Stadium on June 24, 2021. Chicago had not pitched a no-hitter at Wrigley Field since Milt Pappas against San Diego on Sept. 2, 1972 — Pappas was one pitch from a perfect game when umpire Bruce Froemming called ball four on a full-count pitch to Larry Stahl. Garry Jestadt then popped out.

Chicago ended a streak of 4,147 regular and postseason games at Wrigley Field without a no-hitter, the second-longest for a team in a single ballpark behind Pittsburgh, according to Opta. The Pirates never had a no-hitter in 4,773 games at Forbes Field from 1909 to 1970.

Cubs players celebrated when shortstop Dansby Swanson threw to first baseman Michael Busch for the final out on Oneil Cruz‘s grounder but were more muted than during celebrations after individual no-hitters.

Swanson insisted on staying in the game despite the blowout.

“He goes about his work the same every day, whether he’s had a good outing or a bad outing,” Swanson said on Imanaga. “He’s always wanting to get better. He’s always doing the routine that he needs to do to be able to go back out again in five days and be able to pitch well. He’s always prepared. He has his own way of doing things and takes full pride and responsibility to do that.”

This was the fourth no-hitter this season after complete-game efforts by Houston’s Ronel Blanco against Toronto on April 1, San Diego’s Dylan Cease at Washington on July 25 and San Francisco’s Blake Snell at Cincinnati on Aug. 2.

Nico Hoerner, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Swanson each had three of Chicago’s 17 hits, with Swanson and Crow-Armstrong both finishing a triple shy of the cycle. It was just the sixth no-hitter in MLB history in which a team outhit the other by at least 17, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Domingo Germán (0-1), who pitched a perfect game last year for the New York Yankees against Oakland, allowed seven runs — six earned — and nine hits in three innings.

Seiya Suzuki hit an RBI single in the first, and Chicago opened a 4-0 lead in the second when Crow-Armstrong had a run-scoring double and Happ hit a two-run single.

Swanson’s two-run homer and Crow-Armstrong’s solo shot boosted the lead to 7-0 in the third. Cody Bellinger hit a two-run homer in the sixth against Kyle Nicolas.

Pittsburgh’s Rowdy Tellez allowed Miles Mastrobuoni’s RBI single in the eighth, the first baseman’s third mound outing this season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Wake swaps Ole Miss with Oregon State series

Published

on

By

Wake swaps Ole Miss with Oregon State series

Wake Forest and Oregon State announced a home-and-home series Wednesday that will see the Demon Deacons head to Corvallis in 2025 and the Beavers make the return trip to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 2029.

For Wake Forest, the 2025 game will replace a scheduled road trip to Ole Miss, which has been canceled by the Demon Deacons, a move that generated criticism from Rebels coach Lane Kiffin.

Ole Miss beat Wake Forest 40-6 in Winston-Salem on Saturday. After the game, Kiffin criticized Wake Forest athletic director John Currie for canceling the return trip, saying that violated “an unwritten rule.”

A source told ESPN that Wake Forest had been working with Ole Miss for the past several years to move the return trip but was unable to reach an agreement.

The home-and-home with Oregon State will be more financially lucrative for Wake Forest and helps fill a need on the Beavers’ schedule created when the Pac-12 fell apart with 10 schools departing this summer.

“We are committed to making decisions that best serve our program and our student-athletes, and that includes bringing national games to Winston-Salem,” Currie said in a statement released by the school. “We have a high degree of respect for Ole Miss and their fans, and we congratulate them on their victory last weekend in sold-out Allegacy Stadium. But given the ongoing financial pressures of the new era of college athletics and our priority on continuing to grow resources to benefit our student-athletes, it was the right business decision to secure this two-game home-and-home series with Oregon State, and cancel the planned game in Oxford next year.”

Ole Miss suggested Wake Forest would pay a $1 million buyout to cancel the 2025 trip to Oxford, although sources at Wake Forest said that number was inflated. Wake Forest said in its statement that it honored the terms of the original contract with the Rebels, which dates back to 2014.

Continue Reading

Sports

USC adds to recruiting roll with 4-star WR Myles

Published

on

By

USC adds to recruiting roll with 4-star WR Myles

USC landed a key commitment Wednesday when four-star wide receiver Jerome Myles, the No. 26 prospect in the 2025 ESPN 300, committed to the Trojans, continuing a hot late-summer recruiting run for Lincoln Riley & Co.

Myles, who decommitted from Ole Miss in June, is ESPN’s fifth-ranked wide receiver in 2025 and stood as the nation’s top uncommitted pass catcher prior to his commitment. The No. 1 prospect in the state of Utah this cycle, Myles picked the Trojans over Texas A&M and Utah, and he now lands as the second-ranked member of USC’s 2025 class, trailing only five-star quarterback Julian Lewis (No. 2 in the 2025 ESPN 300).

Myles, who felt home ties to Utah and visited Texas A&M in Week 1, told ESPN his recruitment swung on the plan Riley and his staff presented during Myles’ Week 2 visit to USC.

“USC just blew everybody out of the water,” Myles said. “They produce the most NFL draft picks. And the wide receiver development is crazy. And if I don’t make it in football out there, I’ll make it some way in life. They’re not all about just the football part. I like that.”

Myles initially committed to Ole Miss in the spring before pulling his pledge from the Rebels and reopening his commitment. His senior campaign at Utah’s Corner Canyon High School ended on Aug. 30 when Myles suffered a season-ending ACL injury, prompting the 6-foot-3, 220-pound prospect to push up his originally scheduled Oct. 30 commitment ceremony. With Myles off the board, four-star pass catcher Jaden Nickens (No. 162 in the ESPN 300) remains as the last uncommitted player among ESPN’s top-30 wide receivers in 2025.

Myles’ pledge comes 10 days after USC secured top inside linebacker prospect Ty Jackson (No. 44 in the ESPN 300), who visited the Trojans on the same weekend as Myles. USC has now added four top-100 pledges since July 30 with Myles and Jackson following Georgia outside linebacker flip Jadon Perlotte (No. 84 in the ESPN 300) and UCF safety flip Kendarius Reddick (No. 89)

USC currently holds the No. 16 recruiting spot in 2025, per ESPN’s latest team rankings for the cycle.

Myles took official visits to Utah and Texas A&M prior to pulling his commitment from Ole Miss in June. Last month, he told ESPN that USC, Texas, A&M, Utah, Georgia and Ohio State had made the cut among the finalists in his recruitment entering his senior season.

Myles’ connection with Texas A&M dipped after he visited College Station with Corner Canyon teammate and 2026 quarterback prospect Helaman Casuga during the Aggies’ 23-13 loss to Notre Dame on the opening weekend of the regular season. At USC a week later, Myles heard everything he needed from a coaching staff that made Myles a priority after offering him in July.

“I just wanted to learn more about their history and what they have in store for me,” Myles said. “When I went out there, they definitely impressed me.”

In Myles, USC has a speedy, deep-threat receiver to pair with Lewis in the 2025 class. Myles is a state champion sprinter in the 100- and 200-meter events. Across his sophomore and junior seasons at Corner Canyon, Myles totaled 53 catches for 1,185 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Myles is now the ninth ESPN 300 commit in USC’s 2025 class. The 11th-ranked Trojans visit No. 18 Michigan at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in Week 4.

Continue Reading

Sports

O’s DFA Kimbrel as ex-closer can’t fix struggles

Published

on

By

O's DFA Kimbrel as ex-closer can't fix struggles

BALTIMORE — Craig Kimbrel‘s time with the Orioles could be coming to an end after the struggling team designated its former closer for assignment Wednesday following the latest in a series of rough outings.

Kimbrel gave up six runs on three hits in ⅔ of an inning of relief in Baltimore’s 10-0 home loss to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. Kimbrel has a 13.94 ERA in his past 11 appearances.

This season, his first with Baltimore, Kimbrel has a 5.33 ERA with six blown saves. Signed for $13 million, Kimbrel lost his job as closer in May.

The Orioles have lost eight of 11 games to fall four games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the American League East.

“The mojo that we’ve had has just drifted away from us the last few months,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias said Tuesday. “There are reasons for it that are obvious, but a lot of it is we’ve got people here that are experiencing a downturn — whether it’s themselves or the team.”

In a corresponding roster move, they recalled right-hander Bryan Baker from Triple-A Norfolk.

Continue Reading

Trending