Shota Imanaga wasn’t disappointed when he was removed after seven hitless innings and 95 pitches.
Nate Pearson and 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.
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 gotten 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.
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.
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.
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.
Cubs RHP Javier Assad (7-4, 3.21) was scheduled to start Friday in the series opener at home against the Yankees. New York RHP Luis Gil (12-6) will come off the injured list after recovering from a lower back strain.













