ARLINGTON, Texas — The Houston Astros made history Monday night at Globe Life Field, silencing the Texas Rangers’ bats in a dominant 9-0 victory behind a combined no-hitter from Tatsuya Imai, Steven Okert and rookie Alimber Santa.
The loss marked the sixth no-hitter thrown against the Rangers in franchise history and the first combined effort to accomplish it. Texas managed only five baserunners, all via walks, while dropping its fourth straight game and falling to 24-29 on the season.
Imai, making just his sixth Major League start, carried the no-hit bid through six scoreless innings. The right-hander worked around four walks and struck out two while earning his second career win. After issuing three walks in the opening inning, Imai settled in and retired hitters efficiently, allowing only one baserunner the rest of his outing.
Okert handled the seventh before Santa closed the final two innings in memorable fashion. The hard-throwing reliever became the first pitcher in Major League history to finish a no-hitter in his MLB debut.
Houston’s offense gave the pitching staff more than enough support early. Yordan Alvarez opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, then added a solo homer in the fourth — his team-leading 16th of the season — into the right-center field bullpen.
Christian Walker broke the game open in the seventh with a three-run blast, extending his home run streak to three consecutive games. Jeremy Peña reached base three times and drove in a run for Houston, which improved to 3-1 against Texas this season.
Texas starter Kumar Rocker took the loss after allowing four runs over five innings in his first career appearance against Houston. The rookie struck out five but surrendered Alvarez’s fourth-inning homer that snapped a personal scoreless streak of 12 2/3 innings.
The Rangers threatened in the first after drawing three walks, but failed to push across a run. Texas never recovered offensively and was shut out for the fourth time this season.
Houston has now won four straight games and secured its first winning road trip spanning at least three series since July 2024.
