Tatsuya Imai combined with relievers Steven Okert and Alimber Santa on the 17th regular-season no-hitter in Houston Astros history, and Christian Walker and Yordan Alvarez homered in a 9-0 win over the Texas RangersARLINGTON, Texas — Tatsuya Imai combined with relievers Steven Okert and Alimber Santa on the 17th regular-season no-hitter in Houston Astros history, and Christian Walker and Yordan Alvarez homered in a 9-0 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday night.It was the first no-hitter in the major leagues since Shota Imanaga and two Chicago Cubs relievers combined for a 12-0 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 4, 2024.Imai (2-2) got in a groove after walking three of the first four batters he faced, as the 28-year-old rookie from Japan got 16 outs over his last 16 batters. Okert pitched the seventh inning before the 23-year-old Santa got the final six outs, becoming the first pitcher to be involved in a no-hitter in his big league debut.It was the fourth combined no-hitter in the regular season for the Astros, who had another one in the 2022 World Series against Philadelphia.Ronel Blanco tossed the previous no-hitter for Houston in a 10-0 victory over Toronto on April 1, 2024. In fact, Houston has authored three of the past seven and five of the last 11 major league no-hitters — beginning with the one in the World Series.Houston’s four-game winning streak is its longest since taking five in a row after starting the season 0-2. This was the team’s sixth shutout of the year.Texas, held scoreless for the fourth time this season, was no-hit for the sixth time overall. Imai struck out two and walked four in six innings. Okert …
