Tatsuya Imai’s May 12 return from the injured list was a disaster.

The Japanese standout, playing in his fourth MLB game for the Houston Astros, allowed 5 hits, 6 earned runs, 3 walks and 2 hit-by-pitches in a 10-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners. He left the game with a 9.24 ERA.

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Those struggles appear to be behind him.

Making his second start since that meltdown against the Mariners, Imai pitched six no-hit innings on Monday in a 9-0 win over the Texas Rangers. Steven Okert and Alimber Santa combined for three innings of relief to complete the no-hitter, the first in MLB since 2024.

The last MLB no-hitter before Monday was a combined effort by the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 4, 2024.

It was the first no-hitter Imai has been a part of since his middle school days in Japan, he said through an interpreter via MLB.com writer Brian McTaggart.

Imai had to ask in the dugout if they were going to rush the field over a combined no-hitter.

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They did.

Astros reliever secures no-hitter in his MLB debut

Santa, making his MLB debut, secured the final out with a strikeout of Brandon Nimmo. He pitched two perfect innings of relief in the eighth and ninth.

Imai finished with two strikeouts and four walks in his six no-hit innings. He induced a groundout from Alejandro Osuna for his final out of the night.

The combined no-hitter was the fifth in team history, three more than any other MLB team. It was the 18th no-hitter of any kind for the Astros, including the postseason. That’s five more than any other team since the Astros’ inception in 1962, per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.

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Redemption for Imai after early MLB struggles

Imai had thrown 97 pitches through six innings when he exited the game. Given the team’s 9-0 lead and the starter’s high pitch count, Astros manager Joe Espada opted to not stress Imai’s arm any further. After all, Imai already spent part of his debut MLB season on the IL due to arm fatigue.

His start Monday didn’t look like it was headed toward a dominant outing. Imai walked the first two Rangers (Joc Pederson and Alejandro Osuna) on a combined 10 pitches and walked another (Ezequiel Duran) after getting a double play. He got out of the inning unscathed and walked only one more after that rough start.

“He told me about just keep attacking the zone, keep doing what you’re doing and attack the zone,” Imai said on the advice he got from pitching coach Josh Miller, who paid his starter a visit to the mound after those first two walks.

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The Astros can leave Monday’s outing feeling considerably better about Imai’s MLB outlook than they did two weeks prior. His ERA still stands at a bloated 6.17. But that’s three-plus runs better than it was on May 12.

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Imai, 28, joined MLB this season after making three All-Star teams in Japan’s Pacific League as a member of the Seibu Lions. He posted a 1.92 ERA with 178 strikeouts and 45 walks over 163 2/3 innings in his final season with the Lions.

The Astros signed him in the offseason to a three-year contract worth $54 million guaranteed, hoping that he could be a top-of-the rotation starter. Instead, he struggled out of the gates and entered Monday having allowed three-to-six earned runs in four of his five previous starts.

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He did deliver one outing that hinted at the upside he displayed Monday. In an 11-0 win over the Athletics on April 4, Imai allowed 3 hits while striking out 9 and walking 3 in 5 2/3 innings of the shutout start.

Now he has had a hand in ending an MLB no-hitter drought that lasted nearly 20 months.