Historically, this would be a morning where I tell you I saw an entertaining Rays game while you were watching what the Cubs passed for a baseball game. I’m allowed to point the finger and laugh a little. Historically. I’ll say this when you have a few minutes, so if you can find one of the video wraps of the game and pay attention to the eight-run fourth inning that the Rays put up. It included a wild pickoff throw to first base with a runner on third base, the runner on first base ended up on third base. There were also two different botched plays with the infield in.

I was sitting with my daughter at the game when it was on, and as the game continued, I wondered if the Twins were trying to defend a shutout in the fourth. Had they been content to limit their losses to two runs, the whole order would have changed and maybe they would have won a game. Hunter Bigge and Richard Lovelady were the pitchers and were effective. Christopher Morel did not pitch in this game.

But those of you who saw the Cubs game obviously saw history. I always love the history you “know” but never put together. As we drove home, I basically recited the history of the Cubs in terms of no-hitters in my life, hitting the five that most of us know about. I knew about the no-hitters thrown by Ken Holtzman. The most recent one at Wrigley Field, by Milt Pappas, is pretty legendary in Cubs history because of the infamous ninth-inning walk. But I never really realized that the Cubs haven’t thrown a single one in their home stadium since 1972. That’s precisely because three true no-hitters and two combined no-hitters in the last few decades is excellent.

I would call it fascinating that in the last 52 years there have only been two no-hitters by anyone at Wrigley Field. When I was growing up, Wrigley Field had a pretty good reputation as a hitters’ ballpark. Everyone remembers the days when the wind blew. The lack of foul territory certainly doesn’t benefit pitchers. Imagine the number of foul outs the average Dodger has compared to the average Cub.

But batting titles are also rare at Wrigley Field. That’s surely at least partly an inability of the Cubs. We have a lot of statistical data these days that show Wrigley is somewhere in the pitcher-friendly to neutral range on a normal day, and obviously more than a little bit hitter-friendly when the wind is blowing outside.

The problem, of course, is that for all the ineptitude that has taken hold on Chicago’s north side, the Cubs have been uniquely good at never going hitless. The great Sandy Koufax kept the Cubs hitless on September 9, 1965, which was the second no-hitter against the Cubs that season. The first, by Jim Maloney, lasted 10 innings, and the second was a perfect game.

The Cubs then went nearly 50 years without a no-hitter before pulling off Cole Hamels’ memorable no-hitter in 2015. They still have a long way to go to get their winning streak back on track. More than 39 seasons have yet to pass to get back to the top. I would add that Hamels’ no-hitter is memorable because of its timeliness, the presence of a future Cub, and the incredible playoff push the 2015 team made after the no-hitter. For me, however, it’s most memorable because I was on a cruise abroad and it’s one of the rare games since there have been apps for cell phones that I haven’t seen or followed in any way. I didn’t even read about it for a couple of days.

So what can you say about last night’s game that isn’t being said everywhere else? First of all, I’ll say that I thought it would have been an absolute no-brainer to take Imanaga off the field after seven innings and 95 pitches. I have no doubt he could have gone out there and tried to get at least one more inning. But why? This game will go down in Cubs history. People will talk about it for decades to come. You know what else I’d like to talk about? Several healthy and productive years with the Cubs. I hope a window opens for a championship. If it does, he will almost certainly be one of the cornerstones of it.

Of course, Shōta will be my first star. I don’t often try to influence the voting, but I certainly encourage everyone to vote for him as Man of the Game. The offense was impressive and that was great to see after two rough nights at bat. But this was his night. The offense has picked up steam in recent weeks and even if we face virtually insurmountable odds to make the playoffs, we can at least enjoy these final weeks if the offense can contribute on a regular basis. I also tip my hat to the bullpen for shutting out the Pirates quickly and efficiently and ending the game. And finally, kudos to Miguel Amaya for what will undoubtedly be the greatest performance of his career. There aren’t many catchers who have caught a no-hitter in their career.

Three stars:

1. Shōta Imanaga. Two early walks and a couple of errors behind him that consumed far too many pitches.
2. There were 17 hits, three doubles, three home runs, three walks and one hit batter. Twelve runs is a reasonable to good performance for this offensive performance. There are plenty of options here, including three different Cubs with three hits. Pete Crow-Armstrong managed his single, double, home run, two runs and three runs batted in over four plate appearances.
3. Dansby Swanson matched the same statistic in five batting appearances. He also asked to stay in the game to preserve history, then fended off all three opportunities in the ninth inning. Say what you want about everything else, but Dansby is a team player and a leader. There are worse things than a guy who always wants to be in the game and contribute.

Game 140, September 4: Cubs 12, Pirates 0 (72-68)

Fangraphs

As a reminder, Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA ratings and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Shōta Imanaga (.156). 7 IP, 25 batters, 2 BB, 7 K (W 12-3)
• Hero: Pete Crow Armstrong (.129).
• Buddy: Seiya Suzuki (.119). 2-4, BB, R

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Cody Bellinger (-.109).
• Goat: Isaac Paredes (-.042) 0-2, BB, HBP, R
• Child: Miguel Amaya (-.036).

WPA move of the game: Seiya Suzuki batted with runners on first and second base, the game was scoreless and there were no outs in the first inning. He hit a single and Ian Happ scored on an error that led to the first run. (.128)

*Pirates’ play of the game: Immediately after the previous play, Cody Bellinger hit a fly ball to right that resulted in a double play where Michael Busch attempted to tag and score. (.126)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Yesterday’s winners: Drew Smyly and Someone Else were tied with 32 votes each. I give the edge to Smyly. Christian Bethancourt was not originally listed and at least some of the SE votes were for him before he was listed. It’s pretty clear that the remaining SE votes were representative of the unpopular but largely accurate answer of “Nobody.”

Overall Rizzo Award score: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

The award is named after Anthony Rizzo, who won the category three times out of the first four years it was introduced and four times overall. He also earned the highest season total of all time at +65.5. The points scale ranges from three points for a superhero to minus three points for a goat.

• Shōta Imanaga +21.5
• Christian Bethancourt +17
• Porter Hodge +14
• Seiya Suzuki +13,5
• Ben Brown/Mark Leiter Jr. +11
• Miles Mastrobuoni -9
• Adbert Alzolay -10
• Isaac Paredes/Kyle Hendricks -14
• Christopher Morel -20.5

*I don’t want to go out on a limb, but this could be the night Imanaga takes that title. There are 22 matches left and the title is definitely still up for grabs, but I’m definitely backing the favorite here. PCA up to -5.5, Suzuki moving closer to reclaiming the second spot he’s held for most of the year. Bellinger drops to -6.5, Paredes drops to tied second to last, Amaya drops to -8.

Next: I keep skipping the series in my head to get to next week’s road game. The Yankees come to town 80-60. Jordan Wicks (2-2, 3.82) is scheduled to start the opener and will look to build on his very good performance after returning from the IL. There are seven MLB teams that have already won at least 80 games. The Cubs now have three three-game series with those teams (Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies), two of which are on the road (against the current best and second-best records in MLB).

If Cinderella’s shoe is to be used, they’ll need to win at least six of those very difficult nine games. That’s always been the big hole in the plan to get going late. But hey, I’m 1,000 percent on board with this team trying to beat the Yankees in a series that doesn’t feature either Shōta Imanaga or Justin Steele in the starting lineup.