Tuesday’s game included a rare event.
The Cubs continued to roll as they opened their first series against a divisional foe in Pittsburgh yesterday as they routed the Buccos 9-0 at PNC Park. I considered making this an “OMG NO!!!!!!!” column about everyone’s favorite Mike, Shōta Imanaga, leaving yesterday’s game in the sixth inning. I considered making this a celebration column about Seiya Suzuki having a game for the ages in Pittsburgh, with a homer, double and triple yesterday. But when I looked at the baseball-reference boxscore, I saw this and was stunned:
Baseball-Reference
I’d like to direct your eyes to the strikeout column, where there is a glorious row of zeros. No one from the Cubs struck out yesterday. Not a single K. None from a guy in the original lineup. None from a pinch hitter. It was an incredible day of zero strikeouts from our favorite team.
It’s a feat that no Cubs team has pulled off in a game of at least eight innings since 2023, when the Cubs bested the Oakland Athletics by a score of 3-1, according to Statmuse. Statmuse also shows that the Cubs were the first team to accomplish the zero strikeout feat in exactly a calendar year (last year on April 29 the Dodgers had zero strikeouts against the Arizona Diamondbacks).
The Dodgers were the only team to accomplish that feat in the regular season last year.
We did see it one other time in 2024. During the playoffs the Mets were facing elimination on October 18 in Game Five and did not strike out once in 44 plate appearances (for reference, the Cubs had 42 plate appearances last night).
While four teams had zero strikeouts in 2023, you have to go back to 2017 for the last time any team had zero strikeouts in a regular season MLB game (for reference, there were three that year).
The bottom line is Tuesday night’s performance against the Pirates was rare and we should enjoy it. It’s rare to see your team not strikeout against anyone, and Cubs fans got that last night. I know I’ll be keeping track of how long the streak lives as the two teams face off tonight in Pittsburgh.