It’s an impressive feat, even more so than “monster pitcher” Roki Sasaki (22-Chiba Lotte).
Orix Buffaloes left-hander Hiroya Miyagi (22), a member of Japan’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) championship team, threw his second nine-inning complete game of the season. He started on April 4 against the Junichi Dragons in an interleague game in Nagoya and allowed two hits and no runs into the ninth inning.
Threw 108 pitches against 29 batters. Walked none and struck out 10. None of the Junichi batters reached second base.
Threw his second complete game in less than a month after tossing a nine-inning, four-hit shutout against the Rakuten Eagles on May 9. As of May 4, five pitchers in both Nippon Professional Baseball leagues have thrown two complete games. Miyagi is the only one with two complete games.
The Orix won 5-0 after Miyagi’s perfect game. The Hanshin Tigers snapped a two-game losing streak to the Chiba Lotte Marines and moved into first place in the Pacific League. They won four of six games in the first week of the Central League and Interleague. They went 2-1 against Hiroshima Carp and Junichi, respectively.
A perfect game followed.
From Yuki Okabayashi in the top of the first inning to Shuhei Takabashi in the bottom of the fifth, he retired 14 batters in a row. After giving up a second hit to Okabayashi in the bottom of the sixth, he retired 10 batters in a row until the final batter, Kosuke Ukai, in the bottom of the ninth. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, he struck out swinging on the final two counts to end the game.
He finished it off. In the top of the eighth, he singled to left field for his first career hit.
In eight games this season, he is 5-1 with a 1.68 ERA, 1.18 strikeouts per nine innings pitched and a 0.82 WHIP. In 53⅔ innings pitched, he has struck out 10 and walked four.
Miyagi is Sasaki’s classmate from the 2001 draft. They represented the WBC side by side. Both took time off after the tournament to rest and regroup before making their first regular-season starts in mid-April.
Sasaki is the talk of the town with his fiery 160km/h fastball. Miyagi’s fastball reached 149 mph against Junichi on April 4. Miyagi has had a strong season. In his start against Hanshin on April 4, Sasaki pitched six innings of one-hit ball. Despite overwhelming Hanshin hitters with his fastball, he suffered his first loss of the season. He struggled with his command, walking four and striking out five 메이저사이트.
Sasaki has pitched a career-high seven innings in seven appearances this season. She was sidelined for more than 20 days in early May with a blistered finger. Lotte Chiba has been managing Sasaki’s pitches and innings at the club level since his rookie year.