April 10, 2022 will go down in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) history and in the life of 20-year-old right-handed pitcher, Rocky Sasaki, and the recipient of 18 years, Ko Matsukawawho starred, despite their young age, a Perfect Game in one of the most competitive baseball leagues in the world.
Both Sasaki and Matsukawa started for their team, the Chiba Lotte Mariners, against the ORIX Buffaloes, in a game that ended with a glorious score of 6-0. Sasaki, born in Iwate, Japan needed 105 pitches to achieve the Perfect Game, the first in the NBP in 28 years and the number 16 in the entire life of this league. In addition, he had 19 strikeouts in total and broke the record of 13 consecutive strikeouts. As if this were not enough, he became the youngest pitcher to achieve a Perfect Game.
#Roki Sasaki Pitcher, all out summary!
Achieved a perfect game for the first time in 28 years in NPB history, struck out 19 strikeouts in one game of NPB tie record, and struck out 13 consecutive strikeouts in NPB record breaking!#chibalotte #MarinesBaseball #BLACKBLACK #MarinesGoodPitch pic.twitter.com/TnN0mgkQIG— Chiba Lotte Marines (@chibalotte) April 10, 2022
While Sasaki is having his second season in Japanese professional ball, Matsukawa, from Osaka, Japan had his debut on the professional circuit this past March.
“To be honest with you, I wasn’t really aware of that (perfect game); I thought it would be fine if he allowed a hit, and only had Matsukawa to his advantage, “ Sasaki said after the game. “Matsukawa has done a great job calling the pitches, where he wanted me to put the pitches, I just followed his call.”
In 2019, Sasaki was selected for the Japan squad to play in the 2019 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in Busan, where his country placed as the fifth best team. In the 2019 draft, Roki was wanted by teams like the Hokkaido Nippon Hams Fighters, Tohoku Rakuten Eagles, Saitama Seibu Lions, and Chiba Lotte Marines. Furthermore, according to WBSC, The Japanese pitcher was also being sought by Major League Baseball (MLB) organizations. The Mariners ended up signing Sasaki for roughly $800,000.
Right now, the Mariners are in third place in the Pacific League with a Pct. of .538.
- See more about this achievement in this Monday’s broadcast of Baseball News:
Writer by: Dayana Villalobos Dimare
Twitter and Instagram: @_dayanavdimare
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