20-year-old pitching phenom Roki Sasaki throws perfect game with 19 strikeouts in Japan's NPB

Apr 10, 2022 | News On Japan

Sasaki, who threw NPB's first perfect game in 28 years, is considered a future MLB prospect

Apr 10, 2022 (cbssports.com) - Roki Sasaki, a 20-year-old right-handed starter for the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league, may have authored the pitching performance of the year on Sunday by delivering a 19-strikeout perfect game.

Sasaki's perfect game, the first in NPB in 28 years, came against the Orix Buffaloes, a team whose lineup features former big-league players like Breyvic Valera and Rangel Ravelo. It didn't matter to Sasaki, who tied the league record for strikeouts and set a new mark for consecutive strikeouts by notching 13 in a row over one inspired stretch.

Sasaki finished the day with a 106 Game Score, a metric created by Bill James that attempts to put a single number on a pitcher's dominance by factoring in their box score statistics from any given outing. For perspective, the highest Game Score in Major League Baseball last season was the 99 pitched by Baltimore Orioles left-hander John Means in May when he no-hit the Seattle Mariners in an outing that saw him nearly toss a perfect game. Furthermore, the highest game score in MLB since the last round of expansion belongs to former Chicago Cubs phenom Kerry Wood (105), who struck out 20 Houston Astros as part of a one-hitter back in May 1998.

Typhoons No. 28 and 29 Bring High Waves to Japan's Pacific Coast

Two typhoons moving across the Pacific southeast of Japan are expected to remain well away from the Japanese mainland, but powerful swells could bring rough seas to a wide stretch of the country's Pacific coastline throughout the three-day holiday weekend, according to forecasts updated at 3 a.m. on October 10.

Cyberattacks Spread Across Japan

A series of cyberattacks has disrupted business operations and exposed millions of customer records across Japan, with a ransomware attack on a cloud service provider affecting 495 companies and local governments nationwide, while convenience store operator Lawson has disclosed a separate breach involving more than 2.15 million personal information records.

Japan's First 360-Degree Projection Mapping Opens in Osaka

Japan's first 360-degree projection mapping show will open at the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts on October 10, transforming the historic building into an immersive world of light, music, and seasonal imagery, with organizers hoping the attraction will also help stimulate the city's nighttime economy.

Tokyo University Professor Wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Tokyo University of Science professor emeritus Kenzo Soai has been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with French chemist Henri B. Kagan for discoveries that transformed scientists' understanding of how chemical reactions can favor one of two mirror-image forms of a molecule.

US Military Halts All Okinawa Operations for 48 Hours

The US military suspended activities by all forces stationed in Okinawa for 48 hours from noon on October 7, an unusual measure following the arrest of a US Marine in connection with a robbery and murder case that has renewed scrutiny of crimes involving American service members.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Society NEWS

Most Sightings of Fugitive Yoichi Hatta Reported in Kanto

Police in Oita Prefecture have revealed that the Kanto region accounts for the largest number of reported sightings of Yoichi Hatta, a fugitive wanted in connection with a fatal hit-and-run incident in Beppu in 2022, with authorities preparing to distribute new wanted posters nationwide from November as the search enters its fifth year.