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20-Year-Old Roki Sasaki Throws 19-K Perfect Game in Japan's Top League
April 10, 2022
Japanese star Roki Sasaki was untouchable Sunday, throwing a perfect game in a Nippon Professional Baseball contest over the Orix Buffaloes, per ESPN.
This wasn't a run-of-the-mill perfect game, either. The 20-year-old struck out 19 batters to tie an NPB record and fanned 13 straight batters at one point.
千葉ロッテマリーンズ @chibalotte<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%E4%BD%90%E3%80%85%E6%9C%A8%E6%9C%97%E5%B8%8C?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#佐々木朗希</a> 投手、全アウトまとめ！<br>NPB史上28年ぶりの完全試合達成、NPBタイ記録の1試合19奪三振、NPB記録更新の13者連続奪三振！<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/chibalotte?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#chibalotte</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarinesBaseball?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarinesBaseball</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BLACKBLACK?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BLACKBLACK</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarinesGoodPitch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarinesGoodPitch</a> <a href="https://t.co/TnN0mgkQIG">pic.twitter.com/TnN0mgkQIG</a>
Roger Clemens, Kerry Wood and Max Scherzer all share the MLB single-game strikeout record (20) for a nine-inning contest. None of the three had a perfect game, though, with Wood coming the closest by only allowing one hit in his 1998 gem.
In 16 games with the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2021, Sasaki had 87 strikeouts and allowed just 17 earned runs over 83.1 innings for a 1.84 ERA. Heading into this season, the 6'2" right-hander will have already been on the radar of MLB teams.
After Sunday, it might only be a matter of time before rumors linking him to a move to the United States reach a fever pitch.
