Cleveland Sports Forum

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Roki Sasaki of the Lotte Marines pitches in a Pacific League game against the Nippon Ham Fighters at Chiba's Zozo Marine Stadium on April 17, 2022. (Kyodo)

Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki throws eight perfect innings in first start after 19-strikeout perfect game

The 20-year-old has retired 52 consecutive batters

By Mike Axisa

12 hrs ago 4/17/22

Last weekend, Chiba Lotte Marines phenom Roki Sasaki threw Japan's first perfect game in 28 years. He struck out a record-tying 19 batters, including a record-breaking 13 in a row at one point. It was one of the greatest pitching performances ever, in any professional league.

On Sunday, Sasaki nearly did it again.

The 20-year-old right-hander fired eight perfect innings in his first start since the perfect game. He struck out 14 batters. Sasaki was pulled after throwing 102 pitches to protect his arm -- he threw 105 pitches in the perfect game -- with the game scoreless. The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters went on to win the game 1-0 in 10 innings.

"This was so exciting, I don't have words. Our guys just hung in there, and we kept saying on the bench let's get something going," outfielder Chusei Mannami, who hit the game-winning home run for the Fighters, told the Japan Times after the game. "(Sasaki) is just too tough. The way that forkball drops? Forget about it."

Sasaki has gone 51 up, 51 down with 33 strikeouts in his last two starts. He has retired 52 consecutive batters overall, setting a new record for Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league. The MLB record is 46 consecutive batters retired by righty Yusmeiro Petit with the San Francisco Giants in 2014.

Four starts into the season, Sasaki has allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks in 31 innings. He has struck out 56. Our R.J. Anderson wrote a scouting report of Sasaki following his perfect game. Here's a snippet:

According to data obtained by CBS Sports from Sunday's start, Sasaki's fastball averaged better than 99.5 mph and featured 19.8 inches of induced vertical break and 15.4 inches of horizontal break. That's an elite, unmatched combination.

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Sasaki's splitter checks in at 91.2 mph with 2.30 inches of induced vertical break and 7.80 inches of horizontal break. That velocity would rank as the second fastest, trailing only Hirokazu Sawamura of the Boston Red Sox. Sasaki's break numbers, meanwhile, compare most favorably to those of Blake Parker (2.9, 7.40). Parker's splitter last season generated a 36 percent whiff rate and a .232 average against.

MLB clubs reportedly pursued Sasaki when he was still in high school. He opted to remain in Japan and was the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NPB draft. Sasaki made his debut with the Marines last season, throwing 83 1/3 innings with a 1.84 ERA and 87 strikeouts.

When -- and if -- Sasaki will come over to MLB is unknown. He must accrue nine years of service time to be eligible for international free agency, and while he could request the Marines post him for MLB teams earlier than that, they are not obligated to do so. The Marines have posted only one player in their history: infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka, who signed with the Minnesota Twins in 2010.

Even if the Marines do post Sasaki, MLB's international free-agent system would subject him to the bonus pools, limiting his earning potential (the largest bonus pools are in the $6 million to $7 million range each year). Sasaki will have to wait until he's 25 to avoid the bonus pools. An international draft, which is being discussed, would limit his options and earning potential even further.

The best opportunity for MLB fans to see Sasaki will be next spring's World Baseball Classic. The tournament will return next year and Japan typically takes its very best pro players to the event. Sasaki is, obviously, one of the best pitchers in his league.

No MLB pitcher has thrown two perfect games, let alone perfect games in successive starts. Johnny Vander Meer, with the 1938 Cincinnati Reds, is the only pitcher in history to throw no-hitters in successive starts.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1515591270747746310

Watch 2nd perfect game by Roki

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Ciego de Ávila, solid leader of Cuban baseball

They defeated Camagüey for the second day in a row, today by a 9-2 score.

Taken from Latin Press

Sunday, April 17, 2022 06:53 PM

Havana.-

CIEGO de Ávila defeated Camagüey for the second day in a row, today by a score of 9-2, and established itself at the top of standings in the 61st National Baseball Series.

The Avilanian Tigers had eight hits, including a home run by Raúl González to give Yander Guevara his seventh victory and Julio César Martínez's his fourth setback.

Shortstop Alexander Ayala homered for the losers, his twelfth of the season.

Meanwhile, the Leones de Industriales defeated Pinar del Río 11-3, with the tenth victory for right-hander Pedro Álvarez (10-1) and Erlis Casanova's the loss (7-3).

Andy Vargas in relief saved his eighth game of the season, while his teammate Dayron Blanco hit a home run with the bases loaded and drove in five runs in total. Jorge Yoan Rojas homered for the losers.

Artemisa 15-3 also won over Isla de la Juventud; Mayabeque 6-5 over Cienfuegos and Matanzas 5-4 against Villa Clara in 10 innings.

In Saturday's postponed games, Granma defeated Santiago de Cuba 3-2 and 2-0, while Sancti Spíritus and Las Tunas 4-3 and 4-7 split , as well as Holguín and Guantánamo 5-7 and 1-0.

Sancti Spiritus won 4-3 in the first game, but were later overtaken by Las Tunas 7-4.

It should be noted that the first match between Holguin and Guantanamo was decided by Yordan Manduley's home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, while in the second game Pedro Pablo Revilla from Guantanamo hit his 18th and 19th home runs to now take the lead in that department in the season

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It's Winter Ball in Cleveland this wek, or winter non-ball

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Roki Sasaki has captivated the baseball world with 17 perfect innings. (Michael Wagstaffe / Yahoo Sports)

Who is Roki Sasaki? Meet the 20-year-old who almost pitched 2 perfect games in a row

Yahoo Sports

Zach Crizer

Tue, April 19, 2022, 9:04 AM·5 min read

Baseball’s most dominant pitcher is only 20 years old. It’s been 17 innings since he last allowed so much as a baserunner. On April 10, he fired a perfect game with 19 strikeouts. In his next start, this past Sunday, he threw eight more perfect innings before his manager removed him from the game. Before you ask, no, he’s not on the Los Angeles Dodgers. He’s not on any MLB roster.

His name is Roki Sasaki, and he plays for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. At an age when many American hurlers are college juniors, Sasaki is flummoxing the second-best baseball league in the world with triple-digit fastballs and ferocious splitters.

As he piles historic performance on top of historic performance, it’s time to learn about the pitching star rising in Japan.

Who is Roki Sasaki?

Sasaki, a 20-year-old right-hander, has been a source of intrigue and fascination since his high school days.

Originally from northeastern Japan, Sasaki lost his father when the devastating March 2011 tsunami swept away his family’s home. As he grew into a star high school hurler, his fastball was clocked over 100 mph in training with the national youth team, per Jim Allen, a journalist who covers Japanese baseball.

But Sasaki’s high school coach and later the Marines bucked the conventions of Japanese baseball culture by holding him out of important games and ramping him up slowly into professional baseball to protect his arm.

Chiba Lotte won the draft lottery for him in 2019, but Sasaki didn’t pitch at all in 2020, and then appeared in only 11 top-level NPB games last season. So embarking on a full campaign to start 2022 would already have been notable. Instead he has generated international attention by spinning off his league’s first perfect game since 1994 and shattering its records for consecutive batters retired and consecutive strikeouts.

Where does his perfect game rank in baseball history?

It’s probably the best-pitched game modern professional baseball has ever seen.

By game score, created by sabermetrics forefather Bill James to compare single-game pitching performances, Sasaki’s 19-strikeout perfect game rates as a 106. The best nine-inning game score in MLB history is Kerry Wood’s 20-strikeout game in 1998, a 105. Max Scherzer’s 17-strikeout no-no in 2015 is second, at 104.

n simpler terms: None of MLB’s 23 perfect games have involved more than 14 strikeouts.

Within that masterpiece, Sasaki struck out 13 consecutive batters. The MLB record is 10 strikeouts in a row — a mark that Mets legend Tom Seaver held alone for 51 years before it was tied by Corbin Burnes and Aaron Nola in 2021.

And he almost threw another perfect game?

Yes. On Sunday, Sasaki tossed eight more perfect innings. His manager, the former major-league infielder Tadahito Iguchi, pulled him due to an elevated pitch count and signs he was tiring. Sasaki said afterward he had felt some fatigue. The Marines eventually lost the game, which was scoreless when Sasaki departed.

He will enter his next start with active streaks of 17 perfect innings and 52 straight batters retired. The MLB record for consecutive batters retired? Yusmeiro Petit’s 46, a number rendered less glamorous because it was recorded in relief.

What makes Sasaki so good?

Well, for starters, his fastball is averaging 98.9 mph this season. That would have beaten all major-league starters not named Jacob deGrom in 2021. It also comes with an extraordinary amount of movement — though it’s worth noting the Japanese baseball is tackier than its MLB counterpart, which affects how much spin pitchers can impart.

His splitter is the other featured pitch. Sometimes referred to as a forkball, it’s a power pitch that drops off the table as it bears down on hitters. It’s similar to Shohei Ohtani’s favorite secondary pitch, but flies in a bit harder (about 91 mph compared to Ohtani’s 88 mph splitter) and veers off more toward Sasaki’s arm side.

“On any given day, he could be the best pitcher in the world,” an MLB scout told Allen. “His splitter is as good as Shohei Ohtani’s.”

When could Roki Sasaki come to MLB?

Time for some bad news: We probably won’t see Sasaki test his mettle against MLB hitters any time soon. If Sasaki decides he wants to come to America, MLB rules around international players could back him into a complicated choice.

Under the current system, he could:

A) Ask to be posted during his peak in the next few seasons, but sacrifice untold financial guarantees and enter MLB with just a limited signing bonus and a league-minimum salary, as Shohei Ohtani did.

B) Wait until he turns 25, at season’s end in 2027, to age out of MLB’s restrictive policies and negotiate with teams more or less like a free agent. Exciting rookie slugger Seiya Suzuki came over from NPB this offseason and landed a five-year, $85 million deal with the Chicago Cubs.

The great unknown here is whether that particular system for MLB amateurs will remain in place. In striking a deal to end the lockout this spring, MLB and the players union left open the possibility of adopting an international draft that could govern Sasaki’s path to MLB if it were instituted.

The two sides have until July 25 to continue negotiations and decide on that draft. The top pick in MLB’s proposed format would reportedly carry a bonus of $5.25 million — more than double what Ohtani signed for — but we simply don’t know if those details would hold in the eventual plan, when the draft system would take effect or how it would ultimately affect Sasaki’s options.

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Takayuki Kato of the Nippon Ham Fighters pitches against the Rakuten Eagles in a Pacific League game at Rakuten Seimei Park in Sendai, northeastern Japan, on April 19, 2022. (Kyodo)

Baseball: Kato throws 3-hitter as Fighters win 3 straight

April 19, 2022 (Mainichi Japan)

SENDAI (Kyodo) --

Takayuki Kato had a three-hitter as the Nippon Ham Fighters beat the Pacific League-leading Rakuten Eagles 2-0 on Tuesday, winning three straight games for the first time under new manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo.

Kato (2-1) bettered former New York Yankee Masahiro Tanaka (2-1) in a pitching duel at Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi, striking out six and walking one with the lefty needing only 90 pitches for the win.

Kato faced the minimum number of batters through the first seven innings. He walked his first batter but had a double-play and had another in the fourth after allowing his first hit of the game with one out.

A patchy start ultimately cost Tanaka, who gave up two singles in the scoreless first. The right-hander walked his first batter in the second and after striking out the next two, Shingo Usami belted his 0-1 two-seam fastball over the right-field fence for his first homer of the year.

Tanaka regrouped as he lasted eight innings, allowing six hits, a walk and a hit batsman while striking out seven in a 120-pitch effort.

But when the Eagles finally presented themselves with a run-scoring chance in the eighth with a pair of singles, pinch-batting Ginji Akaminai grounded out to shortstop with runners on the corners with two outs.

Elsewhere, Yoshinobu Yamamoto's run of 18 straight winning decisions came to end as the Orix Buffaloes were beaten 3-0 by the SoftBank Hawks. The Seibu Lions won 4-0 against the Lotte Marines after Burch Smith (1-0) allowed just a single runner on a walk over seven innings on his Nippon Professional Baseball debut.

In the Central League, the Yomiuri Giants beat the Hiroshima Carp 3-1 after Shosei Togo earned the win (3-1), allowing a run over eight innings. The Yakult Swallows hammered the Chunichi Dragons 12-4, while the DeNA BayStars came from four runs behind to win 5-4 against the Hanshin Tigers.

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Yulieski Gurriel. M

It is the Government, and not the Cuban baseball players, who needs the agreement with the Major Leagues

The contracts that baseball players who legally leave Cuba manage on their own constitute proof.

YUSIMI RODRIGUEZ LOPEZ

Madrid 19 Apr 2022 - 22:03 CEST

The idea of ​​creating an independent Cuban baseball team to participate in the next World Baseball Classic , launched in March by the Association of Professional Cuban Baseball Players (APCBP), has served as a pretext for the regime to bring up the agreement it reached with the Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2018 and which was blocked by the then President of the United States, Donald Trump.

Since then, the sports authorities of the Island have not missed an opportunity to complain about the loss of that contract from which they hoped to obtain juicy benefits. But reality shows that Cuban baseball players do not need government mediation, that is, the state Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) , to get lucrative contracts in the best baseball in the world or in other foreign leagues.

The recent declarations of the recently inaugurated president of the Federation, Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo , show that they do not need to be linked to the sports authorities of the Island to be summoned to the national teams.

Using the same argument that the regime has repeated to defend the agreement, Pérez Pardo said that "a natural relationship between the FCB and the MLB" would curb "illegal trips, the trafficking of athletes and the discriminatory conditions faced by players interested in playing in the so-called Big Top".

What are the "discriminatory conditions" faced by players interested in playing in the Major Leagues? Who deprives Cubans of permanent residence in their country after spending 24 months abroad? Who deprives athletes of the right to enter their homeland for having left foreign teams, as Yulieski Gurriel 's denial of entry revealed ?

As for "illegal travel and trafficking of athletes" from which the regime seeks to protect athletes, for a long time the players had no other way to achieve their dreams of trying out in other leagues. The regime imposed an exit permit on all Cubans to travel outside the island. Still, high-performance athletes need "to be authorized, after analyzing each case, to travel abroad for private matters ," according to Decree 306 of 2012.

On the other hand, also for a long time high-performance athletes did not earn enough money to pay for a ticket to another country – if they had been authorized to do so – despite their contributions to Cuba's sports results in international events.

However, "illegal trips" are no longer the main route by which baseball players leave Cuba, except if the restrictions imposed by the regime leave them no other alternative. The continuous departures of prospects and ready-made players , through the airport "with their heads held high", as the late Higinio Vélez would say, mainly to the Dominican Republic, to seek insertion in the Major Leagues , are the proof.

Now, the main evidence that Cuban baseball players do not need a contract between the FCB and the MLB was provided by its new president when he stated that the players who play in international leagues outside the management of the entity that directs could be called up to the national team.

The FCB has no choice but to open up to those players who carry out their careers outside of it and without it being able to get a penny out of them.

Faced with the idea of ​​an independent team, the FCB has not been able to answer that the players who play in Cuba are enough, because there are fewer good players left in Cuba. The best go . The FCB knows that it needs them if it aspires to return to the stellar levels of world baseball.

Ironically, the fact that the players already have options to legally leave and obtain contracts in the Major Leagues and the professional leagues of other countries, without the mediation of the FCB -for which the MLB does not need to establish any agreement with this organism subordinate to the Cuban government o– allows the Federation to maintain the policy of discrimination against baseball players who left Cuban delegations abroad, regardless of whether they have dedicated their best years to representing the country in international competitions.

It did not matter that Gurriel was key in the team that achieved second place in the first World Baseball Classic in 2006, the best result of a Cuban team in that tournament.

Nor that Antonio Pacheco, the Captain of Captains, has played for the regime's Cuba during all his active years, when it came to eliminating his number during the All-Star game in 2020 and excluding him from the list of best Cuban players in second base in 2014.

Cuban baseball players and athletes must look at themselves in the mirror of José Abreu, Yordan Álvarez, Jorge Soler and others whose results are ignored by sports authorities and the official press. In fact, one of the articles that press has dedicated to attacking the initiative of the independent team, recognized that the Cuban fans are still aware of the performances of those athletes in the Major Leagues... through the Internet. Neither Cuban television nor the state press dedicate space to showing the performances of those compatriots. If they rescued Abreu from oblivion recently it was only to show his initial rejection of the independent team.

Before negotiating again with the FCB, which is not independent of the Island Government as it tries to make you believe, the MLB must take into account that Cuban baseball players are not subject to any discriminatory conditions, except those imposed by their own Government . And that it is that government that needs to sign the agreement to get money from them.

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With an offense of 14 hits and commendable pitching work by Luis Marrero, Ciego de Ávila defeated Granma today 8-0 and increased its lead at the top of the LXI National Baseball Series that began its fourteenth individual subseries.

Cuban Baseball: Tigres stronger by the day; 3 game lead in the standings

JOSÉ LUIS LÓPEZ SADO|PHOTOS: OSVALDO GUTIÉRREZ GÓMEZ

19 APRIL 2022

Havana, Apr 19 (ACN)

With an offense of 14 hits and commendable pitching work by Luis Marrero, Ciego de Ávila beat Granma today 8-0 and increased its lead at the top of the LXI National Baseball Series that began its fourteenth particular subseries.

The Tigres watched as Marrero worked seven innings to the beat of five strikeouts and just three hits, to pick up his fifth victory. Shortstop Yorbis Borroto, went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI.


Thus, the Avilanians reached 38 victories and took a 3 game lead over their closest pursuer Sancti Spíritus, who fell 4-8 to the inspired Holguín team.

Holguin had Uberley Estévez pitching as he scattered seven hits in six innings and struck out four. In addition, right-hander Michel Cabrera got his sixth save which, together with his eight victories, reflects 14 of the team's 31 victories.

The right fielder for Holguin, Yasiel González, had a perfect afternoon at bat as he hit 4-5, with a couple of doubles and five RBIs.

In addition, Las Tunas beat Guantánamo 3-0 and took advantage of the loss of Granma. Las Tunas and Granma are tied for third and fourth places.

Las Tunas lefty Yudier Rodríguez gave up five hits and no walks in 7.0 innings in the win over Guantanamo. Danel Castro went 2-for-2 with a double and the Guantanamo pitchers conceded a whopping nine walks.

And in another interesting match, Pinar del Río defeated Mayabeque 2-1, with the sixth win for Vladimir Baños.

In the remaining results, Artemisa won 4-2 against Matanzas, Cienfuegos 10-5 against Industriales, Villa Clara 6-5 against Isla de la Juventud and Camagüey 2-1 against Santiago de Cuba.

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Baseball: Viñales returned and decided the game for the Lumberjacks

JOSE LUIS LOPEZ SADO

20 APRIL 2022

Havana, Apr 20

With several subseries completed and undergoing medical checkups, slugger Rafael Viñales returned today in style and led the triumphant comeback of the Las Tunas Lumberjacks 8-5 against the Indios del Guantanamo, in the LXI National Series of Baseball .

Las Tunas trailed 3-5 in the bottom of the fifth inning when, with two runners on base, Viñales homered,, his thirteenth of the season. The slugger hadn't put on his uniform for a long time. And since he hasn't been able to fully train, his doctor and hitting coach reported that he will gradually get back into playing condition and play daily.

With the win, the Lumberjacks have a record of 34-24 and are tied for third and fourth places with Granma (35-25), which beat league leading Ciego de Ávila (38-22) on Wednesday by a score of 13-7.

Granma relied on the long ball with home runs by Pedro Almeida, Osvaldo Abreu and Carlos Benítez. The victory went to left-handed reliever Miguel Paradelo, who pitched 4.2 innings to the beat of five hits and four strikeouts.

For Ciego de Avila, and in a losing effort, catcher Alfredo Fadraga hit his 19th homer and tied for the league lead with Pedro Pablo Revilla from Guantanamo in that department.

Sancti Spíritus (36-24) retained second place with its 8-3 win against Holguín unleashing an offense of 13 hits and highlighted by third baseman Rodoleisi Moreno, who went 4 -3 with a double, three runs scored and one RBI.

Alex Guerra picked up his sixth win, who in 6.0 innings allowed just four singles and struck out two. Yankiel Mauri recorded his fifth save, as he pitched three innings giving up one hit.

In other results, Matanzas defeated Artemisa 10-1, Mayabeque knocked out Pinar del Río 13-2 in seven innings, Camagüey beat Santiago de Cuba 5-3, Isla de la Juventud 8-4 Villa Clara, and Industriales beat Cienfuegos 4-3.

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The Hanshin Tigers' Mel Rojas Jr., right, celebrates with outfield and base running coach So Tsutsui after hitting a three-run home run in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Yakult Swallows at Jingu Stadium in Tokyo on April 22, 2022. (Kyodo)

Baseball: Aoyagi shutout ends Tigers losing streak

April 22, 2022 (Mainichi Japan)

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Hanshin Tigers side-armer Koyo Aoyogi pitched out of a couple of tight spots in a three-hit shutout, a 6-0 Central League win over the Yakult Swallows on Friday that ended his team's four-game losing streak.

Aoyagi (2-0) took the mound at Tokyo's Jingu Stadium with a 2-0 lead but loaded the bases with a pair of two-out walks in the first before making his escape.

Yakult's two biggest power hitters, Tetsuto Yamada and Munetaka Murakami, came up with the leadoff runner on second in the bottom of the sixth. Aoyagi challenged the sluggers and struck them out.

"I was on pins and needles there," Aoyagi said. "Getting two runs from the get-go really made it easier to pitch today, so I am indebted to my teammates for that."

Yusuke Oyama hit a two-run first-inning home run off Yakult's Hirotoshi Takanashi (2-2), but the Tigers had to wait until Takanashi left after the sixth inning to get some insurance.

The visitors spoiled the debut of new Swallows import A.J. Cole in a four-run sixth, with Mel Rojas Jr. delivering a three-run home run.

The win was just the Tigers' fourth this season.

Elsewhere, the league-leading Yomiuri Giants crushed the Chunichi Dragons 7-2 for their fifth straight win, while the Hiroshima Carp beat the DeNA BayStars 6-1.

In the Pacific League, the Nippon Ham Fighters beat the SoftBank Hawks 12-5, while the Seibu Lions beat the Rakuten Eagles 3-0 and the Lotte Marines downed the Orix Buffaloes 4-0.

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Chiba Lotte Marines pitcher Roki Sasaki poses with a towel after he made a record of a perfect game against the Orix Buffaloes in Chiba, near Tokyo Sunday, April 10, 2022. Sasaki has struck out 19 batters in recording a perfect game for the Japanese professional baseball team. The 20-year-old right-handed pitcher at one point struck out 13 consecutive batters. The message on the towel reads "Believe," with his signature. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japanese Pitcher Roki Sasaki Looks to Extend Perfect Streak

Roki Sasaki is the 20-year-old Japanese pitcher with a 100 mph fastball and a devastating splitter.

By Associated Press
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April 22, 2022, at 9:11 p.m.

TOKYO (AP) —

Roki Sasaki, the 20-year-old Japanese pitcher with a 100 mph fastball and devastating splitter, will try for perfection again when he starts Sunday for the Chiba Lotte Marines against the Orix Buffaloes in Osaka.

Sasaki pitched a perfect game against Orix on April 10 — the first in Japan in 28 years — and followed up with eight more perfect innings on April 17 before he was pulled by manager Tadahito Iguchi after 102 pitches.

This means that Sasaki has pitched an unfathomable 17 consecutive perfect innings without allowing as baserunner. That's 51 batters. If you add on the last out he got in his start before the perfect game, that's 52.

Sasaki struck out 19 in the perfect game and added 14 in the eight-inning game, which is 33 of the 51 batters he faced in those two starts.

Sasaki beat Orix 6-0 in his perfect game.

The second game wound up as a 1-0 loss after Sasaki was pulled. The Nippon Ham Fighters won it with a home run in the 10th inning.

Sasaki grew up in the northeastern Japanese prefecture of Iwate. His father was killed in the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent meltdown on three nuclear reactors that devastated that part of the country.

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Another 17-year-old Cuban baseball prospect leaves the island

Luis Miguel Rives Valdés, from Sancti Spíritus, would be in the Dominican Republic with the purpose of signing with MLB.

CDD

Miami 21 Apr 2022 - 19:24 CEST

The young Luis Miguel Rives Valdés, a young Cuban baseball prospect of just 17 years old, would have left the Island for the Dominican Republic, with the dream of preparing to sign with one of the US Major League teams.

According to sources to which Miami-based Cuban specialized journalist Francys Romero had access, Rives Valdés would have traveled "in the last few hours" and would be in the neighboring country, where many Cuban baseball players are headed.

Outfielder for the Sancti Spiritus U-18 team, Rives Valdés is a left-handed batter who during this year's National Junior Championship batted for an average of .310 in 42 at-bats, with 13 hits, a double and a triple, and was second in the tournament in stolen bases, with nine.

In 2019, after participating in the national tournament for the 15-16 age categories, he finished the leader in runs scored, with 43, and in hits, with 61. There he closed with a batting average of .492, with 14 doubles, a triple and a home run.

According to Romero, "the 17-year-old player was the victim of bad decisions towards international tournaments," despite being "one of the most complete players in the country," according to the journalist's criteria.

In his note, he recalled that the Cuban Baseball Federation decided not to attend the Under 18 World Cup next September in Bradenton, Florida, presumably to prevent player escapes , as has happened in previous tournaments that were based in the United States.

"This has made almost all players and coaches in the category increase in levels of demotivation," Romero stressed.

Rives Valdés is one more prospect of Cuban baseball that is leaving Cuba looking for better prospects for his career. Although this phenomenon was common among established players, in recent years it has spread to younger figures.

As recognized by the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER), more than 635 baseball players of any age and through dissimilar routes have left Cuba in the last six years.

This exodus continues despite the fact that this week the new president of the state Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB), Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo, announced that players who have broken their contract with the National Series will receive a two-year ban .

Pérez Pardo explained that the sanction will consist of the players not being able to return to the tournament or participate in the next edition, at least.

Likewise, the state official declared that only the body he directs can authorize the contracts of Cuban players abroad.

That would be the punishment for at least the 22 players who have so far been dropped from the 61st National Series for one reason or another. The authorities know that several have left to insert themselves in other leagues or with contracts already managed on their own, which constitutes a "serious indiscipline", according to the FCB.

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Revilla leads in home runs as subseries 25 begins in 61 SNB

Guantanamo, 15th place (23-38) in the standings, thrashed Las Tunas, 4th place on Friday with an offense of 15 hits.

JIT Drafting

Saturday, April 23, 2022 12:33 PM

Havana.-

LOS INDIOS del Guantanamo defeated Las Tunas Lumberjacks 9-0 today.

Guantanamo, 15th place (23-38) in the standings, thrashed Las Tunas, 4th place on Friday with an offense of 15 hits and all the runs scored in the first half of the game.

Over Cremet hit one of the homers in the game and drove in five runs, but the biggest role once again went to Pedro Pablo Revilla, author of his 20th home run of the season.

Javier Iglesias won the game after working six innings with just two hits and no runs. Orlandis Martínez saved the game with another three perfect innings.

The Las Tunas team suffered too much on this day, to the point of employing a total of seven pitchers. Ángel Sánchez Pérez lost the game after allowing five earned runs in just two innings.

Facing the short weekend games, Ciego de Ávila retains the top spot in the standings with a record of 38-23, ahead of Sancti Spíritus 37-24, Granma 36-25, Las Tunas 34-25, Industriales 34-26, Mayabeque 32-26, Matanzas 31-30 and Holguín 31-30 all in the zone for post season play.

On the outside looking in for qualification are Pinar del Río 30-31, Villa Clara 28-29, Santiago de Cuba 29-32, Isla de la Juventud 28- 33 and Camaguey 27-34.

The last three teams in the standings have been virtually eliminated. They are Artemisa 24-33, Guantánamo 23-38 and Cienfuegos 19-42.

Regarding individual offensive leadership, Fréderich Cepeda commands an average of .414; Alexander Ayala in hits (88); Revilla in home runs (20); Yoelkis Guibert in RBI (58) and Rafael Viñales in slugging (.750).

In the pitching sector, Yoanni Yera stands out in PCL and strikeouts (1.52 and 73); Pedro Álvarez (IND) and Hermes González (CFG) are the winners with 10-1; while Kendry Hernández, Andy Vargas and Marlon Vega have eight saves.

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Baseball: MLB veteran Shoemaker shines in shutout

April 23, 2022 (Mainichi Japan)

NAGOYA (Kyodo) --

Matt Shoemaker threw a two-hit shutout and scored the winning run on Saturday as the Central League-leading Yomiuri Giants won their sixth straight, 3-0 over the Chunichi Dragons.

The 35-year-old right-hander, making his third start in Japan, struck out eight at Nagoya's Vantelin Dome without allowing a walk, and did not allow a base runner until a two-out seventh-inning double.

Shoemaker (1-1) singled off Dragons starter Takahiro Matsuba (0-1) with no outs in the top of the sixth, and scored the tie-breaking run on a wild pitch.

Hiroyuki Nakajima doubled in two insurance runs in the top of the ninth, and Shoemaker worked around a one-out single in the home half to preserve his shutout, his first since 2016 with the Los Angeles Angels.

Elsewhere, the Hiroshima Carp beat the DeNA BayStars 6-0, while the Yakult Swallows beat the Hanshin Tigers 1-0.

In the Pacific League, the Rakuten Eagles beat the Seibu Lions 7-3, the SoftBank Hawks won 9-3 over the Nippon Ham Fighters, and the Orix Buffaloes beat the Lotte Marines 3-2 in 11 innings.

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Holguín defeated league leading Ciego de Ávila in Cuban baseball

Holguin wins thanks to two rallys of three and five runs in innings five and six, respectively.

Taken from Latin Press

Saturday, April 23, 2022 07:56 Pm

Havana.-

Holguín continued their excellent pace in the 61st National Baseball Series after beating the leader Ciego de Ávila 9-3 today and placed themselves in the eighth position.

guin wins thanks to two rallys of three and five runs in innings five and six, respectively.

The victory went to Wilson Paredes (8-5) and the defeat to right-hander Yander Guevara (7-4), while Alexander Jiménez hit his first home run of the season for the losers.

Las Tunas defeated Santiago de Cuba by knockout 13-2 in seven innings with victoryto Yasser Labrada (4-3) and defeat to Carlos Font (3-5), while Rafael Viñales homered for the winners.

The Mayabeque Hurricanes also won and maintain their position among the best eight teams in the season after defeating Artemisa 6-3 in ten innings.

Marlon Vega took his ninth win, while Miguel Lahera was charged with the loss in a game in which Dennis Laza hit homers for the Hurricanes and Andy Cosme and Henry Llorente did the same for the Hunters.

Others that emerged victorious were the teams from Matanzas and Camagüey, the first 11-5 over Pinar del Río and the second 2-0 over Guantánamo.

The Crocodiles had an offensive barrage of 15 hits, among those home runs by shortstop Erisbel Arruebarruena and third baseman Yadil Mujica to certify the victory of Renner Rivero. The defeat to Reilandy González and the save to Yamichel Pérez.

Meanwhile, in a hard-fought game, the Bulls relied on the pitching work of Julio César Martínez who pitched all nine inningsfor his second victory and the eighth loss for Enyer Fernández.

The game between second place Sancti Spíritus and third place, Granma, resulted in a 6-4 win for .

The challenges between Isla de la Juventud and Cienfuegos and Industriales-Villa Clara were not held on the day due to problems with transportation from Isla de la Juventud.

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Holguín defeated league leading Ciego de Ávila in Cuban baseball

Holguin wins thanks to two rallys of three and five runs in innings five and six, respectively.

Taken from Latin Press

Saturday, April 23, 2022 07:56 Pm

Havana.-

Holguín continued their excellent pace in the 61st National Baseball Series after beating the leader Ciego de Ávila 9-3 today and placed themselves in the eighth position.

guin wins thanks to two rallys of three and five runs in innings five and six, respectively.

The victory went to Wilson Paredes (8-5) and the defeat to right-hander Yander Guevara (7-4), while Alexander Jiménez hit his first home run of the season for the losers.

Las Tunas defeated Santiago de Cuba by knockout 13-2 in seven innings with victoryto Yasser Labrada (4-3) and defeat to Carlos Font (3-5), while Rafael Viñales homered for the winners.

The Mayabeque Hurricanes also won and maintain their position among the best eight teams in the season after defeating Artemisa 6-3 in ten innings.

Marlon Vega took his ninth win, while Miguel Lahera was charged with the loss in a game in which Dennis Laza hit homers for the Hurricanes and Andy Cosme and Henry Llorente did the same for the Hunters.

Others that emerged victorious were the teams from Matanzas and Camagüey, the first 11-5 over Pinar del Río and the second 2-0 over Guantánamo.

The Crocodiles had an offensive barrage of 15 hits, among those home runs by shortstop Erisbel Arruebarruena and third baseman Yadil Mujica to certify the victory of Renner Rivero. The defeat to Reilandy González and the save to Yamichel Pérez.

Meanwhile, in a hard-fought game, the Bulls relied on the pitching work of Julio César Martínez who pitched all nine inningsfor his second victory and the eighth loss for Enyer Fernández.

The game between second place Sancti Spíritus and third place, Granma, resulted in a 6-4 win for Sancti Spiritus.

The games between Isla de la Juventud and Cienfuegos and Industriales-Villa Clara were not held on the day due to problems with transportation from Isla de la Juventud.

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