10.4KHaruki Hosono threw the 103rd no-hitter in Japanese history (Photo: Pacific League TV)
The first full week of the 2026 Nippon Professional Baseball season is in the books. Let’s recap all the big performances!
Tuesday (3/30)
Haruki Hosono’s no-hitter
Haruki Hosono (Fighters) threw a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts on 128 pitches against the Marines. It was the 103rd no-hitter in Japanese professional baseball regular season history and the first in franchise history since Cody Ponce on August 27, 2022.
Takumu Nakano (Tigers) registered his 100th career stolen base in a 4-1 win over the BayStars.
Kenta Maeda (Eagles) took the loss in his first NPB start since 2015.
Miguel Sano (Dragons) hit his first NPB home run in a 5-2 loss to the Giants.
Taiga Kojima (Lions) hit his first career home run in a 5-3 win versus the Buffaloes.
Wednesday (4/1)
Anderson Espinoza’s shutout
Anderson Espinoza (Buffaloes) twirled a complete game shutout with seven strikeouts against the Lions.
Jo-Hsi Hsu (Hawks) fired six scoreless innings with six strikeouts in his NPB debut to record the win.
Austin Cox (BayStars) earned his first NPB win against the Tigers.
Masahiro Tanaka (Giants) got a win in his season debut against the Dragons.
Thursday (4/2)
Yudai Ohno’s complete game
Ryui Itoh (Swallows) hit a walk-off two-run single versus the Carp.
Yudai Ohno (Dragons) tossed a complete game win against the Giants.
The Fighters hit three home runs in a 7-1 victory over the Marines, tying an NPB record with 16 homers in the first six games of the season.
Friday (4/3)
Kyota Fujiwara’s walk-off
Yuya Yanagi (Dragons) threw his first complete game shutout since 2022 against the Swallows.
Kyota Fujiwara (Marines) hit a walk-off two-run single against the Hawks.
Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) hurled seven innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts in a 3-1 win versus the Giants.
Shota Morishita (Tigers) went 4 for 5 in a 4-2 win over the Carp.
Chusei Mannami (Fighters) hit his fourth homer of the season in a 12-3 win over the Buffaloes.
Saturday (4/4)
Yomiuri vs. DeNA Highlights
Natsuki Takeuchi (Lions) threw seven scoreless frames with 10 strikeouts in a 2-1 loss to the Eagles.
Trey Cabbage and Yuta Izuguchi (Giants) each hit two-run homers in an 8-4 victory versus the BayStars.
Teruaki Sato and Seiya Kinami (Tigers) combined for seven hits in a 7-5 win in extra innings against the Carp.
Sunday (4/5)
Kaima Taira’s 12 strikeouts
Elehuris Montero (Carp) hit a walk-off home run against the Tigers.
Shuta Tonosaki (Lions) picked up his 1,000th career hit in a 1-1 tie with the Eagles.
Kaima Taira (Lions) struck out 12 batters across eight innings without allowing an earned run but settled for a no decision.
Raidel Martinez (Giants) recorded his first save of the year in a 3-2 win over the BayStars.
The Swallows had a seven-run seventh inning against the Dragons to improve to 7-1 on the season.
The Fighters tied another NPB record with 22 home runs in their first nine games of the season.