Hiroto Saiki Ties CL Record with 16 Strikeout Game

by Yuri Karasawa April 13, 2026

April 13, 2026

Let’s recap the past week of Nippon Professional Baseball action!

Tuesday (4/7)

Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) tied a Central League single-game record with 16 strikeouts in eight innings against the Swallows.
Teruaki Sato (Tigers) hit his first home run of the season in a 9-3 victory.
Yuta Nakami (Lions) hit his first career home run in an 8-6 win versus the Hawks.
Ryoma Nishikawa (Buffaloes) went 3 for 4 with a homer in a 3-1 win over the Marines.

Yuta Izug u chi (Giants) hit a go-ahead two-run shot in the ninth to take down the Carp, 2-1.
Kona Takahashi (Lions) dominated the Hawks with 11 strikeouts across eight shutout innings.
Koki Kitayama (Fighters) defeated Tatsuki Koja (Eagles) with eight scoreless frames in a pitchers’ duel, 1-0.

Shota Morishita (Tigers) hit his fourth homer in a 2-0 win over the Swallows.
Ryosuke Ohtsu (Hawks) tossed seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory versus the Lions.
Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) smashed his fifth home run to beat the Eagles, 4-2.
Ryoma Nishikawa (Buffaloes) hit a walk-off single in extras against the Marines.

Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) was diagnosed with a UCL injury, likely ruling out the ace for the rest of the season with Tommy John surgery.
The Tigers scored four runs in the ninth to come from behind against the Dragons, 5-3.
The Marines put up four unearned runs in the ninth to come back versus the Lions, 6-3.

Teruaki Sato (Tigers) crushed two home runs in a 9-3 win against the Dragons. Shota Morishita hit his sixth dinger of the season.
Takahisa H ayakawa (Eagles) returned from shoulder surgery and threw seven innings of one-run ball in an 11-4 win over the Buffaloes.
Naoyuki Uwasawa (Hawks) defeated the Fighters, his old club, to become the 23rd pitcher to earn a win against all 12 NPB teams.

Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) spun his second complete game shutout of the season to beat the Dragons, 3-0.
An-Ko L in (Lions) hit his first NPB home run on a walk-off in extras to defeat the Marines, 2-1.
Kaima Taira (Lions) kept his season ERA at 0.00 with seven scoreless innings. His opponent, Koshiro Hiroike (Marines), hurled seven innings of one-hit ball.
Hirotoshi Takanashi (Swallows) took a perfect game into the seventh inning in a 2-0 victory over the Giants.
Cooper Hummel and Asahi Miyashita (BayStars) hit their first NPB home runs in a 6-5 win versus the Carp.
Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) went 3 for 4 with a homer in an 11-7 win against the Fighters.