A perfect miss ….

Sugiuchi settles for no-no after 2-out walk in the 9th for only runner

Toshiya Sugiuchi went right up to the verge of a perfect game … and walked it away.

The 31-year-old Giants starter walked Toshiya Nakashima with two outs in the ninth inning to spoil his shot at a perfecto, but got a called third strike on Ryo Hijirisawa as the Yomiuri Giants topped the Rakuten Eagles 2-0 on Wednesday night at Tokyo Dome.

The Central League wins leader, who moved to the Giants in the offseason as a free agent, tormented the Eagles with 14 strikeouts to become to 75th pitcher in Japan Pro Baseball to throw a no-no.

“I knew I hadn’t given up a hit and I was aware I hadn’t walked anyone,” Sugiuchi said about the later innings. “In the ninth when the count went to 3-2, I didn’t want to give up a hit. I said to myself, ‘A walk is better than allowing a hit,’ so I tried to paint the corner and missed.”

Sugiuchi, who only allowed four balls to leave the infield, is the second Giants lefty to throw a no-hitter and the first Yomiuri hurler to toss one at Tokyo Dome.

Hiromi Makihara was the last Yomiuri pitcher to hold a team hitless, throwing a perfecto on May 18, 1994.

The Eagles never squared a ball up all night, and Yoshinobu Takahashi blasted a two-out, two-run homer in the seventh inning for the only runs of the game off Rakuten ace Masahiro Tanaka (2-2).

Tanaka was making his first appearance since April 19, which he was deactivated because of lower back problems. And just ran into a buzz saw.

FIGHTERS 1, SWALLOWS 0

Mitsuo Yoshikawa (6-2) and four relievers combined on an eight-hitter as Nippon Ham sent Yakult to its 10th straight loss, the club’s longest in 39 years.

Makoto Kaneko knocked in the game’s only run with a single to left center in the second.

CARP 4, LIONS 1

Yuki Saito (2-2) worked seven innings of one-run ball, and Jun Hirose drove in the first of host Hiroshima’s runs with a fourth-inning double as the Carp topped Seibu.

DRAGONS 2, BUFFALOES 1, 10 INNINGS

Masahiko Morino blasted his first career walk-off homer, his fourth sayonara hit, and host Chunichi battled past Orix to extend its winning streak to five straight decisions.

Masahiro Araki’s fine defensive play with the bases loaded in the top of the 10th inning kept Orix from scoring, and rookie righty Shinji Tajima (4-0) won his fourth game in relief.

TIGERS 9, MARINES 9

Tadahito Iguchi had three hits, including his career 11th grand slam, and six RBIs, but his error in the eighth inning helped Hanshin score twice to tie the score as the teams played to a draw at Koshien Stadium.

BAYSTARS 5, HAWKS 4

Takehiro Ishikawa knocked in two runs Norihiro Nakamura and Alex Ramirez each added an RBI as host Yokohama sent SoftBank to its fourth consecutive loss.

Wily Mo Pena has gone 34 plate appearances without a hit for the Hawks.



[Edited by: jgibson on May 31, 2012 6:28 PM]