SoftBank Hawks ace Livan Moinelo was electric on Friday night at Meiji Jingu Stadium, striking out 18 batters over eight scoreless innings in a dominant outing against the Yakult Swallows.
The 29-year-old Cuban southpaw allowed just three hits and two walks while throwing 117 pitches, including a career-high 28 swinging strikes — the most by any pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball this year.
A HISTORIC performance for Livan Moinelo 🇨🇺 to set a new SoftBank Hawks franchise record for strikeouts!
8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 18 K, 117 P, 28 Whiffs
He struck out 9 of the first 10 batters he faced pic.twitter.com/K3CHar2VOE
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) June 6, 2025
It was the second interleague series of the season for both clubs. The Hawks, currently in fourth place in the Pacific League, entered the matchup fresh off a sweep of the Chunichi Dragons. Meanwhile, the Swallows, sitting in last place in the Central League, had dropped two of three to the Seibu Lions.
Moinelo’s 18 strikeouts set a new SoftBank franchise record and came just one shy of the all-time NPB mark of 19, shared by Koji Noda (April 21, 1995) and Roki Sasaki (Perfect Game on April 10, 2022). Masahiro Tanaka also recorded an 18-strikeout game on August 27, 2011.
Averaging 94.3 mph and topping out at 97 on his four-seam fastball, Moinelo attacked left-handed hitters with a fastball-slider combo and used his changeup as the primary putaway pitch against righties. He also threw in his renowned high-spin curveball to both sides of the plate.
He started incredibly strong, fanning nine of the first 10 batters he faced — including a stretch of seven consecutive strikeouts that tied Tsuyoshi Wada’s club record set back in 2003. By the end of the fifth inning, he had already racked up 13 Ks, and he finished his night by striking out the side again in the eighth.
Despite exiting with a 2-0 lead, Moinelo took a no-decision after struggling closer Roberto Osuna surrendered a game-tying home run to Jose Osuna in the ninth. The Swallows then completed the comeback in dramatic fashion, as Ryusei Takeoka launched a walk-off homer off Yuki Matsumoto in extra innings to hand the Hawks a stunning loss.
Still, it was a night to remember for Moinelo, who shattered his previous career high of 12 strikeouts and surpassed Haruto Inoue’s 14 for the most in NPB this season. Since making his debut in 2017, Moinelo had been one of the league’s most dominant relievers for seven seasons before converting to a starting role in 2024. He made a seamless transition, winning the Pacific League ERA title with a 1.88 mark over 25 starts while helping SoftBank to the pennant.
Moinelo has carried his success into 2025, entering the game with a 1.47 ERA and a 25.1% strikeout rate over nine starts. His masterful performance lowered his ERA to 1.30 and boosted his strikeout rate to 29.3%. With that, he vaulted past Hiroya Miyagi and Tatsuya Imai to lead all qualified starters in strikeout rate.
Staying healthy and maintaining this elite level will be crucial for Moinelo, as the lefty is also expected to headline Cuba’s pitching staff at the 2026 World Baseball Classic. He tossed 4 ⅓ scoreless innings during the course of the 2023 tournament. He struggled with eight earned runs in two appearances at the 2024 Premier12 while battling an illness.
Despite dealing with a wave of injuries to key players early in the season, SoftBank sits just one game out of a playoff spot and two and a half games behind first place in the Pacific League. Interleague play continues through June 22, which will mark the halfway point of the season.
Photo: Livan Moinelo of Cuba throws in the eighth inning during the World Baseball Classic quarterfinal between Australia and Cuba at Tokyo Dome on March 15, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. Moinelo struck out 18 Yakult Swallows in a game last night for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. (Photo by Kenta Harada/Getty Images)
