On Friday, Yomiuri Giants starting pitcher Shosei Togo threw a no-hitter against the Hanshin Tigers in a 1-0 win at Hanshin Koshien Stadium, the home of the Hanshin Tigers.
Only three Hanshin hitters reached base in the game, two on errors. Togo struck out five and walked one on 123 pitches. Togo, 24, is relieved that the pressure of finishing the no-hitter is off his shoulders.
“It feels great now after being relieved of that pressure,” Togo said during his postgame press conference. “I told myself to go for nine more outs after six innings.”
Togo’s no-hitter is the first in Nippon Professional Baseball since Yoshinobu Yamamoto, now with the Los Angeles Dodgers, threw one against the Chiba Lotte Marines for the Orix Buffaloes on Sept. 9, 2023.
Togo gave up his lone walk in the top of the ninth but did not panic, even though the Giants were only leading 1-0 at that point. He recorded the last three outs on a sacrifice bunt, a line out to first base, and a strikeout.
“I’m glad I got this done,” Togo told reporters after his historic night. “I’ll give this no-hitter ball to my parents. We wanted to take the opener of the last three-game series before interleague play.”
The Giants scored their only game run on an RBI single by infielder Yuta Izuguchi in the top of the fifth. Friday was Yomiuiri’s first win since last Wednesday, when they defeated the Yokohama DeNA BayStars 4-0.
The Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers will play each other two more times this weekend, with both Saturday and Sunday’s games starting at 1 a.m. EDT.
