Japanese baseball went five full seasons without a no-hitter until the Hiroshima Carp's Kenta Maeda threw one against the Yokohama BayStars April 6.

Fifty-four days later, Yomiuri Giants lefty Toshiya Sugiuchi no-hit the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.

It's enough to make you wonder if 2012 will go down as the year of the no-hitter.