Yuya Yanagi threw nine no-hit innings before the Chunichi Dragons won a 10th-inning home run derby to defeat the Hiroshima Carp 2-1 in the Central League on Sunday.
Yanagi left a scoreless game after nine innings, denying him Japanese pro baseball's 99th no-hitter. He did not figure in the decision at Vantelin Dome Nagoya, where three home runs decided the game in extra innings.
"It would have been the first no-hitter of my life, so honestly didn't think I was going to do it," the 29-year-old right-hander said.