Nagisa Arakaki fanned 10 in his fourth straight game with double-digit strikeouts, becoming only the second rookie pitcher in Japan after Hideo Nomo in 1990 to accomplish the feat as the Daiei Hawks crushed the Orix BlueWave 15-1 in the Pacific League Saturday.
Arakaki (8-7) walked none and yielded just three hits to the 29 batters he faced over the distance and was backed by a 21-hit offense, including a Nobuhiko Matsunaka grand slam off Mac Suzuki (2-6) in the fourth, at Fukuoka Dome. Tadahito Iguchi matched a single-game Japan record with four doubles on a 4-for-4 evening.
"All I did was aim at the catcher's mitt and didn't think about how many strikeouts I was getting," said Arakaki who needed just 107 pitches to improve his strikeout total to 132 -- five behind current PL leader Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Seibu Lions.
Buffaloes 8, Lions 3