Toshiya Sugiuchi is a former Pacific League MVP and Sawamura award winner and has been among NPB's elite pitchers for years.

As good as he is under normal circumstances — and a 110-56 record with a 2.84 ERA and 1,677 career strikeouts say that's pretty good — for some reason he seems to ratchet it up to another level during the month of May.

Sugiuchi added another chapter to a ridiculous run of success in May on Wednesday, fanning 14 and coming within a strike of a perfect game against Masahiro Tanaka and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, though a no-hitter is quite the consolation prize.