Masahiro Tanaka equaled the mark for Japan's longest winning streak within a single season as he improved to 20-0 on Friday in the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles' 3-2 win over the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
The 24-year-old Eagles ace has won 24 consecutive decisions dating back to Aug. 26, 2012. Although Tanaka (20-0) went the distance, he needed a little help from his friends to nail down this one after surrendering two runs over the first four innings.
"I didn't help much tonight, so I'll try to do a competent job in my next game," said Tanaka, who allowed just three base runners after the fourth inning. "The team had to score three runs to come back because of me, and after we did, I managed to do some good at the end."