Lotte Marines pitcher Roki Sasaki set a Japanese pro baseball record by striking out 13 consecutive batters en route to Japan's 16th perfect game on Sunday in a 6-0 Pacific League win over the Orix Buffaloes.
The 20-year-old right-hander, whose father was killed in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan's northeast coast, was heavily scouted by Major League Baseball teams before signing with the Marines out of high school prior to the 2020 season.
His no-hitter was the 94th in Japanese pro baseball and the first since Aug. 15, 2020. It was also Japan's first perfect game since May 18, 1994.