BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Hawks right-hander Nao Higashihama throws no-hitter against Lions

The Hawks' Nao Higashihama pitches against the Lions at Fukuoka's PayPay Dome on Wednesday. Higashihama threw his first no-hitter in SoftBank's 2-0 victory. | KYODO

Kyodo

May 11, 2022

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks right-hander Nao Higashihama threw a no-hitter to lead his team to a 2-0 win over the Seibu Lions in the Pacific League on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old from Okinawa struck out six and issued a pair of walks on 97 pitches at Fukuoka's PayPay Dome, improving to 4-1 with his first complete game of the season.

Kenta Imamiya put the Hawks on the board with a second-inning RBI single off lefty Chihiro Sumida (1-4) before scoring on Yuki Yanagita's double.

Higashihama's only blemishes came in the second, when he walked Takeya Nakamura, and in the fifth, when he threw four straight balls to NPB home run leader Hotaka Yamakawa.

https://twitter.com/JCoskrey/status/1524361018150817793?s=20

KEYWORDS

baseball(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/baseball), Pacific League(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/pacific-league), Seibu Lions(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/seibu-lions), Nao Higashihama(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/nao-higashihama), SoftBank Hawks(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/softbank-hawks)

$The Hawks\' Nao Higashihama pitches against the Lions at Fukuoka\'s PayPay Dome on Wednesday. Higashihama threw his first no-hitter in SoftBank\'s 2-0 victory. | KYODO$