Japanese pitchers combine to no-hit MLB stars
In the third game of the All-Star Series in Japan on Saturday, the MLB team of All-Stars (and quasi-All-Stars) was no-hit by four Nippon Pro Baseball pitchers. The Japanese National Team won 4-0 and they lead the five-game series three games to none.
Starter Takahiro Norimoto threw five perfect innings and was followed by relievers Yuki Nishi, Kazuhisa Makita and Yuji Nishino. Here are the pitching lines from the box score:
And here is Nishino retiring Justin Morneau for the final out of the game:
“It’s too good to be true,” said Norimoto to the Associated Press. “I wanted to see how my pitches would work against MLB hitters. The fact that my teammate (Motohiro) Shima was catching made me feel at ease and I was able to perform as usual. The atmosphere at the park was really nice. It was the best outing of my career.”
“The story tonight was in the hit column with a zero on it,” said MLB manager John Farrell to the Associated Press. “Norimoto was outstanding. He was very efficient. He has a powerful fastball and very good late action to go with his split, his slider and cutter.”
Hayato Sakamoto and Sho Nakata both hit two-run homers off Jeremy Guthrie to give Japan their 4-0 lead. The MLB club did not get their first base-runner until Lucas Duda drew a walk in the sixth inning. The team’s only other base-runners were two walks (Salvador Perez and Dexter Fowler) and a hit batsman (Robinson Cano).
Cano suffered a fractured pinkie toe when he was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning, x-rays confirmed. He will miss the rest of the series but is expected to be healthy in plenty of time for spring training. Jose Altuve is on the roster and will presumably take over starting duties at second base.
The Japanese National Team won the Game 1 of the series 2-0 on Wednesday and won Game 2 by the score of 8-4 on Friday. Game 4 will be played Sunday. Lefty Chris Capuano will be on the mound for MLB.
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