Ru014dki Sasaki, the 20-year-old pitching phenom for Chiba Lotte Marines (Nippon Pro Baseball), saw his streak of 52 consecutive batters retired come to an abrupt end in his most recent start. On April 24, Shuhei Fukuda, leading off for the Orix Buffaloes, the victims of Sasaki's perfect game two weeks earlier, singled on the first pitch of the game.
Sasaki's pitching line in Chiba Lotte's 6-3 win was nothing you'd look twice at: 5-6-2-3-4. He also hit two batters.
On April 10, he pitched the first NPB perfect game in 28 years, striking out 19 Orix Buffaloes (including 13 in a row).