Carp thrower Daichi Osera, center, celebrates after completing a no-hitter against the Chiba Lotte Marines on Friday evening at Mazda Stadium in Hiroshima.
17:15 JST, June 8, 2024
HIROSHIMA – Veteran right-hander Daichi Osera threw the first no-hitter for the Hiroshima Carp in 12 years and the first at Mazda Stadium when he defeated the Chiba Lotte Marines 4-0 on Friday night.
Osera (3-0) struck out two and walked five in a 129-pitch masterpiece that made him the 90th pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball history to throw a no-hitter in the regular season.
It was the 102nd overall and came two weeks after Shosei Togo of the Yomiuri Giants failed to hit the Hanshin Tigers.
Osera gave credit for getting through a nerve-wracking ninth inning to the full crowd of 31,378 mostly red-clad fans who witnessed the first no-hitter in the Carp’s home baseball history, which opened in 2009.
“I drank in the cheer and thought, ‘I’ve come this far,’ and I used up all the energy I had left in me,” said Osera, who turns 33 on June 17.
The last time a Carp pitcher threw a no-hitter was in April 2012, when current Major Leaguer Kenta Maeda accomplished the feat against the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.
For Osera, who had 15 wins and a .682 winning percentage in the Central League in 2018, this is a season of revival as he is coming off a poor 6-11 record entering 2023 and having offseason right elbow surgery undergo. “I want to gain confidence through what I achieve,” he said when he signed his contract.
His eleventh season began with Osera losing the role of starter for the opening game, a role he had held for the previous five consecutive years. However, that served as the motivation leading up to his night of fame.
