'I didn't hit 160 again' Perfect Monster still has no problem winning

Roki Sasaki of the Chiba Lotte Marines picked up his second win of the season. He still hasn't thrown a 160-kilometer fastball.

Sasaki started the game against the Rakuten Golden Eagles on Thursday at Rakuten Mobile Park in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.

He threw 106 pitches over seven innings, allowing three hits (one home run), three walks, seven strikeouts, and two runs (one earned). His second win of the season. Lowered his ERA to 1.89. His fastball reached 159 kilometers.

Sasaki, who became the youngest pitcher in Japanese baseball history to throw a perfect game in 2022 and tied the Japanese record for fastest fastball (165km) last year, failed to break 160km in his third start of the season. The fastball mystery from the exhibition game remains unresolved.

Two batters into the first inning, Sasaki threw a 157-155-155-155-156 mph fastball against Eito Asamura. On a 2-pitch-1 strike, he gave up a solo home run over the left-field wall on the fourth pitch. It was the first home run of the season for Asamura, who was the Pacific League's co-leader in home runs last year.

Gave up a leadoff single in the second inning on an error by the third baseman. Faced Suzuki and induced a grounder to third base to put runners at second and third with a double play. Two batters later, he grounded out to third to end the inning.

Struck out the leadoff batter in the third and allowed back-to-back singles. With runners on first and second and two outs, he got Asamura, who gave up the home run earlier, to ground out to shortstop on a slider to end the threat.

The fourth inning was a strikeout. The fifth inning also ended in a triple play with one strikeout. In the sixth, I gave up an unearned run on a fielding error. After two strikeouts and a single to right with two outs, a fielding error allowed the runner to reach first base.

After the run, he threw a 159-kilometer fastball to Okashima at second and third. It was his fastest pitch of the day. He got Okashima to fly out to left field with a 156-mph fastball to end the inning. In the seventh, he allowed a walk with two outs on two ground balls, but got out of the inning with a fly ball to the outfield.

The Chiba Rode bats scored five runs in the first inning to support Sasaki, and every batter in the lineup had a hit in the 9-2 win.

According to Japanese media outlet Sankei Sports, Sasaki said after the game, "I got help from the bats again today, and it was good to throw a long inning somehow. Throwing a long inning was my first goal, so it was good." Sasaki went five innings in his first start and then seven innings for the second straight game.

"It depends on my condition, it depends on my technique. It's not easy to go out there at 100 percent, so I'm trying to do my best at the time," he said.