Haruki Hosono pitches 91st NPB No Hitter

Haruki Hosono became the 91st pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the first in 2026, as he led the Nippon Ham Fighters to a 9-0 win against the Chiba Lotte Marines in the 2026 Fighters opening game in the Pacific League on Tuesday, March 31.

It was Hosono's first career shutout and first career complete game, and it was the first no-hitter at Es Con Field Hokkaido in Kitahiroshima, 26 kilometres east of Sapporo, which opened in 2023.

"It's gradually starting to sink in that I've done something amazing," Hosono said in an interview with the Kyodo News Agency.

"It's hard to say I'll go for another [no-hitter] next time," the left-hander added. "But I'll try to keep pitching, looking to put up as many zeros as possible."

Hosono walked a batter in the first and hit another in the fourth. His lineup gave him a 7-0 lead with a second-inning rally off Chiba's starter Yuto Kimura, capped by a three-run homer by WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2017 star Kotaro Kiyomiya.

Born in 2002, Hosono was the Fighters' No. 1 pick out of Toyo University at the 2023 Draft. He pitched two games in 2024 and six in 2025.

The hard-throwing left-hander represented Japan at the U-18 level and at the 2023 Japan-USA Collegiate Baseball Series.