Fastball

New York Mets' Kodai Senga Joins Special Club in Japanese Baseball History

New York Mets pitcher Kodai Senga recorded nine strikeouts on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies, and in doing so, he joined a special club in Japanese baseball history.

Brady Farkas

New York Mets' Kodai Senga Joins Special Club in Japanese Baseball History
New York Mets' Kodai Senga Joins Special Club in Japanese Baseball History /
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The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night, 2-0, to move to 28-27 on the season.

The Mets got the win, in large part, because of the work of Kodai Senga on the mound. The Japanese right-hander went seven innings, surrendering no runs on one hit. He had no walks and recorded nine strikeouts in moving to 5-3 on the year.

With his performance, Senga joined a unique club in Japanese baseball history, as per ESPN Stats & Info:

Kodai Senga was dealing against the Phillies, recording 9 strikeouts while giving up just 1 hit in 7 IP. His 70 K in his first 10 career games are the 3rd most by a Japanese-born pitcher in MLB history, trailing only Hideo Nomo (83 K in 1995) & Masahiro Tanaka (79 K in 2014).

In addition to being 5-3 on the season, Senga now owns a 3.44 ERA. He signed a five-year deal with the Mets this past offseason and was expected to make a great trio with Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.

The Mets scored in the game thanks to a solo home run by Francisco Lindor and an Eduardo Escobar single. 

As of this posting, New York is now tied for second in the National League East with the Miami Marlins. Both teams trail the first-place Atlanta Braves by 4.5 games. 

The Mets and Phillies will play again on Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. ET. Aaron Nola will pitch for Philly against Carlos Carrasco.

The series wraps up on Thursday.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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