Some gasps and groans were heard at the sold-out Zozo Marine Stadium in Chiba when Naoya Masuda took the mound for the home team in the ninth inning.

The Chiba Lotte Marines’ starter, Roki Sasaki, had allowed no baserunners through eight innings against the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, and had a great chance to record back-to-back perfect games.

Sasaki, however, agreed with the decision of Marines manager Tadahito Iguchi to take him out of the game.

“I think I did my job,” Sasaki said afterward. “I left the mound, and I was convinced by the (decision).”

A week ago at the same stadium against the Orix Buffaloes, the 20-year-old sensation pitched the first perfect game in Nippon Professional Baseball in 28 years. He is also the youngest to accomplish that rare feat.

He extended that perfection to 17 straight innings on April 17.

After the game, Sasaki said his control and the quality of his pitches were not as good as in the previous game.

“It was bit hard to make adjustments, and I got tired halfway through,” he said.

It didn’t show.

With two strikes, two outs and the bases empty in the eighth inning, Sasaki threw his 102nd and final pitch, a 163-kph strike, the fastest of the day. It was his 14th strikeout in the game.

After striking out the side, he walked back to the bench to the roar of the crowd of 30,000.

The game was scoreless at the time.

Iguchi sent in Masuda at the top of the ninth inning to relieve Sasaki.

“I evaluated the situation based on a variety of factors,” Iguchi said after the game. “I was planning to replace him before he threw 100 pitches today.”

He said the decision was based on the team’s game plan.

“A record is a record, but it is important to get the win and for Roki to firmly stay in the team’s pitching rotation for the year,” Iguchi said.

PITCHING DUEL

Sasaki did not get much support from his teammates at the plate.

The Fighters’ pitchers, including starter Naoyuki Uwasawa, held the Marines scoreless.

Asked by a reporter if he would have let Sasaki continue if the Marines were leading in the game, Iguchi said, “Not a chance.”

He said he would have pulled Sasaki after the eighth inning even if the team had scored, he said.

Sasaki, a star player in high school, is now in his third season as a pro.

The Marines have focused on developing and strengthening Sasaki while avoiding to overstrain his young arm.

He did not pitch even in the second-string league in his rookie year.

He has pitched four games so far this season, with a pitch count of around 100 each time.

The Fighters’ manager, Tsuyoshi “Big Boss” Shinjo, looked surprised when he learned Sasaki would not return to the mound at the top of the ninth inning.

But he said he understood why Iguchi made the decision.

“If I were in the other side’s position, I actually would have subbed off (Sasaki), even though I would have loved to let him go on,” Shinjo said.

“If the team were leading 1-0, then I would have let him pitch more. But with the score tied, it’s hard.”

Before the game, Shinjo told reporters that he might have to rely on razzle-dazzle to beat Sasaki: “I might let everybody try to bunt for a hit.”

But in the end, he told the players, “Go for it and play fair and square.”

Kensuke Kondo, known for his good eye at the plate, struck out twice against Sasaki.

“All of us tried to find a toehold to beat him,” Kondo said. “But I was freshly reminded of his greatness.”

Chusei Mannami, who batted third in the Fighters’ lineup, said Sasaki’s fastball and forkball messed up his timing.

“It was as if I was witnessing a historic moment,” said Mannami, who struck out swinging on three pitches in the seventh inning.

Mannami had better luck after Sasaki left the game.

Against Yuji Nishino, who replaced Masuda, in the 10th inning, Mannami produced the Fighters’ only hit of the day, a game-winning solo home run.

‘A SIGHT TO SEE’

Tickets for the game were sold out by the morning. Those who came to see Sasaki’s mastery were not disappointed.

“It was a sight to see,” said Takeshi Iwamura, a 44-year-old resident of Chiba who had a second-floor seat behind the plate.

He said as the game went on, he began expecting another perfect game from Sasaki.

“I wish he pitched at least one more inning,” Iwamura said.

Kenji Fujimoto, a 52-year-old fan from Yoshikawa, Saitama Prefecture, said Iguchi “made a wise decision.”

“There was no other choice but to pull Sasaki, in consideration of his physical well-being,” he said.

Yoshihide Sato, a 49-year-old resident of Ageo, Saitama Prefecture, and a Fighters fan, came to see Sasaki pitching for the first time.

“Of course I wanted my team to stop (Sasaki) from pitching a perfect game,” he said. “But he was throwing balls that were very hard to hit.”

As a baseball fan, however, Sato said he hopes Sasaki will keep smashing records.

The Fighters are likely to face Sasaki again in May.

Asked by a reporter about what he expects in the rematch, Shinjo said jokingly, “I would love to see him pitch a perfect game then.”

(This article was compiled from reports written by Emi Hirata, Akiko Tada and Takashi Ogawa.)