Chiba Lotte Marines minor-league southpaw Kosuke Kato pitched a perfect game in a 3-0 victory over the Yakult Swallows in an Eastern League game on Saturday.
Kato, pitching on his 27th birthday, became only the third pitcher in league history to accomplish the feat after Masayuki Yamazaki of the Yomiuri Giants in 1962 and Hiroshi Masumoto of the Taiyo Whales in 1987. Kato is the 20th pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the Eastern League, one of the two minor leagues in Japan.