No-no by the Bay …

Maeda shoots down ’Stars with 1st NPB no-no in 6 years

After losing the home opener the night before, Yokohama DeNA BayStars said he wanted to hurry up and win one for the fans. After getting no-hit by Hiroshima Carp righty Kenta Maeda on Friday, he might settle for a hit or two.

The 23-year-old became the first hurler since September, 2006 – Chunichi’s Masahiro Yamamoto -- to throw a no-hitter, blanking the BayStars 2-0 at Yokohama Stadium.

Maeda (1-1), who walked two, had carried a no-no into the ninth inning last Oct. 25 against the Yakult Swallows and ended up losing the game 2-1 at Jingu Stadium.

“Last year in the season finale, I gave up a hit with one out in the last inning and that was frustrating,” said Maeda, who became the 74th pitcher to throw a no-no, the fourth in Carp history.

“I felt I had good stuff from the beginning, but the guys also scored an early run for me and it was a 1-0 game, which made me focus more. I had good control; my fastball was good and had good break on them and I just felt great for the first time in a while. This is the first no-hitter in my life so I’m very happy.”

Shinji Sasaoka was the last Carp pitcher to throw a no-hitter, pulling it off in 1999, but Maeda said a no-no wasn’t until his mind until he went out to get the final three outs.

“To tell the truth, I didn’t even think about a no-hitter until the ninth inning. I didn’t want to put any runners on and that’s what my main focus was.”

Yoshihiro Maru knocked in the game’s first run with a single in the opening frame, and Nick Stavinoha, who made a fine running catch before crashing into the left-field wall in sixth on a drive off the bat of Alex Ramirez, homered in the ninth to add insurance.

Giancarlo Alvarez (0-1) was the hard-luck loser, holding Hiroshima to a run on five hits, a walk and hit batter with a half-dozen Ks over six frames.

Maeda, the 2010 Sawamura Award winner, strikeout and ERA leader, used 122 pitches and got 15 groundouts while fanning six to become the 35th Central League pitcher to record a no-no.

“This is part of baseball,” Yokohama manager Kiyoshi Nakahata said. “When a pitcher throws like [Maeda] did, all you can do is say, “He was great,” said the first-year skipper, whose team is already 1-4-1 and has been shut out two straight games.

DRAGONS 1, SWALLOWS 0

Kazuki Yoshimi (2-0) held Yakult to three hits with no walks and no Ks over seven innings, and reigning CL MVP Takuya Asao and Hitoki Iwase made a first-inning run stand up in a Chunichi victory at Nagoya Dome.

Yoshimi, last year’s ERA leader, is at 1.20 after two starts. He has won 12 straight decisions, dating back to last year. Yakult’s Orlando Roman (0-1) pitched well in his NPB debut, holding the Dragons to five hits and two walks with six strikeouts, but took the loss.

TIGERS 3, GIANTS 0

Atsushi Nomi (1-0) twirled a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts and two walks as Hanshin sent punchless Yomiuri to its third shutout in four games.

The Giants haven’t scored in 22 consecutive innings, and haven’t had an RBI hit in 36 frames.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

HAWKS 4, LIONS 2

Seibu reliever Enrique Gonzalez (0-2) took it on the chin for the second time in three outings, getting charged with four runs on four hits and a walk in the ninth inning and suffering the loss to SoftBank after blowing a save at Seibu Dome.

Gonzalez saw his ERA balloon to 32.40 after Wily Mo Pena’s two-out double off Hironori Matsunaga, who took over for the big righty.

FIGHTERS 6, MARINES 3

Yuki Saito (2-0) scattered six hits and a walk over seven innings, and Yoshio Itoi had two hits, including a homer and two RBIs, while Atsunori Inaba tripled and drove in a pair of runs to help Nippon Ham top Lotte at The Q.

Lotte’s record four-game winning streak to start the season, its longest in 60 years, came to an end.

EAGLES 2, BUFFALOES 2

Orix’s Aarom Baldiris drove in the tying run off Rakuten ace Masahiro Tanaka in the ninth inning and neither team could break the deadlock in a 3.5-hour-rule, 10-inning tie at Kyocera Dome Osaka.