Three-peat: Three foreign pitchers combine for no-no in NPB

Three foreign-born pitchers pulled off a rare feat in Japanese professional baseball _ combining to throw a no-hitter, just the sixth combined no-no in the history of Nippon Professional Baseball.

American Nash Walters pitched seven hitless innings for the Yakult Swallows on Thursday in Hiroshima. Walters allowed only a walk, a hit batsman and a runner on an error.

Dominican Jesus Liranzo and Venezuelan Jose Quijada then completed the no-hitter and the Swallow won 1-0.

It was the first combined no-hitter in Japanese professional baseball since the SoftBank Hawks achieved the feat in a game against the Nippon Ham Fighters in the Pacific League on Aug. 15, 2021.

As of Tuesday, July 14, the Swallows were in third place in the Central League standings, 3-1/2 games behind the front-running Hanshin Tigers.