Samurai Japan throws immaculate inning and perfecto in SAME game

Proving that they are still the No. 1 national team in the world, Samurai Japan's pitching staff went supernova against an All-Star team of Europe's best baseball talent, hurling a combined perfect game against Team Europe in a 2-0 win on Thursday. Starting with 20-year-old university student Yumeto Kanemaru, who struck out four of the six batters he faced, five more pitchers combined for the perfecto in the victory.

"He is a college pitcher," Team Europe manager Marco Mazzieri said after the game. "But look at him. His fastball tops 95 [mph], and he throws a splitter and a changeup for strikes. He is just a good pitcher."

While Kanemaru may have gotten things started, Seibu Lions starter Chihiro Sumida may have one-upped him by tossing an immaculate inning in the sixth inning, getting one foul ball, two called strikes and a remarkable six whiffs in the inning.

While the staff combined for 15 strikeouts, it was an unbelievable diving catch by center fielder Misho Nishikawa on a line drive by the Netherlands' Delano Selassa that preserved the perfecto.

Currently attending college, Nishikawa told Yakyu Cosmopolitan after the game that he wasn't thinking about the perfect game when he made the catch.

“Right now my goal is to be a first-round draft pick this fall and then have a successful professional career," Nishikawa said.

The victory gave Samurai Japan a clean sweep of the "Old Continent" in the Global Baseball Games -- the first held in nine years when the two teams split the series. The Samurai pitching staff also didn't allow a single run in the two games against Europe, proving that the path to baseball domination must still go through Japan. They'll hope to continue that stretch at the Premier12 tournament this November, which pits the top 12 nations in the world ranked by the WBSC against each other.