MIAMI — Kodai Senga struck out eight in his major league debut, wearing a glove with an image of a ghost and a pitchfork in reference to his «ghost forkball,» leading the New York Mets over the Miami Marlins 5-1 on Sunday.
The 30-year-old left-hander agreed to a $75 million, five-year contract after going 87-44 with a 2.59 ERA in 11 seasons with the Pacific League's Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
He overcame a difficult first inning and allowed one run, three hits and three walks in 5⅓ innings. Senga averaged 96.8 mph with 32 fastballs — the fastest 99 mph — and threw 26 forkballs, 18 sweepers and 12 cutters.
His eight strikeouts tied Kenshin Kawakami and Masahiro Tanaka for the fourth most by a Japanese pitcher in an MLB debut, trailing only Kazuhisa Ishii and Daisuke Matsuzaka (10 each), and Hideki Irabu (nine).