Eri Yoshida first woman to win pro game this century

On Tuesday night, Japanese knuckleball pitcher Eri Yoshida became the first woman to win a professional baseball game since Ila Borders accomplished the feat in the Northern League back in 1999. Yoshida, who was recently traded to the Strong Warriors of Maui in the North American League, pitched five strong innings at home to defeat the Edmonton Capitals 4-1.

Hardcore Victoria baseball fans will likely remember Yoshida's start for the Chico Outlaws last July at Royal Athletic Park. As was the case when she pitched in the Garden City, Yoshida's biggest problem is usually finding the strike zone. However, on Tuesday night Yoshida's line was pretty clean:

5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB and 1 K

There are couple of other interesting observations from looking at the box score. First, it's worth noting that Yoshida's lone strikeout victim was none other than Matt Rogelstad, the man who ignited a brawl at Royal Athletic Park in June of last season. By an amazing coincidence, Rogelstad's combatant in that brawl was Wilver Perez -- Yoshida's only strikeout victim in her July 2010 start against the Victoria Seals!

The other notable fact is that Yoshida's catcher on Tuesday night was none other than ex-Seal Matt Kavanaugh. Apparently, Kavi was pretty pumped about Yoshida's win -- at least judging by his recent tweets:

Congratulations to both Eri Yoshida and Matt Kavanaugh.