Nickname: Okaji...Hideki and his wife, Yuka, have a son and a daughter...Graduated from Higashiyama High School in 1994...Pitched in the 1994 Koshien National High School Tournament...Once again spent part of the 2007-08 offseason training in Australia.

Followed up a stellar rookie season with a 3-2 record and 2.61 ERA (18 ER/62.0 IP) over 64 games...Notched his 2nd straight season of at least 60 games, the 2nd Red Sox ever to reach that mark in each of his first 2 major league campaigns, joining Dick Radatz (1962-63). HOLD IT: Tallied 23 holds, 6th in the A.L. and 4 shy of the high he set in 2007...Is one of just 3 A.L. relievers with at least 20 holds in each of the last 2 seasons, joined by the Angels' Scot Shields and Toronto's Scott Downs...Ranks 4th in the majors with 50 total holds since the start of the 2007 season, 2nd in the A.L. behind only Shields (62).

OPENING DAY : Tossed 1.0 scoreless inning to earn the win in Boston's 6-5, 10-inning victory over Oakland on Opening Day, March 25 in Tokyo, Japan...Was the 2nd pitcher in big league history to win a regular season game in his native country (excluding Canada, Puerto Rico and the United States)...San Diego's Fernando Valenzuela beat the New York Mets on August 16, 1996 at Monterrey, Mexico...Was the first pitcher ever to win in his home country on Opening Day (excluding Puerto Rico and the United States).

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Allowed just one run over his first 17 games through May 10, posting a 0.50 ERA (1 ER/18.0 IP) in that span...Surrendered 11 runs over his next 16 outings from May 14- June 27, with a 6.32 ERA (11 ER/15.2 IP) during that stretch...Permitted runs in just 6 of his final 31 appearances for a 1.91 ERA (6 ER/28.1 IP) from June 29 onward...Gave up runs in 11 of his 64 games overall...Let 52.0 percent of inherited runners score (13 of 25), the 2nd highest mark in the A.L. among relievers with at least 50 appearances...Logged a 2.86 ERA (9 ER/28.1 IP) at home and a 2.41 (9 ER/33.2 IP) mark everywhere else...Held lefties to a .184 (19-for-103) average, including a .125 (6-for-48) clip in his final 27 games beginning June 27...Righties hit .234 (30-for-128).

MORE 2008 HIGHLIGHTS: Escaped a bases-loaded jam with one out in the 8th inning on July 7 vs. Minnesota to earn his first win since Opening Day, March 25 against Oakland in Japan...Matched a big league career high with his 3rd win of the season 9 appearances later with 1.2 scoreless frames on August 12 vs. Texas...Went more than 1.0 inning 10 times in 2008 with a high of 2.0 innings on 3 occasions, May 9 at Minnesota, May 30 at Baltimore and August 20 at Baltimore... Tossed more than 1.0 inning 14 times in 2007..Allowed 4 runs in his first loss of the season at Baltimore on June 2, matching the career high he set on September 14, 2007 vs. the Yankees.