Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Nippon Professional Baseball Orix continued QS (Quality Start) in 8 consecutive games after the opening and won his 5th win of the season. He moved up to the top of the league in earned run average.
Yamamoto pitched as a starting pitcher in an exchange match against the Yomiuri Giants held at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on the 6th. He threw 96 pitches in 8 innings and became the winning pitcher with 4 hits, 6 strikeouts, and 1 run on four pitches. Orix won 2-1 and kept first place in the Pacific League.
Yamamoto finished the first inning with a tripartite offense, and in the second inning, the lead batter was on base due to a defensive error, but after that, all three batters were struck. He pitched no hits until the third inning.
He allowed a left-handed hit to leadoff batter Hayato Sakamoto in the fourth inning with a 2–0 lead, and a timely left-handed hit to Sho Nakata in second out and second base allowed one run.
Yamamoto allowed the lead hitter to hit in the 5th and 7th innings, but did not allow the second base to advance and blocked it without a run. In the 7th inning, with no one on first base, coach Yomiuri Hara appointed Shigenobu Shinnosuke as a pinch hitter in the foreign batter’s walker at-bat. It was a replacement to wait for the sending bunt.
Yamamoto threw a 154 km/h fastball, and Shigenobu tried a sacrifice bunt, but it was out due to the catcher’s floating ball. In the 8th inning, he blocked a ground ball to second baseman, a fly ball to left fielder, and a foul fly to right fielder, and passed the ball to the bullpen in the 9th inning. Recording 11 holds, Yamazaki recorded his first save of the season.
Orix took a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning with 1 out and bases loaded, with Tomoya Mori’s 2 RBI double in mid-month.메이저놀이터
Yamamoto is 5-2 with a 1.82 ERA in 8 games this season. He is currently recording QS pitching in all 8 games after opening with 4 consecutive victories.
Yamamoto, who won four crowns (most wins, ERA, strikeouts, winning rate) for the last two years in a row, has risen to first place in the last two games with 1 run in 16 innings and good pitching and average ERA. The number of wins is tied for second place, one win behind Yuji Nishino (Chiba Lotte, 6 wins). Strikeouts are 4th with 57. It is 12 behind No. 1 Sasaki Loki (Chiba Lotte, 69).