Dallas Keuchel (36, Chiba Lotte Marines), a former Cy Young Award winner, recorded his first victory after four out of three games on the NPB stage.
In a home game against the Rakuten Golden Eagles at ZOZO Marine Stadium in Chiba Prefecture, Japan on Saturday, Keuchel pitched well with three hits, three walks, four strikeouts and one run in five innings. As the Chiba Lotte Giants won the game 3-1, Keuchel recorded his first start win in four games after playing in Japan.
Keuchel, who had recorded just one loss without a win despite his good ERA of 2.12 (four runs in 17 innings) in the previous three games, received support for scoring runs from the beginning of the game for the first time in a long time. Keuchel got off to a fresh start by striking out two batters in a row at the top of the first inning, and allowed a walk to Ryosuke Tatsumi, but handled the next batter with a ground ball to shortstop. In the second inning, he lightly hit a fly ball and two ground balls, and threw out the ball to the third base. After Tatsuhiro Tamura’s double and Shogo Nakamura’s base hit, Atsuki Tomoski scored the first run with a timely hit.
In the top of the third inning, when Chiba Lotte was leading 1-0, Keuchel immediately allowed a tie. After allowing a hit to the leadoff batter, Keuchel reached the first base with one out due to a sacrifice bunt. Keuchel, who was suddenly shaken after the runner-up, allowed a walk and a hit, putting the batter on the verge of loading the bases with one out. Consequently, when Tatsumi grounded out to the second base, the third runner homered, tying the game. In the ensuing crisis with the second and third bases loaded with two outs, Keuchel induced a grounder to the first base, allowing no additional runs to end the inning.
Chiba Lotte’s batters took the lead again in the bottom of the third inning. With runners on the first and one out, Neftali Soto, the cleanup hitter, hit his 15th two-run homer of the season, to take the lead 3-1. Keuchel regained stability with support from the team’s batters. He allowed one out with a fly ball to the left field in the fourth inning, but allowed a walk to the team through a fly ball to the shortstop and a ground ball to end the inning. In the fifth inning, he gave up a hit after striking out the first batter with a swing and a miss, but allowed a hit to the batter with two out counts left, thereby meeting the requirement as a winning pitcher.
Keuchel threw 82 pitches until the fifth inning and left the mound. Four bullpen pitchers blocked the remaining four innings to maintain the 3-1 lead, and Keuchel won his first NPB victory.
Keuchel, who wore a Houston Astros uniform as the 221st overall pick in the seventh round of the 2009 MLB Rookie Draft, debuted in the big leagues in 2012 and played in the MLB stage until this year. In the 2015 season, he won the American League Cy Young Award with a special record of 20 wins and 8 losses with a 2.48 ERA, and even won the World Series title ring in 2017.
Keuchel, who showed off his brilliant career, including a five-time AL Gold Glove award and a two-time All-Star selection, has been reduced to a journeyman status after leaving Houston, going through the Atlanta Braves (2019), the Chicago White Sox (2020-2022), the Arizona Diamond and Texas Rangers (2022), the Minnesota Twins (2023), and the Milwaukee Brewers (2024).
Keuchel, who was released after recording a poor 5.40 ERA (10 runs in 16 ⅔ innings) in four games for Milwaukee this season, advanced to the Japanese stage with a 103-92 record and 4.04 ERA in 282 MLB games. 안전놀이터
Keuchel, whose contract with Chiba Lotte was reported on July 30, entered Japan on August 10 and played only his first bullpen pitching before making his NPB debut on the 17th. Despite the lack of time to prepare due to his busy schedule, Keuchel pitched five innings of three hits, three strikeouts, and two runs against the Softbank Hawks, considered the strongest NPB team this season, and received a passing score from the first game.
Since then, he has pitched well against the Orix Buffaloes (three hits and five strikeouts in seven innings) on Aug. 23 and the Seibu Lions (six hits and six strikeouts in five innings) on Aug. 29, but his luck did not follow. Keuchel, who has consistently shown good performances, finally enjoyed his first win in four games against Rakuten on Aug. 5.
According to the Japanese media Sports Hochi, Keuchel said, “Whether it’s MLB or Minor League, my first win is special. Today’s September 5 will be an unforgettable day.” “I will advance to the Climax Series and win the title,” he said in front of his fans.