Sasaki Loki (Chiba Lotte) pitched perfectly until the 4th inning, and once again threw a 165km fastball in the 5th inning. Although he did give up runs, since the blistering injury he pitched his first 7 reverse innings and completed the task. However, he said that he was not in good shape.
On the 11th, Sasaki started in the match against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, a Nippon Professional Baseball exchange match held at Jozomarin Stadium in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, and came off the mound after a quality start plus fight with 5 hits, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts and 2 runs in 7 innings. The team won 6-5 thanks to Sashiki’s counterattack and Yamaguchi Koki’s cap. 메이저사이트
On this day, Sasaki threw 165 km, the highest speed in Japanese professional baseball, and pitched with all his might. 165km was previously recorded by Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels) during Nippon Ham days, and Sasaki also sprayed 165km 4 times in a match against the Orix Buffaloes on April 28th.
On this day, Sasaki got off to a good start in the first inning when Ryoma Nishikawa was dealt with a foul fly by the second baseman, Takayoshi Noma struck out on three pitches, and Shogo Akiyama was dealt with a grounder by the second baseman.
In the second inning, he struck out Ryuhei Matsuyama and turned Shogo Sakakura on a grounder to shortstop. And he struck out with a 163 km fastball against Kosuke Tanaka on a 2-ball, 2-strike.
In the third inning, lead hitters Yuya Nirasawa threw a fly ball to center fielder, Davidson threw a ground ball to shortstop, and even Ryutaro Hatsuki threw a ground ball by second baseman. Until the batting order turned around, Sasaki continued his perfect march.
The 1st batting order came back in the 4th inning. He struck out Nishikawa with a ground ball from third base, Norma a fly ball from shortstop, and a 161km fastball against Akiyama.
Sasaki’s perfect streak ended in the 5th inning, leading to another run. Leading batter Matsuyama gave the shortstop infield hit and allowed his first on base. At first base, Sakakura struck out with a 160km fastball, but Tanaka walked and faced a crisis with 1 out and 1st and 2nd base. Nirasawa took a breather by striking out with a 163km fastball and a 145km forkball. 2 companies 1st and 2nd base.
However, Davidson got a heavy hit and the bases were loaded with two outs, and he threw 165km against Hatsuki, throwing all his might. From Sasaki’s point of view, it was a loss that could not but be regretted. However, in the continued 2nd and 1st and 2nd bases, Nishikawa was treated as a floating ball in right field, ending the inning without any additional runs.
After that, Sasaki awakened again. He struck out Norma in the 6th inning. Akiyama struck out, but made it to first base with a knockout. Matsuyama was set up as a floating ball in center field, but Sakakura hit right hand and was again in danger with 2nd out and 1st and 3rd base. However, he overcame the crisis by throwing an outside 145km forkball against Tanaka and eliminating looking strikeouts.
The number of pitches has already reached 95. However, Sasaki took the mound again in the seventh inning. Sasaki struck out Nirasawa, the lead batter in the 7th inning. He gave up a heavy hit to Davidson again, but induced Hatsuki to ground to second base to catch the lead runner, and caught Nishikawa again to ground to second base, completing a quality start plus pitching.
‘Sponichi Annex’ posted Sasaki’s interview with Ground Hero after the match. Sasaki said, “I thought there would be a lot of spectators due to the rain forecast, but it’s fortunate that it sold out.”
Sasaki, who had already thrown 95 balls by the 6th inning, explained the reason for taking the mound in the 7th inning, saying, “I narrowed the score gap, so I wanted to somehow throw a long inning and take responsibility for the back.”
However, about throwing the personal best speed of 165 km that day, “Well… I wasn’t feeling very well today,” he said with a shy smile.