Goodbye to Lotte Rakuten Pacific League Climax Series

Lotte defeated Rakuten 5-4 in the first round of the first stage of the climax series of professional baseball and the Pacific League, and took the lead in advancing to the final stage.

The Pacific League climax series began on the 6th at ZOZO Marine Stadium in Chiba City, where 2nd place Lotte and 3rd place Rakuten played against each other.

Lotte was a good pitcher who pitched up to 6 times, including 1 goal and 10 strikeouts, after pitcher Roki Sasaki, who started in the 2nd year, entered the pro in the first inning and marked his fastest 159km. The third pitcher, Yuki Karakawa, who went up to the mound in a pinch of the times, was struck out and was scored 4 to 3.

Even so, in the 8th inning, No. 5 Echebarrier, who participated in the middle of the game, hit a solo home run to catch up, and in the 9th inning, Toshiya Sato, a runner on second base, hit a timely and won the goodbye 5-4.

In Rakuten, starting pitcher Takahiro Norimoto scored 3 goals in the 4th inning.

No. 4 Hiroaki Shimauchi hit the game in a timely manner in the 7th inning, but the 6th pitcher Sung Chia-hao hit a painful hit in the 9th inning.

As a result, Lotte will make a check to advance to the final stage, and the advance will be decided by winning or drawing the second round on the 7th.

Lotte Sasaki plays the role of starting lineup

Lotte's second-year pitcher Roki Sasaki was unable to become a winning pitcher due to relief, but he played a good starting role.

Pitcher Sasaki made his debut this season and became a part of the rotation at the end of the season.

In the regular season, he pitched 11 games and had an ERA of 2.27 with 3 wins and 2 losses.

As far as pitching last month, he showed an outstanding sense of stability with an ERA of 0.47 in three games.

For this reason, coach Tadahito Iguchi also sent out to the important first match mound in the short-term decisive battle with the expectation that "the pitcher who was the most stable in the second half of the game will give momentum to the team."

In addition, Rakuten has started three games this season with no loss and an ERA of 1.35, which is an outstanding result.

Even so, in the interview the day before, he tightened his feelings, "I think that the opponent batter is accustomed to it because the number of matches is the largest, but I want to do my best so that I can attack myself firmly."

And at the mound on the 6th, the straightness of the characteristic was decided from the start.

Marked 159km, which is his fastest after entering the pro on the third ball to Rakuten's No. 2 and Takero Okajima.

No. 3 Hideto Asamura also missed a 159km straight and struck out.

He lost 1 point due to his own error in the 2nd inning, but 1 goal in the 6th inning.

Of the 10 strikeouts he stole, 7 deciding balls did not rely on fastballs and straights.

After pitching, pitcher Sasaki commented, "I got a point due to my mistake, but I was able to throw it with 3 points of support."

I showed on the mound how I grew up against Rakuten, which is a good match.

Rakuten Shimauchi demonstrates the strength of the game

At Rakuten, No. 4 Hiroaki Shimauchi, who won the RBI this season, showed his strength in the game and showed his main intention.

In this game, Lotte's starting pitcher, Roki Sasaki, hit 4 hits and 1 point in the game.

Even so, in the 7th inning to chase 2 points, he made a chance of bases loaded 2 out from the relief of Lotte who struggled with control, and Shimauchi caught the 144km of the first pitcher Yuki Karakawa and defeated the middle left, and the game at this point. Turned over.

Shimauchi has been in charge of No. 4 this season, his 10th year as a professional player, and has been pulling the batting line with tenacious batting that makes the best use of his batting eye.

In the regular season, he scored 96 RBIs and became his first RBI king, and home runs marked 21 RBIs, which is the largest number of RBI players in the team.

The batting average in the scoring position was also impressive, with a batting average of 30%, 2 minutes and 8 minutes, which was second in the league.

"I want the fielder to hit firmly even if I get a point. I want to hit one if I get a chance," said Shimauchi, who was talking about his enthusiasm for the climax series.

Although he tells Kazuhisa Ishii every day that he is not the type of 4th batter and "I don't want to hit 4th", he met the commander's expectations in a short-term decisive battle that was unfortunately defeated following the regular season. ..