Professional baseball Central League Hanshin advances to the final stage

In the 3rd round of the first stage of the climax series of professional baseball and the Central League, 3rd place Hanshin defeated 2nd place DeNA 3 to 2 and decided to advance to the final stage for the first time in 3 years with a match record of 2 wins and 1 loss. .

In the first stage of the Central League Climax Series held at Yokohama Stadium, Hanshin, who ranked 3rd in the regular season, and DeNA, who ranked 2nd in the regular season, played against each other. rice field.

In the 4th inning, with a score of 0 to 2, Hanshin returned one point with a solo home run by No. 6 Teruaki Sato.

Furthermore, in the 6th inning, No. 3 Koji Chikamoto hit a timely two-base hit to tie the score, and No. 5 Fumihito Haraguchi scored a timely hit to win the game.

In the middle of the 6th inning, Junya Nishi, who pitched as the 4th pitcher in the middle of the 6th inning, showed a good pitch, and in the 8th inning, he switched to the fifth pitcher, Kyo Yuasa, and did not allow DeNA to score. did.

Pitcher Yuasa went up to the mound in the ninth inning and invited a pinch with one out and the bases loaded, but in the end, Hanshin survived with a double play, winning 3-2 against DeNA and making the match record 2 wins and 1 loss, the final for the first time in 3 years. I decided to advance to the stage.

Hanshin will face league champion Yakult in the final stage starting on the 12th at Jingu Stadium.

DeNA took the lead by two points, including a solo home run by No. 5 Toshiro Miyazaki, but in the 6th inning, starting pitcher Haruhiro Hamaguchi and second pitcher Daisei Irie were hit and the game was reversed.

In the 9th inning, when the batting line was chasing a run, the batting line showed tenacity and created a chance for a one-out bases loaded, but pinch hitter Kazuya Fujita fell on a double play and lost the auction.

Hanshin's determination to win through pitching and batting

Hanshin advanced to the climax series first stage by slipping into 3rd place despite suffering 9 consecutive losses from the opening.

With the tenacity of the batting lineup and succession pitching that was particular about winning, they won the short-term decisive battle.

This season, Hanshin struggled in the early stages of the season, losing 9 straight games from the start of the season, with attacks that didn't produce one more chance and relief teams conceding goals towards the end of the match.

Despite this, they showed their tenacity in the final stages of the regular season, winning a tough battle to finish in 3rd place.

And even in the battle in the first stage of the climax series, the tenacity to win was seen.

In the first game, DeNA's starting pitcher, Shota Imanaga, Hanshin's No. 1 player, Takumu Nakano, said, "It's a short-term decisive battle, so I wanted to put a heavy burden on the opponent by throwing a lot of pitches." In one turn at bat, I identified the 4-ball sticky ball with a two-strike, two-ball, and a foul.

Nakano got an infield hit in the second at-bat of the 3rd inning.

In the 5th inning, he made a chance by hitting the center.

Of the 87 pitches Imanaga threw in this game, Nakano threw 20 in just three at-bats.

In the fifth inning, Marte, who was used as a pinch hitter when he had a chance to hit first base and second base, was driven into a two-strike, and after seeing four consecutive low balls, he chose a four-ball to widen his chances. connected to a preemptive timely hit.

The tenacity of the Hanshin batting line, which makes sure of the ball even when cornered and fouls on critical courses, led to Imanaga's capture.

On the other hand, even when pitchers were appointed, there were succession pitchers who were particular about winning only in short-term decisive battles.

In the first round, Hanshin, who led by two points, sent pitcher Kyomi Yuasa to the mound instead of pitcher Yu Iwasaki in a pinch with two outs on first base and second base in the eighth inning.

Pitcher Yuasa struck out DeNA No. 4, Shugo Maki, and got out of the pinch.

During the season, Yuasa was mainly fixed as a set upper who pitched 8 innings, and also won the title of best middleman.

On the other hand, Hanshin was unable to fix down pitchers throughout the season with pitchers Keller and Iwasaki from the opening.

It was a short-term decisive game that ended with a loss, and Manager Yano entrusted the most reliable pitcher to close the game.

After losing the second game, the only chance to advance was to win the third game.

Even so, when the score was tied in the sixth inning, Fumihito Haraguchi, who entered fifth from the end of the season in the scene of a chance, hit a timely hit and won.

Haraguchi said, "I stood at bat with a strong desire to take the chance."

The scoring range batting average after September is 50%.

He showed his competitive strength in this match as well.

Hanshin showed their tenacity from the end of the season even in the short-term decisive battle.

We will challenge the final stage with Yakult, who won the league, with the same momentum.

DeNA loses because useful data management does not work

DeNA was defeated by Hanshin in the third round of the first stage of the Climax Series.

Even so, in the regular season, the reason why they moved from the bottom to the second place last season was the construction of tactics incorporating data and the growth of young players.

DeNA manager Daisuke Miura made it clear before the start of this season that Shugo Maki, who is in his second year, will be the 4th.

This is because he wanted Maki, who has strong data in scoring positions, to return the runner.

For that reason, the number 1 to 3 hitters in front of Maki were selected as batters with a high probability of reaching the base, and in the interleague game, Keita Sano, who has a high batting average, was appointed as the number 1 hitter. .

As a result, Maki earned a career-high 87 RBIs, which tied for second place in the league, and succeeded in improving his scoring power in the critical moments, which also contributed to Maki's growth.

In addition, in rearranging the batting lineup, based on data such as match results and compatibility, we took a bold strategy such as removing Toshiro MIYAZAKI and Soto, who were entrusted with the central axis, from the starting line-up.

As a result, we beat the Hanshin Tigers and the Giants, who had lost to us last season, and Chunichi, with a record of 18 wins and 6 losses.

On the other hand, for the pitchers, the eighth-year pitcher Yasuaki Yamazaki, who had been out of control for the past two years, was placed in the final inning, so the relief team who pitched in front of him stabilized, and the game progressed calmly at the end of the game. It is now possible.

Among them, Daimu Ise, who is in his third year, and Daiki Irie, who is in his second year, gained experience and confidence by letting them pitch regardless of the point difference in the early stages of the season, and Ise pitched in 71 games, the most in the league. In addition to marking an ERA of 1.72, pitcher Irie also threw in 57 games to support the team.

Despite failing to win the league championship due to their good pitching and hitting, DeNA came back from last season to 2nd place.

However, in the climax series, the data that was useful for planning tactics in the regular season did not work.

In the first game, Hanshin starter Teruhiro Aoyagi is batted to the left this season, compared to 20%, 4 minutes and 1 minute for left-handed batters and 10%, 6 minutes and 3 minutes for right-handed batters. Toshiro Miyazaki and Soto have been removed from the starting lineup, and Kazuki Kamisato, who has a match record of 30% against Aoyagi, and 40-year-old Kazuya Fujita, who has only played one game this season. 5 left batter, such as players, have been incorporated into the batting line.

However, before Aoyagi's pitching that carefully hits both corners using a slider-type ball that bites into the in-course and a two-seam that escapes to the out-course, he was not allowed to swing satisfactorily, and was suppressed to 4 hits. I was born.

He won the second game, and in the third game, he started in four games against the Hanshin Tigers this season, and pitched pitcher Haruhiro Hamaguchi, who has a good ERA of 1.82.

However, pitcher Hamaguchi entered the ball sweetly in the 6th inning with a 1-point lead, and in the scene of no-out second base, he allowed No. 3 Chikamoto to tie the score in a timely two-base hit and left the mound.

In addition, the second pitcher, Daisei Irie, who pitched in 10 games this season with an ERA of 0.84, was beaten by No. 5 Fumihito Haraguchi with a timely hit.

Coach Miura used the data he had accumulated during the regular season to direct the team, but the players were unable to perform as expected in the difficult situation of a short-term decisive battle, and the team failed to advance to the final stage.