Major League Baseball's Padres pitcher Hiroki Matsui took the mound in a game against the South Korean national team held in Seoul, South Korea, pitching one inning and allowing no runs.
The Padres, who will play their opening series against the Dodgers in Seoul, South Korea on the 20th and 21st of this month, played an "exhibition match" against the South Korean national team on the 17th.
Pitcher Matsui took the mound as the fourth pitcher in the fifth inning with a one-run lead and hit the first batter with a second fly ball, but when he gave a walk to the second batter, he followed with a second pitch to the third batter. It was a wild pitch.
He was in a pinch with one out and second base, but pitcher Matsui grounded the batter out to the infield, and the next batter's good defense from right field prevented him from scoring as he hit a fly ball to the outfield.
Pitcher Matsui pitched 13 pitches in one inning with no hits, making it three consecutive games without a run, including the open game.
Pitcher Matsui said at the post-game press conference, ``I'm glad that I was able to play the game at the same time as the opening game, but there were times when the ball floated, so I want to reflect on this.It's not the time to make any adjustments, so I'm going to make sure to do my best. I want to be able to compete with batters,'' he said, expressing his enthusiasm for the season's opening.
Regarding the possibility of facing the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, he said, ``It's been a long time since we've played against each other, so I'm starting to collect data. I want to do my best to suppress him.''