2021-07-01 Takeshi Miyamoto hitting back a 160km/h pitch and how you can't get a top ace without winning the lottery #073

A dramatic comeback victory! And on top of that, Shiminobo gets his first win in his 100th game! How wonderful!

There is a lot to talk about regarding this game, but let's start with the comeback in the 9th inning.

Suarez had been undefeated with 23 saves up to this point, but this was his third consecutive day pitching. Yakult had a good batting order coming up, starting with Aoki in the 2nd spot. The conditions for scoring runs were all set.

Even so, reaching the bottom of the orderto get 6 consecutive hits with 2 outs was truly, truly impressive. Looking at it from another angle, you could see it as the pendulum swinging back from the 7 consecutive singles Taguchi gave up two days ago.After all, baseball is a sport that involves a fair amount of luck.

Still, what moved me was Miyamoto's at-bat. Though, I suppose I have to look at Kawabata's at-bat before that.

A high-stakes situation with two outs and runners on first and second. While he was pushed into a corner with two fastballs, he was able to perfectly lay off the changeup. He hung in there against the fastballs, and in the end, the opponent gave up and threw a wild pitch.

I think this made it easier for Miyamoto to narrow down which pitches to look for based on the outcome of Kawabata's at-bat.

From the opponent's perspective, using two fastballs to get ahead in the count is naturally part of the plan. I don't think a Japanese pinch hitter can easily hit back a 160km/h fastball, unlike other pitchers.That is exactly why Takeshi Miyamoto's hit was so valuable.Moreover, hitting it to the opposite field without putting too much angle on it was masterful. It's like the hit-making machine from Nara is right here.

Nakamura and Shiohi followed, scoring 5 runs in one go. It was the hit that decided the game.

And I have to talk about the other hero, the starting pitcher Okugawa.
Today was another day of energy-efficient pitching with a low pitch count. When the starter hasn't been able to build the game like this, there's usually a lot of idle chatter during the stream, but today there was a lot of idle chatter for a different reason.He was just too good, so there was nothing to talk about. He only threw 57 pitches through 5 innings, after all.It was a low-scoring game because the opposing pitcher, Gunkel, was also good. He pitched with such dignity, completely unfazed by the rain.It really makes you realize how important it is to win the draft lottery for a highly contested player.Although, I had missed out on the first-round lottery 5 or 6 times just for starting pitchers before I finally landed him. What surprised me was Umeno's at-bat in the 4th inning, I think. Against the right-handed Umeno, I thought it was an inside slider, but it curved sharply and went outside. Umeno flinched, you know. That's how much it was curving.

Even though he gave up a home run on an inside slider to that same Umeno, he still pitched 7 innings and allowed only 1 run today. The only real pinch was in the 7th inning with a runner on second, but

he gathered his pitches low to get ahead in the count, and in the end, he properly threw the pitch he needed to drop to finish it off. How wonderful it is to have a pitcher who can properly do what needs to be done. There is probably one more game left in the first half of the season. In the second half, we will be able to see the real Okugawa, who can even look forward to complete games.