adminYoshinobu Yamamoto of the Orix Buffaloes is cruising to his third straight four-win season.
Yamamoto started the game against Chiba Lotte at ZOZO Marine Stadium in Chiba, Japan, on Aug. 8 and pitched seven innings of four-hit ball, striking out four and walking none to earn the win. The Oryx won 2-0.
Yamamoto improved to 11-4 on the season. The most in either league. Moved to within two wins of the Pacific League’s second-best win total (9). Lowered his ERA to 1.57 with his second straight seven-inning shutout. Moved away from second-place Takahashi (Seibu, 1.98 ERA).
He leads the league in wins, ERA, and winning percentage. He has 118 strikeouts and is closing the gap on Roki Sasaki (Chiba Lotte, 130 strikeouts), who has been sidelined with an oblique injury. She is on track for her third consecutive four-peat.
In the top of the first inning, the Oryx took the lead when top hitter Ryo Ota led off with a double to left field and scored two batters later on Keita Nakagawa’s double up the middle.
With a one-run lead, Yamamoto started the bottom of the first with a grounder to first, a strikeout and a grounder to second. Two batters later, he allowed the first run to reach on a walk, but a swinging strikeout ended the inning.
The Oryx took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Tomoya Mori hit a triple to center field with runners on first and second. Yamamoto gave up the first run of the game two batters later in the inning on a single to right field, but continued to work out of the jam.
With a 2-0 lead, the fifth inning was a crunch time. Two hits in the bottom of the order put runners on first and third with no outs. Chiba Lotte’s top hitter, Takashi Ogino, hit Yamamoto’s first-pitch forkball for a line drive,
third baseman Yuma Mune made the catch. The runner from third, who had a long lead, was unable to make it home, and the inning ended on a double play. “I was lucky,” Yamamoto said after the game. I’m thankful for my defense,” Yamamoto said after the game.
After getting out of the jam, Yamamoto pitched a scoreless sixth inning with only one walk and a strikeout in the seventh.바카라사이트
“I’m very happy (with the 11th win). I wanted to pitch well to get the lead in the first inning and protect it in any way I could. I had a little bit of a crisis in the middle, but I was able to get a no-hitter with the help of my defense. The team is in the lead right now, so I think it will be good for us to take valuable games one by one,” Yamamoto said.
The Oryx are on a three-game winning streak and have 58 wins, two draws and 37 losses. They have extended their lead over second-place Chiba Lotte to a season-high six games.