The Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball's Iori Yamazaki (27) achieved a club-tying record of 28 consecutive scoreless innings.
On the 23rd, Yamazaki started in a game against the Chunichi Dragons at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, where he recorded 5 innings with 5 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts without allowing a run.
In the top of the first inning, after giving a walk to Shuhei Takahashi with two outs, Yamazaki also issued a walk to Seiya Hosokawa, creating a two-out, first-and-second base situation. However, he handled Sho Nakata with a ground ball to the third baseman, overcoming the scoring threat. He recorded three-up, three-down innings in the second and third innings.
However, he faced another crisis in the fourth inning. Yamazaki allowed a hit to lead-off batter Takahashi. Although he caught Hosokawa's fly ball to center field, he gave up consecutive hits to Nakata and Yutaro Itayama, leading to a one-out, bases loaded situation. Nevertheless, he managed to get Yuya Yanagi to ground into a ball to the pitcher, narrowly escaping the crisis.
The fifth inning wasn’t easy either. Yamazaki allowed a hit to lead-off batter Yasushiro Yamamoto, starting the inning with no outs and a runner on first. He caught Yuki Okabayashi’s fly ball to third base but struck out Jason Bosler, taking a sigh of relief. He allowed a hit to Takahashi but caught Hosokawa's fly ball to right field, finishing the inning without allowing a run.
Yamazaki recorded 103 pitches and handed the mound over to Hiromasa Funabashiyama in the sixth inning, with both teams tied at 0-0. The Giants won 2-0 after Taku Oshiromoto hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning.
Japanese media Daily Sports reported, "Yamazaki gave up two walks from the first inning, which may have made him overly cautious, creating his own crisis. He faced successive crises in the fourth and fifth innings. Nevertheless, he finished the inning without allowing a run and was taken out after 5 innings with no runs allowed, achieving a club-tying record along with Hisanori Takahashi with 28 consecutive scoreless innings since the opening."
Yomiuri's manager Shinnosuke Abe said, "I don't know what the club record is, but it seems like everyone became too cautious since you put pressure on them," adding, "I decided to replace him due to the number of pitches. He held up well, but he threw too many pitches. I'm glad that the pitchers who followed did their best to throw as well," praising the bullpen that secured a scoreless victory.
Yamazaki is a right-handed pitcher who has recorded 71 games (421⅔ innings) in Nippon Professional Baseball, with 28 wins, 16 losses, 1 hold, and an earned run average of 2.67. This season, he continues his record-breaking performance with 3 wins and an earned run average of 0.00 in 4 games (28 innings).
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