◆2025 Persol Climax Series first baseman First Stage Game 2 Nippon-Ham 5-4 Orix (12th, Escon F)
After getting the final hitter to ground out to second base, Nippon-Ham-Ham pitcher Yukiya Saito (30) proudly raised his right arm. Following on from Game 1, he recorded his second consecutive save. He pitched perfectly, striking out all three batters in both games, but laughed, "It was great. I don't care about the quality of pitch. The fact that we won is the best." He hadn't been able to establish himself as a closer during the season, but he has now secured his place on the CS stage.
His magic two seam fastball 159 km/h, two-seam, and 160 km/h, are proving to be effective on the big stage. The fastest pitch of the day was two seam fastball. In the first game, he reached 160 km two seam fastball with a two-seam, and combined it with fork, resulting in all outs being struck out or grounders infield. "Today, all two seam fastball were two-seam. It felt really good to pitch. The batters were probably hitting it as if it was a straight pitch," he said, nodding.
He has finally reached the "promised place." At last November's fan festival, manager Shinjo appointed him as a co-guardian angel with Tanaka. However, he didn't produce any results in early spring, and this season he has only three saves. The manager said, "Yukiya-kun was amazing. It was surprising (laughs). At last year's fan meeting, I was right to choose Tanaka-kun and Yukiya-kun as guardians. The fact that he has now seized that position is down to Saito-kun's daily efforts." He praised the right-handed pitcher, who has built up trust, including recording 21 consecutive runs games from July to September.
Having made it through the first series with consecutive wins, the team now heads to the enemy territory where they suffered three straight losses in the final series of last season. Saito said, "I'm going to get something I forgot, so I want everyone to get four wins and come back to ESCON." He has pitched seven times against Softbank this season without runs. The new guardian angel will take to mound with confidence and will be in full swing to defeat the champions. (Yamaguchi Yasushi)
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