◆Pitch inning

"I wanted to throw a long inning, but the sixth inning was a mountain for me, and being able to closer that was a little bit of a plus for me. I think closer was a big deal."

On August 19th, in a game Rakuten, Lotte's Yuto Kimura overcame a 3-2 sixth inning crisis with runners on first and second base and no runs, pitching the entire sixth inning without giving up a run.

Kimura started the seventh inning Seibu on August 2nd, with the score at 3-2. Walk, who was the first batter, and then sent to Sosuke Genda. He got two outs on a first baseman to third base by Yuto Koga Natsuo Takizawa, but allowed runs when Kiyoshi Kyuto Ueda. He allowed Takizawa to stolen base, and then allowed an RBI hit to Aiya Manaya Nishikawa before being taken out of the game. He was unable to pitch the entire seventh inning, and expressed regret, saying, "I made some runs in the seventh inning, but more than that, I walked walk hitter, which led to the run. I need to reflect on that."

In the previous Rakuten game, he was carried Walk to the lead void in the 6th inning of 3-2, and center fielder to the Fumiya Kurokawa, causing a pinch with no outs on first and second base, but Franco swung struck out with 138 kg splitter on the 5th pitch from 2 balls and 2 strike, and Rui Muneyama 130 kg on the 2nd pitch from the 1st ball to 130 km change-up and flew right. With two outs and one out, Gonzalez threw Gonzalez from one ball at third base with a 147 kg fastball on the second pitch and hit it to the right, putting 0 on the scoreboard.

He pitched a solid inning and passed the baton to the relief pitchers.

◆ Inside pitch for right-handed hitter

The Rakuten game he pitched last time was a mound with the wind unique to his home base, Zozo Marine Stadium. "I was able to throw without much awareness, and I felt that the ball was a little bit of a shot, but it didn't affect the pitch, and the curve was more curved than usual due to the wind more than I expected. I felt that it was difficult to control, but I think it was good that the change-up worked."

I liked the first inning 0-0, the first inning one out runner without Itsuki Murabayashi, the first inning one ball two strike to the swinging struck out, the in-course 149 km fastball, and the "in-course right-handed hitter" fastball.

"Just going to the in-course one pitch completely changes the way the batter looks, and I think I was waiting for a fork or something after marking the breaking ball, but I was able to go straight in-course and the rest of the pitch became very easy, so I think that one pitch was really big."

He threw a great fastball into the in-course of the right-handed hitter at the start, but in the third inning, 12 out of 15 pitches were breaking ball, a breaking ball-dominated pitch. "I wanted to bring a straight ball to the winning ball, and the way I count breaking ball look straight changes completely by going to the breaking ball.

In the fourth and fifth innings, he again threw all of his pitches evenly, closer all three batters. "Things didn't always go as planned, but I'm trying to closer three outs every inning, and rhythm is one of my strengths, so I want to keep that up."

◆ Pitching interval

After the All-Star break, he will be on mound on August 2nd, August 19th, and tonight's game against Nippon-Ham, with some time between appearances.

"I've gotten used to the gaps in my innings, and it doesn't bother me that much, so I'm catching up on my recovery, and I have a ton of time to look at the opposing batters' data, so I'm trying to think of that as a positive and pitch calmly.I've had three disappointing games in a row, so I'd like to pitch well enough to put an end to that."

Although there is a gap between his appearances, he is preparing to pitch every six days. "I go into bullpen every six days to increase the number of pitches I throw and take other measures, so it doesn't feel like a burden at all, and in fact I'm pitching as if I want to pitch."

Tonight, for the third time since the All-Star break, he will take to mound aiming for his second win as a starter.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita