◆ Pacific League Nippon-Ham 6-3 Orix Buffaloes (April 4th, ES CON FIELD)

Nippon-Ham won a come-from-behind victory over the Orix Buffaloes match (Escon) on the 4th, and won 3 consecutive wins for the first time this season. From the start of the opening three-game losing streak, the win rate was already 50%. Starter Kota Tatsu pitcher (22) threw 126 pitches in the middle of the sixth inning, going 9 hit 3 runs (2 earned). While reflecting on the fact that they were able to score two runs, such as being hit by Mune in the first inning, they gave a passing grade to the quality of the ball itself, raising expectations for the next pitch from the next inning.

The development was different from what they had expected, and they exuded frustration. In the first inning, he allowed Mune to take the lead with a solo shot from one out in the second runs. In the middle of the 6th inning, 9 hit 3 runs (2 earned) also looked back, saying, "The opponent pitcher was Kuri-san, so I stood on the mound with the feeling that if I scored one or two runs, it would be over, and it was like that for the first time, so I should reflect on the most important point today."

He recorded a 154 km/h fastball in his first inning, and used a variety of breaking ball to strike strike out. However, he allowed nine hit saying, "My pitches weren't bad, but I'm not at the level where I can say I'm throwing good pitches. I need to go one step further and throw good pitches to the right places, and that's a challenge I'm working on. It's a good sign in terms of my growth." He has taken his control issues head-on.

His ability to look objectively and analyze is supporting his growth. In his first start of the season on March 28 against Softbank Hawks Mizuho Peipay, he allowed a 5 runs KO in the middle of the 5th inning, allowing Kondo to hit a sweep comebacker with two outs bases loaded and was unstoppable after that. I thought afterwards that I wanted to go back to the bench as soon as possible. I don't think I'll make the same mistake next time. True to his word, he continued to pitch tenaciously after runs the game, and drew support from the batting lineup.

Manager Shinjo praised Tatsu's 126-pitch effort, saying, "It was good. It was a bit of a high pitch count, though. He said it was perfect game, but then he gave up home run right away, so it's all ruined (laughs). Let's look forward to it next time." He was referring to pitcher Haruki Hosono (24), who achieved the 91st no hitter in history and the 103rd overall in the March 31st game against Lotte (at Escon), and Tatsu's response of "He hasn't had perfect game yet, has he?", urging him to step up. "I wasn't tired at all. I was able to pitch without my velocity dropping that much, so I'll take that as a positive," Tatsu said. He will clear each challenge one by one and aim to secure his first win of the season next time. (Yasushi Yamaguchi)