Lotte's Shota Suzuki delivered a spectacular pitch in the game against Nippon-Ham on the 21st, leading to walk-off victory.

In the 10th inning of Game 3-3, when mound came up to bat, the leadoff hitter Yuya Gunji took a 2-strike count before swinging and missing at the third pitch—an inside 147 km/h fastball—resulting in a struck out.Next, against Ruan Ohtsuka, he struck him out swinging struck out on the fourth pitch—a 129-kilometer-per-hour outside pitch slider—after a 2-strike count. Finally, against Tatsuki Mizuno, he struck him out swinging struck out on the third pitch—a 150-kilometer-per-hour outside pitch —after a 2-strike count, thus retiring the Nippon-Ham lineup with three consecutive struck out.

Then, in the bottom of the inning, Kyota Fujiwara led off with a single to right Walk, and Shigeo Nishikawa drew a walk, putting runners on first and Misho Nishikawa. Koki Yamaguchi then hit a timely doble to right-center field for walk-off victory. Suzuki earned his sixth win of the season.

Just as he finished Gunji in the lead right-handed hitter on the inside and Mizuno at left-handed hitter on the struck out fastball of the outside course, this season his fastball in the right-handed hitter and left-handed hitter on the outside course have been outstanding. However, Suzuki himself looked cool, saying, "Isn't this normal?"

His left-handed hitter outside slider is excellent, such as getting Otsuka in the left-handed hitter out swinging struck out with a slider, and his slider Avg is .135 and 15 strike out closer. "Honestly, slider is still a long way to go. I don't think it's very good," he said, "He hasn't thrown any pitches that satisfy him." Still, he closer. Maybe this season his fastball is good enough to closer him—

"Yes, I can also throw a two-two seam fastball and fork, so I think that's a good factor."

◆ Individual titles are also visible.

Suzuki has 29 hold points, just one short of the league leader Ren Mukunoki (Orix Buffaloes) with 30, putting him in a position to potentially win the Best reliever pitcher.

When asked about individual titles, Suzuki frankly expressed his current feelings, saying, "Not everyone can win one, and I don't even know if I'll have a chance to pitch in one. For that to happen, the team has to win, so if I win a title, it will be when the team is winning. I would be happy if that happened as a result."

Winning a title adds prestige and leaves a lasting legacy. "Personally, winning that title after entering the professional world is my goal, so I think it will be a head-to-head battle with Mukunoki. But I'll try not to worry about it too much and just focus on closer the batter in front of me out."

He made six appearances in July and seven so far in August. He hadn't pitched on consecutive days since the games against Chunichi on June 11th and DeNA on June 12th, but he pitched on consecutive days for the first time in about two months in the game against Nippon-Ham on the 21st. "I can totally pitch on consecutive days. It's the end of the season so I can't say I can't pitch on consecutive days, so I'll pitch as much as it takes," he said confidently.

Lotte has 35 games remaining. They are 8.5 games behind third-place Nippon-Ham. Suzuki said, "I haven't given up yet, and I want to win as many games as possible, pitch as many games as possible, and contribute to those win." When Suzuki's hold increase, it means the team is getting closer to win. Suzuki is determined to pitch as much as he can in the remaining games in order to win his own individual title and help the team reach the Climax Series for the first time in two years.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita