◇ Hokkaido Nippon-Ham vs. Saitama Seibu Lions Game 18 (11th · ES CON FIELD)

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham 's Hiromi Ito pitcher delivered a stellar pitching performance over 7.1 innings, throwing 124 pitches with 3 hit, 4 Walk, 10 strike out, and 1 runs (earned runs 0). He staged a fierce battle against the opposing starter, Kaima Taira pitcher pitcher.

Ito pitcher, who had a .280 batting average against left-handed pitchers Avg (as of before the game). Even so, he delivered a commanding performance pitch against Saitama Seibu Lions, which fielded six left-handed batters left-handed hitter. In the top of the third inning, he recorded three consecutive struck out, and he recorded strike out in every inning through the fifth. In the top of the sixth inning, thanks to a great play by second baseman and Ryohei Hosokawa thanks in part to some great plays by the fielders, the game entered the late innings with no hit pitch.

In the top of the seventh inning, when he gave up his first hit, he found himself in a jam with one out and runners on first and second, but in the end, Kazunari Ishii the players, Takeya Nakamura struck out, preventing the opponent from taking the lead. In the top of the 8th inning, the leadoff batter hit reached base—partly due to a defensive error—putting a runner on third with one out. Although he was removed from the game after giving up an RBI hit, the crowd erupted in applause for the ace’s strong performance. Notably, he has achieved a quality start (QS) in all six games this season against Saitama Seibu Lions.

Text by Aoi Yokoyama