◇Tohoku Rakuten vs Saitama Seibu 25th round (4th, Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi)

Tohoku Rakuten 's Haruto Sakai pitcher pitched 5 innings in his first professional start, pitching 89 pitches hit 1 Walk 5 strike out 1 runs.

In the first inning, he was in a pinch with 2 outs on 1st and 2nd base in 2 hit, but he hit Takayoshi Yamamura player with a right-handed fly with 2 pitches. In the top of the second inning, he closer to a three-way retirement, but in the top of the third inning, Walk and hit allowed the first run with a timely infield hit by Seiya Watanabe players from first and third base with one out.

Still, in the bottom of the 3rd inning right after, when his teammates succeeded in reversing with Voight's timely doble, he went down closer and mound again in the 4th and 5th innings. The team then allowed Hijiri Watanabe to equalize, and although it was not his first professional win, he played a role as a starter.

Sakai pitcher, who joined Tohoku Rakuten with the second pick in the 2023 draft. Last season, on October 6, in the Orix game, he made his professional debut as a reliever and closer to runs despite being in a pinch bases loaded no outs.

◇Sakai pitcher Comment
"Before the mound, I talked with Coach Ishii about trying to drive the count as quickly as possible, and there were parts where I was able to do that, and there were parts where I couldn't do it and made my count worse, so I think it's a challenge for the future. However, it was good that I was able to go up to 5 innings with at least runs."

◇Sakai pitcher 's first record
First appearance: October 6, 2024 Game Orix
First start October 4, 2025 Saitama Seibu match

Text: Aoi Nishijima

・ Match details/video