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Game Report

First Batter Yanagita Bats In 4 Runs! Fulfilling Second Straight Victory with 14 Hits and 8 Runs

11/14/2014

The second game of the 2014 SUZUKI All-Star Series was relocated to Tokyo Dome. In sharp contrast with the pitching duel in the first match on the 12th, today's game developed into an exchange of points. But Samurai Japan won against the MLB All-Star Team 8 to 4, with the batting line demonstrating their connections with a total of 14 hits and 8 runs.

The MLB All-Stars' starting pitcher was Hisashi Iwakuma, who was returning to his home mound. Faced by Iwakuma's quick-playing type, having the third-least number of pitches per inning in the MLB, Samurai Japan found their way out through aggressive batting. In the second inning, with the score at 0 to 0, two outs and none on base, the seventh batter Nobuhiro Matsuda hit the first pitch to left, followed by Ginji (Tohoku Rakuten) hitting the first pitch, creating a chance with runners on first and third. Next, the ninth-batter Hikaru Ito (Orix), who played on the starting line for the first time today, took two balls before hitting a run-scoring hit in the hole, obtaining one run. Next, the first batter, Yuki Yanagita (Fukuoka SoftBank) also hit the first pitch, with a run-scoring triple over the center Fowler's head. They scored three runs, all on early counts with easy pitches.

The first batter, Yanagita, who had no hits in the first game, made run-scoring hits in the fourth and eighth inning as well, with a total of three hits and four runs batted in. As if being dragged along by the ""super"" aggressive Yanagita, who has a first strike swing rate of 60.7% (fourth in NPB), the team marked down their first double-digit hit count in the series.

The starting pitcher Chihiro Kaneko (Orix) bombarded the MLB All-Stars' batting line with pitches as calm as his regular season. He allowed two runs to the fifth batter Morneau in the bottom of the second, immediately after the backup runs, and gave up a run in the bottom of the third, but apart from these, he utilized his various signature breaking balls, throwing 67 pitches in five innings, and leaving the mound with three runs allowed. He seemed to prioritize balls, given that of the 20 batters that faced them, 10 of them were given balls on the first pitch, but by striking out five of the powerful batting line that was only struck out twice in the game of the twelfth, he amply demonstrated his skill as the pitcher with five wins this season.

2014 SUZUKI ALL-STAR SERIES

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