Game Report
Otani Shows His Skill but Allows Two Points, Batting Line Cannot Provide Support, Second Straight Loss
11/18/2014
It was the fifth game of the 2014 SUZUKI All-Star Series. This game, in which the players relocated to Sapporo Dome after a day's rest, ended with the MLB All-Star Team's three-to-one victory.
Samurai Japan's starting pitcher was Shohei Otani (Hokkaido Nippon Ham), who took the mound after a five days' rest since his relief pitching in the first game. In the first inning, he allowed a hit from the first batter Altuve right off the bat, but then recovered excellently by striking out the second batter Puig, the third batter Morneau, and the fourth batter Longoria in succession. Like his previous pitching, most of his fastballs were clocked in at over 150 km/h (only one pitch was under 150 km/h). Though he allowed a runner, he showed the MLB batting lineup the unyielding strength of his pitching velocity, with his average velocity of 152.4 km/h (1st place in NPB).
However, he had a problem with control from the second inning on. In the second inning, he walked the first batter Santana. He managed to only face three batters this inning, but in the third inning, the eighth batter Duda hit the ball to the power alley after two balls, and the ninth batter Escobar hit the ball to short right field, resulting in no outs and a runner on first and third. Then, his first pitch to the first batter Altuve went high and inside, and was missed by the catcher Motohiro Shima (Tohoku Rakuten), allowing the third-base runner to cross the plate, and a second point was allowed during an infield grounder. This inning alone required a total of 30 pitches. He then allowed two hits in the fourth round, and ended up allowing runners in every inning. In the end, Otani pitched 68 times in four innings, and left the mound with six hits allowed, seven strikeouts, and two runs allowed.
Meanwhile, the batting lineup that only scored one run in game 4 formed the same cleanup as games 1 and 2, with Yoshio Itoi (Orix) as third batter, and designated batter Seiichi Uchikawa (Fukuoka SoftBank) as fifth batter, but they were kept to four scatter hits. While they barely avoided a shutout, this was the first time in five games since the exhibition game with the joint team of Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks/Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters that they made no consecutive hits. Furthermore, this was the third straight game that they lost the first point. A future issue for Samurai Japan's top team will be how they can come back from behind.
2014 SUZUKI ALL-STAR SERIES
