CS final round》Central League winner Hanshin was pushed to the edge of the cliff and faced Yokohama ace Katsuki Higashi today
Quick Look
- The Hanshin Tigers have lost three games in a row against the Yokohama Bay Stars in the final round of the Central League playoff climax and have accumulated 27 scoreless innings.
- Today, starter Kotaro Otake will face Yokohama ace Katsuki Higashi.
- The team's line is in urgent need of main players such as Sato Teruaki and Morishita Shota to recover or center bats such as Nakano Takumu and Chichimoto Koji to step forward to break the scoring drought.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The Hanshin Tigers won the Central League championship and won one game in the first round of the climax. However, they were shutout against the Yokohama Bay Stars in three consecutive games, accumulating 27 scoreless innings, setting a tragic record in team history.
Hanshin Tiger. (File photo, AFP)
[Reporter Lin Youchen/Comprehensive Report] Hanshin, which won the Central League title and had the advantage of one win and a walk in the CS final round, faced Yokohama with three consecutive losses and had no retreat. It accumulated 27 games without scoring, setting a record for the first time in team history in the final round of a climactic game. The two sides met this afternoon. Hanshin won the match and faced Yokohama's ace Katsuki Higashikata.
Kotaro Otake will be the starter for Hanshin today. He played 18 games this season, pitched 101.2 innings, and scored 7 wins and 9 losses. Although he had more losses than wins, he still had good results with an ERA of 2.74 and a WHIP of 1.08.
Please read on...
Hanshin's batting line was shut out by Yokohama's pitching staff for three consecutive games. Teruaki Sato and Shota Morishita were absent from the starting lineup one after another. In the third game, they tried to adjust the order and arranged Masahiro Tateishi to serve as the first batsman and Koji Chichimoto to play the third batsman, but it still failed to work. Whether center hitters such as Nakano Takumu and Chichimoto can step forward will be the key to Hanshin's rebound.
Yokohama, who received a draw, sent ace Higashi Katsuki to start in this game. In the first game of the first round of the climactic series against the Giants, he led the team to victory with his tenacious pitching. Japanese media pointed out that Yusuke Oyama, who had two hits in three games this season, including a home run, will be someone to watch out for.
In terms of the Yokohama team's offensive line, the team's main gun Hidego Maki hit two home runs in the first round of the climax series. After entering the final round, he hit two more home runs in three games, and his hitting performance was quite good. Takaki Tokai, Eita Sano and others who were ranked before and after him also maintained their hot touch.
Open Questions
- Can Hanshin's line break the scoring drought in today's game?
- Can Kotaro Otake withstand Yokohama's ace Katsuki Higashi?
- How long will the absence of Teruaki Sato and Shota Morishita last?
