Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 525 - 112: Perfect Script (Part 2)
The direct confrontation between the two ace pitchers naturally made the batters of both teams suffer:
In the first three innings of this game, the home team’s SoftBank batters only managed to hit two singles off Kaneko Chiharu in the bottom of the third inning, followed by small-ball tactics advancing to third base, but their offense was stalled, leaving stranded runners helplessly;
The Orix batters fared even worse, managing just one hit in three innings, apart from reaching second base once via a sacrifice bunt, none of the other batters even saw the bases.
This situation continued, and even by the end of the seventh inning, no one could break the deadlock on the field.
The ones who couldn’t sit still first were the managers of both sides.
Over these past seven innings, Lin Guanglai had thrown around 110 pitches, while Orix’s Kaneko Chiharu’s pitch count had reached as high as 122.
Neither Akiyama Koji nor Moriwaki Koji dared to let their ace risk further, so they both chose to bring in setup pitchers in the eighth inning and began warming up their closers.
And such a moment is often when the game is most susceptible to changes, and it’s also a test of a team’s star power — Akiyama Koji had ample confidence in this regard.
Facing Orix’s setup pitcher Maestros, SoftBank’s response was quick:
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Nakagawa Seiichi, as the leadoff batter, sent the ball soaring to the Left Fielder with a 2-1 count, igniting the entire Yahoo Dome with a solo homer and fired up the passion in the hearts of all SoftBank players.
For other teams, a 1-run lead might not be secure, but for the current SoftBank Team, it was absolutely enough because they had the best closer in the Pacific League:
Amidst a strong electronic beat, Dennis Sarfate, the super closer who had already achieved 38 saves this season, once again took the mound with the team in a narrow lead.
Though this time, Sarfate didn’t end the game with his usual dominant strikeouts, the result was still the same: a groundout to the shortstop, a flyball to the Left Fielder, and another groundout to the shortstop, stress-free, three outs.
Another crucial victory was in hand; and it was exactly this victory that instantly lowered the number of necessary wins for SoftBank Team to become the season champion by two.
During the post-game thanks session, Akiyama Koji noticed the unmistakable fatigue on the faces of Orix players — as he had said before, no one can maintain tension throughout an entire season, and since Orix chose to race ahead in the first half of the season, they must naturally endure the possible ups and downs in the second half - it’s an objective law that’s hard to defy.
Now, it’s SoftBank Team’s time to harvest the results of a whole season!
Winning the first two head-to-head encounters, SoftBank Team effectively secured victory in this series; but for players aiming to lock in the win as early as possible, every game against Orix is crucial.
In this game, Orix, with starting pitcher Yuuki’s outstanding performance, maintained control on the field, with steady defense and organized offense, they opened the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring 3 runs off SoftBank’s starting pitcher Takeda Shouta, securing an early lead.
The dull situation persisted through the end of six innings without change; the continuous trailing of the home team left the tens of thousands of spectators at Fukuoka Dome feeling somewhat stifled. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
However, the break in the stalemate came from an unexpected impact.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, SoftBank Team took the initiative: leadoff batter Imamiya Kenta drew a walk and reached first base.
Facing Yuuki, whose pitching seemed to begin to decline, this game’s third batter Yanagida Yuuki used a powerful double to Central Field to sound the attack horn, changing the situation on the field to runners on first and third base.
Then, Lee Dae-ho, who was in hot form this season with 25 homers already, didn’t miss a misplaced inside slider from the opponent, driving the ball to the Right Fielder stands with a two-run homer, instantly igniting the enthusiasm in Yahoo Dome, knocking the fatigued Yuuki off the mound and tying the game score.
Just as the audience in the venue and in front of the TV thought that this game would plunge into a stalemate again, the SoftBank lineup in the bottom of the eighth inning showed all Japan’s professional baseball fans why they are the most feared presence in the entire Pacific League.
Facing the Orix reliever Antian Hu, SoftBank batters patiently selected pitches and, through walks and hits, loaded the bases.
In this critical moment, team leader and veteran Matsuda Naohiro stepped up and hit a deep, bases-clearing double to Central Field, sending three base runners home.
Immediately, Nagatagawa Yuuya added another RBI single.
At the very beginning of this half-inning, SoftBank Team scored 4 runs in one go, changing the score to 7:3, regaining solid control over the game.
But clearly, for these players who were on a roll, a 4-run lead wasn’t enough to stop them: the lower order once again used a barrage of intense hits to create chaos in Orix’s defense, adding another 3 runs in the inning, including a two-run double by Nakamura Akira down the third baseline.
At this point, the score had been extended to 10:3 by SoftBank Team, and the suspense of the game was utterly killed — in the first series of early September, SoftBank Team completed another sweep over their direct competitors, the Orix Buffaloes, and seized the opportunity to continuously expand their lead.
From the current results, it’s highly likely that SoftBank Team’s return to championship glory after a 3-year hiatus is just a matter of time!
Before SoftBank’s home game against Seibu Lions began, Akiyama Koji held a coaching staff meeting, carefully arranging the processes for the upcoming sprint stage — the closer to such critical moments, the less one can afford to be careless; if the spirit relaxes too quickly, the team might unravel before the climax match starts.
"Manager, I’ve reviewed the data team’s analysis of the upcoming schedule..." said Ogawa Shu, sitting next to Akiyama Koji in the meeting, "if we win 7 or more of the next 9 games, and Orix loses 6 or more at the same time, we could lock in the victory as early as in the Kyocera Dome series against them!"
Upon hearing Ogawa Shu’s hypothesis, Akiyama Koji simply smiled and didn’t take it seriously: his idea was good, but in the end, it was too idealistic; rather than praying for others to lose, it was better to find ways to win more games themselves.
But what Akiyama Koji didn’t expect was, as the schedule unfolded day by day, Ogawa Shu’s seemingly fanciful scenario was gradually becoming a reality:
In the series at home against Seibu Lions, SoftBank Team achieved a 3-game sweep, maintaining strong leadership; while Orix, visiting Sapporo, recorded 1 win and 2 losses, further widening the gap between the two teams.
In the subsequent second series, SoftBank took 2 victories from Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters; and to everyone’s surprise, Orix, at home, stumbled big against the league-bottom Rakuten, if not for Kaneko Chiharu’s 125-pitch complete game in the last game, they might not have secured a single victory.
In the final series before the showdown at Kyocera Dome, SoftBank swept the Lotte at home with three wins, while the crumbling Orix completely fell apart, unable to find their way against Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, suffering 3 straight losses.
As this stretch of nine games ended, the situation in the entire Pacific League instantly became delicate:
As of now, the SoftBank Team stands at 83 wins, 44 losses, and 5 draws, with 12 games remaining;
The Orix Team has 69 wins, 55 losses, and 1 draw, with 19 games remaining.
And the magic number that had been lit for almost half a month had now come to —
M=6.
This signifies something very crucial: in the upcoming series of three games held at Orix’s home Kyocera Dome, each victory by the SoftBank Team will reduce this number by 2, and if they can achieve a 3-game sweep on the road...
Then the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks would be the 2014 Pacific League champions!
The perfect script was already written by an invisible hand; now, it was just waiting for the curtain to rise and the actors to take the stage.
