Yakult Swallows’ “1m67” left-hander Masanori Ishikawa, 43, earned his 185th career win. Starting against the Seibu Lions in an interleague game on Tuesday, Ishikawa pitched a three-hit shutout until the bottom of the sixth inning. Faced 20 batters, allowing one walk and striking out two. With 74 pitches, he has two wins in six games this season. He picked up his first win on May 10 against the Hanshin Tigers and added a victory a month later.
Born in January 1980, Ishikawa is the oldest player in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) at 22 years old. From 2002 to this year, he had a 22-year winning streak. With 15 more wins, he will reach 200 career wins.
With the win, he became the all-time winningest pitcher in interleague play with 28 wins. The day before (Sept. 9), SoftBank Hawks left-hander Soyoshi Wada (42) picked up his 27th win in interleague play against the Yomiuri Giants, regaining the top spot a day later.
After retiring the first three batters in order in the first inning, he gave up a double to left field to No. 4 hitter Gent Watanabe. It was a 109-mile-per-hour changeup high in the strike zone.
Catcher Nakamura celebrates his game-winning hit in the fourth inning against Seibu on Tuesday. Photo credit: Yakult Swallows SNS
He struck out the next batter, Seiji Kawagoe, to give himself a breather, then caught Watanabe trying to steal second and walked Shinya Hasegawa. He then got Shota Hiranuma to ground out to the first baseman to get out of the inning.토토사이트
From there, he cruised through the game. He retired the side in order in the third and fourth innings, then gave up a leadoff double in the fifth, but retired the next batter. In the bottom of the sixth, he gave up a single to left to Shuta Donosaki and left the game with a 1-0 lead.
With the 1-0 lead intact, Yakult made it 2-0 in the top of the ninth when Tetsuto Yamada singled up the middle with runners on first and second.
There are a lot of hard-throwing pitchers in the mid-to-high 150 mph range. But pitchers with fastballs in the low 130 mph range are alive and well. Ishikawa uses a mix of sinkers, sliders, cut fastballs, curves, and forks to throw hitters off their timing. The veteran has the polish of a veteran.
Aoki’s two-run homer in the first inning of the interleague game against Rakuten on March 3. Photo credit: Yakult Swallows SNS
No pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball has won 200 career games since Masahiro Yamamoto (Junichi) in 2008.
While Ishikawa pitched well, 41-year-old veteran outfielder Norichika Aoki helped the senior. The No. 5 outfielder slid and caught a line drive to left field hit by No. 1 Sosuke Genda in the first inning. .
In the top of the fourth inning, with the score tied at 0-0, she drew a two-out walk. After a seven-pitch at-bat, he scored the winning run when the next batter singled. “Like Ishikawa, Aoki has an extraordinary presence,” Takatsu Shingo Yakult said.
Born in January 1982, Aoki is the most veteran player in Nippon Professional Baseball. The oldest pitcher at 43 and the oldest catcher at 41 led the team to victory. Yakult, which is looking to win the Central League title for the third consecutive year, has “broken through.