Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 386 - 35: Walk-Off Hit

"Change the pitcher!"

Outside the home team’s player area of the SoftBank team, team supervisor Akiyama Koji raised his hand to signal his intention to replace the pitcher.

And the one he replaced was Takeda Shouta, who started on the mound for this game.

After experiencing a major turmoil in the top half of the first inning, Takeda Shouta seemed to have regained his pitching rhythm in the subsequent few innings, facing 7 batters in the second and third innings combined, giving up 1 hit, and no runs.

However, the situation had just started to improve when, in the fourth inning, after using a breaking ball to deal with Orix’s first batter Sagaku Tomotaka at the beginning of the inning, Takeda Shouta’s control inexplicably became unstable again.

First, Kawabata Shuji was walked with a four-pitch walk, then he consecutively gave up hits to Itoi Yoshio and Lee Dae-ho, quickly losing another run—the most notable was that when facing Lee Dae-ho, Takeda Shouta seemed to be completely decoded by his opponent today, giving up three hits in three at-bats: a single, a double, and a home run.

Seeing their team closing the gap to a 2-run difference, with plenty of time left in the game to chase the lead, the starting pitcher made another mistake leading to a loss of runs. Akiyama Koji really couldn’t sit still now; after some consideration, he chose to replace the starter Takeda ahead of time, using bullpen pitchers to stabilize the situation.

"Tough game, take a good rest." Akiyama Koji patted Takeda Shouta, who was walking down from the field, offering no more than a symbolic consolation—Akiyama Koji didn’t have the mind to care about what this young man was thinking now, maintaining the 3-run gap and keeping the game suspenseful was what he as the supervisor cared the most about.

The relief pitcher who took over was SoftBank’s sixth draft pick in 2008, Korean Jin Wuying—relying on his fastest pitch of 147 km/h, along with his cutter, forkball, and curveball, Jin Wuying successfully secured a main position in SoftBank’s bullpen.

The older, more experienced veteran Jin Wuying, in terms of raw strength, might not be Takeda Shouta’s match, but as a player who entered professional baseball with a low draft position and built his status step by step, he had a much stronger mentality, and his appearance produced immediate results.

Replaced Takeda Shouta in the fourth inning, Jin Wuying consecutively dealt with the five batters from Orix who came to the plate, with 2 strikeouts and 3 resulting in ground or fly balls, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he completely controlled the situation on the field.

"Did you see how the veteran pitcher performs on the mound? Takeda, watch and learn well, if you want to progress further, secure a main role in the first team, or even pursue more, this is a lesson you must learn."

In the player’s area, pitcher coach Guo Taiyuan advised Takeda Shouta who sat with a face full of dejection beside him.

Stabilizing the pitcher defense doesn’t just affect the defense, it allows the batting lineup to focus more energy on offense—right after Jin Wuying went to the mound, in the bottom half of the fifth inning, the SoftBank lineup their fans had been hoping for all game finally appeared!

Starting with a safe on-base by Hasegawa Yu due to Maestri’s throw error when trying to put out at first base, SoftBank’s batters strung together a series of plays, and with a hit through the gap by the fourth bat Matsuda Naohiro, successfully brought home 1 run, reducing the score difference back to 2 runs;

Then, with two outs, the sixth bat Yanagida Yuuki blasted a two-run home run, sending Maestri’s pitch for the third time into the outfield stands amid the cheers and shouts of tens of thousands of people.

"Yanagida Yuuki! Two-run homer! Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks’ third home run of the game! They’ve turned this game into a firework display! Incredible!"

"Oh ho ho ho ho—facing a disastrous start of losing 5 runs in the first inning, the SoftBank team actually tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning! This game is worth watching!"

"Counting this just hit two-run homer, this game already has four batters hitting home runs: SoftBank’s Lahai’er, Lin, Yanagida, and Orix’s Lee Dae-ho, each showcasing an extraordinary batting performance—I’m really looking forward more and more to how the game’s plot will unfold, it’s hard to imagine which side will win the game!"

However, just after such excited commentary was said in the broadcast studio, the first half of the "you perform, I appear" firework display of this game, appeared to shift towards developing into a pitcher’s duel.

From the moment Yanagida Yuuki hit that tying two-run homer, in the ensuing game, both sides’ batting lineups achieved no substantial results, instead pitchers became the focus on the field:

On the SoftBank side, Chika Huangda, who replaced Jin Wuying, performed outstandingly, delivering a quality performance of 3 no-hit innings; while Orix’s Sato Tatsuya also refused to be outdone, facing a sixth-inning scoring chance by SoftBank with one out and runners on second and third, he consecutively struck out batters, defusing the threat.

The two sides battled to the 11th inning, with a score of 6-6 still unchanged—until the bottom of the 11th inning, SoftBank generated another offensive:

As the lead hitter, Matsuda Naohiro first hit a single, although Lahai’er and Yanagida Yuuki, who followed, didn’t hit singles, they both contributed to advancing the runners.

Now, Matsuda Naohiro stood on third base, just one step away from ending the game, and the next to come to the plate was—

"Seventh bat, DH, Lin Guanglai." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

And not far in front of him, on the pitcher’s mound, was former Orix’s three main pillar left-handed pitcher Nobuyama Shinya, who just switched from starter to reliever early this year.

After taking a deep breath to adjust his mentality, Lin Guanglai stepped straight into the batter’s box in front of him; his task this at-bat was as simple as it was difficult, all he needed was a hit to become the hero ending the game.

On the pitcher’s mound, Nobuyama Shinya nodded toward the second catcher Saito Toshio crouched behind home plate, clapped his glove gently, then with a slight adjustment, threw the ball out.

Just before the baseball was about to fly into the catcher’s mitt, an uninvited guest suddenly stepped in straight, disrupting this seemingly harmonious scene—

"Lin Guanglai! He directly swung on the first pitch!! He hit the ball!!!"

"It’s a line drive—will there be, will there be!"

"At shortstop position, Adachi Ryoichi, can he save his team! He dove for the ball!"

"Landed! Landed!! The baseball landed!!!"

"Walk-off hit!!!"

"The SoftBank team won! The SoftBank team completed a 5-run comeback! They..."

The commentary’s voice was completely drowned out by the cheers of fans at Yahoo Dome—at this moment, it had fallen into celebration.