Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 413 - 60: Three Pitches Decide Victory

"Strikeout looking! Lin Guanglai is off to an excellent start in this game!"

Together with the excited commentary from the studio, there was also the sound of cheers from more than forty thousand SoftBank fans at the scene; as the cheers gradually subsided, what followed was a fervent round of applause, like waves crashing – and the recipient of these cheers and applause was none other than Lin Guanglai, who had just struck out Yakult’s third batter, the foreign player Milledge.

Unlike his previous matchup with Yakult, today’s Lin Guanglai maintained his usual high-performance standard: after striking out Yamada Tetsuro with a changeup in the top of the first inning, he continued to dispatch the following batters, Morioka Yoshiaki and Milledge, one after another. Particularly when facing Milledge, Lin Guanglai, in a 2-2 count, threw a fastball right into the inside corner of the strike zone, not giving Milledge a chance to swing the bat, striking him out looking.

Before the game started, Lin Guanglai was still interacting with the home fans with a smile, but as soon as the game began, he instantly entered game mode, his expression turning rather serious – even after securing the three outs needed in the top of the first inning, his face remained stoic.

Seeing him like this, the SoftBank fans at the scene all knew that their young ace was holding back a fight’s worth of energy, ready to make a grand showing in this game – so, as the team’s most loyal supporters, these fans naturally stood united with the players.

Similarly, under the backdrop of Lin Guanglai’s pitching, the SoftBank team’s batters offered the requisite firepower support, not making their pitcher wait too long – after the sides swapped fields for the bottom of the first inning, SoftBank’s lineup, with superior offensive capability during the interleague period, once again set the game ablaze:

Nakamura Akira, serving as the leadoff batter in this game, drew a walk to reach base and successfully stole second base with subsequent efforts;

In a situation with no outs and a runner on second, Lee Duxuan, replacing the back-pained Honda Yuichi today, sent the ball flying to the left field stands in Yahoo Dome with a mighty swing under a 2-1 count, taking SoftBank one step closer to claiming the title of interleague play champion.

And as this half-inning ended and the game transitioned to the top of the second inning, the once-bustling Yahoo Dome suddenly turned silent; at the same time, there was a change in the light in Lin Guanglai’s eyes.

Almost at the same moment the chief umpire announced the field change, Lin Guanglai took wide strides toward the pitcher’s mound with his glove in hand, and soon took his usual position there.

As Yakult’s top of the second batter approached the home plate, Lin Guanglai on the mound could feel his breathing becoming heavier, with his emotions slightly stirred – Vladimir Balentien stood there, nonchalantly toying with his bat.

During the past period, Yakult’s poor team performance hadn’t at all impacted Balentien’s individual output:

Since hitting his 17th home run of the season off Lin Guanglai over half a month ago, he’s been on a tear, surpassing the 20-homer mark and steadily closing the gap with Blanco at the top of the home run leaderboard – now trailing by only 2 home runs despite playing over half a month less than Blanco.

For mercenary foreign players like Balentien who come to Japan to make big money, these home runs hold a significance far beyond mere stats; each home run represents a multiplying increase in paychecks.

He was well aware that the young man on the mound was the super-talent frequently talked about here – so, even for the sake of his "money path," he aimed to replicate his experience at Shengong Stadium, adding weightier credentials and bigger salary negotiations to his resume!

Pitcher and batter both readied quickly, their gazes clashing mid-air, striking sparks and lightning.

Moments later, the chief umpire behind the home plate swung his hand, signaling to the pitcher to begin the play:

"Play Ball!"

The chief umpire’s call to "Play Ball" hadn’t even completely dissipated, its echoes still lingering over Yahoo Dome’s ceiling, when Lin Guanglai snapped the baseball with a swift "swoosh" toward the plate almost simultaneously.

Just like a reoccurrence of their last matchup, even though a previous inside fastball had been launched by the opponent for a home run, Lin Guanglai still hadn’t given up on overpowering Balentien’s inside corner – this pitch still careened rapidly toward the batter’s inside, a fastball pitched with greater velocity than before; its fierce spin nearly tore through the air, making it challenging even for a power hitter like Balentien to see the ball’s trajectory clearly.

"Thwack!"

In the blink of an eye, the baseball zipped through the 18.44 meters between the pitcher’s mound and the home plate, thudding into Hosokawa Kei’s catcher mitt with a resounding crack so loud that fans seated in the back of the home plate area felt the shivers down their spines.

Simultaneously, on the overhead outfield grandstand’s Eagle’s Vision, flames roared intensely on the LED screen; in the heart of the blaze was the reading of the speed of the pitch Lin Guanglai had just thrown: