Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 426 - 66: Triple Kill

Since returning from the All-Star break, Lin Guanglai has clearly felt the increase in game intensity and pressure, which has inevitably led to some fluctuations and setbacks for him.

Take the number of wins, for example. After returning from the All-Star break and pitching a complete game 3-0 shutout against the Ham Team, achieving his 9th victory of the season and coming just one step away from the unprecedented "10 wins + 10 home runs" achievement, his pace of accumulating honors stalled.

In three consecutive starts, he had two no-decisions and one loss, bringing his midseason pitching record to 9 wins, 3 losses, and 3 no-decisions. Simultaneously, the team’s standings also dropped to fourth in the Pacific League due to his decline in performance.

Even though they are only 0.5 games behind the third-place Seibu Lions, and there will still be plenty of opportunities to catch up even if they lose this game, Lin Guanglai does not want to easily give up his 4th loss of the season.

What does not winning 3 games in a row mean, and what does having no outs and runners on first and second mean?

Lin Guanglai has a full understanding and expectation of his own abilities; he also believes that as long as he can firmly hold this inning’s 1-run lead, his teammates will surely help him bridge the score gap.

In this game, at this point, there is only one thing on his mind, which is—

He wants to win!!!

Receiving the ball passed back from Hosokawa Kei, Lin Guanglai’s expression was icy cold, with a very serious demeanor; even when he caught the ball, he saw the situation of the base runners with his peripheral vision, but he couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to those on the bases anymore—a truly strong pitcher can and should only believe in one thing when facing situations like this, which is himself!

Ignoring what the base runners might do, Lin Guanglai focused all his attention on Asamura Eitou in the batter’s box.

In the nearing end of the 2013 season, Asamura Eitou, entering his 4th year in professional baseball, is experiencing a breakout year: he’s not only been consistent all season, but his batting average has surpassed .300, and his hits and home runs are career highs, with 17 home runs ranking him in the top three. He’s virtually secured a starting position with the Seibu Team, unthreatened even by Nakamura Gouya’s return next season.

Moreover, Asamura Eitou has been incredibly hot recently: in the entire past July, he clinched the monthly MVP for Pacific League hitters with a .395 batting average and 6 home runs.

Furthermore, according to professional team data, this season, whenever Asamura Eitou faces a situation with runners on first and second, his batting average is as high as .550, meaning that as long as he’s in the scoring position, he rarely misses a chance to send teammates home to score.

After getting ready, Lin Guanglai took a deep breath, relaxing his tense body and emotions; he needed more patience to deal with a central hitter like this.

Moments later, the baseball flew out of Lin Guanglai’s hands, rocketing towards home plate with fierce initial speed and rapid spin;

In the right batter’s box, Asamura Eitou wasn’t fazed at all, fueled by the confidence from his season-long excellent performance, and faced the incoming, fierce baseball without hesitation, determined to hit the ball out.

Accompanied by a crisp "crack," the baseball flew high into the sky but in the wrong direction, soaring towards the area behind home plate. Hosokawa Kei in the catcher’s seat quickly removed his mask and ran towards where the baseball was descending, trying to make the catch before it landed to put Asamura Eitou out. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Unfortunately, the ball flew quite far backwards, directly landing in the stands, into the hands of a spectator; chasing the baseball all the way, Hosokawa Kei eventually stopped and returned to the back of home plate, receiving a new baseball from the umpire, and threw it towards Lin Guanglai.

Moments later, the second pitch was thrown, and this ball was directed at the inside corner, nearly brushing the batter’s body, making it difficult for Asamura Eitou to find a smooth space and angle for his swing, so he let it go by—the umpire’s call was in his favor, and the ball was ruled as a ball, bringing the count to 1 ball and 1 strike.

A fierce battle ensued immediately following, with neither the pitcher nor the batter leaving themselves any retreat as the count escalated through their duel, eventually reaching a full count of 3 balls and 2 strikes.

Judging by the count alone, both the pitcher and batter were evenly matched at this point; but considering the men on base, Asamura Eitou was almost in an invincible position:

Selecting a bad pitch would allow him to reach first base, loading the bases; hitting a single or sacrifice fly would bring back at least 1 run for his team—his only concern at this moment was to avoid hitting a weak grounder toward a fielder to avoid a double play, nothing else.

Behind home plate, Hosokawa Kei gestured a signal for the next decisive pitch to Lin Guanglai: Attack the hitter’s inside corner resolutely!

Clearly, his thoughts aligned with Lin Guanglai; after giving a nod to Hosokawa Kei, Lin Guanglai quickly closed his glove and prepared to pitch.

To prevent base runners from taking off too early to steal bases or even score, almost the moment he lifted his front leg, Lin Guanglai threw the baseball—a fireball exceeding 155km/h flew towards Asamura Eitou’s inside corner, and the prepared opponent chose to face it head-on once again, swinging hard at the incoming ball.

Compared to the first pitch where the hit angle was compressed and the swing motion was hindered, putting aside the tingling sensation in his palm, Asamura Eitou’s swing was fluid;

But there was no time to care about all that, almost as the baseball flew out, he dropped his bat and sprinted toward first base, with the other runners on base quickly advancing as well.

However, one second the Seibu player area was celebrating, and the next, it seemed like they had been choked silent:

"Asamura Eitou hit the ball! The baseball is flying toward third base! SoftBank is in danger!"

"No, wait! Why didn’t the ball go out? Matsuda Naohiro at third base caught the ball—he stepped on the third base bag first!"

"Next, he’s throwing to first for the out... wait! What’s happening? Why are the Seibu runners so slow? Matsuda Naohiro sent the ball to second—Imamiya, the shortstop! He did it, that’s a double play!"

"It’s not over yet! It’s not over! Imamiya throws to first, can they make it, can they make it... they made it!!!"

"Asamura Eitou, he’s out before reaching first! It’s a triple play, a triple play!"

"In the top of the eighth, with no outs and runners on first and second, SoftBank, with a perfect triple play defense, stopped Seibu Lions from scoring even one run! That was incredible and is sure to make the season’s defensive highlights!"

"From Lin Guanglai suppressing the batter’s swing with his pitch, to the reaction and cooperation of every infielder, it was flawless—this was a great Play belonging to a team!"

Almost simultaneously as the first base umpire signaled a successful out, the entire Yahoo Dome erupted, as home fans cheered and clapped at the top of their lungs for all the players who made this spectacular defensive play.

And surrounded by the cheers, the SoftBank players quickly returned to their dugout in response to Matsuda Naohiro’s call: "The game isn’t over yet—next, let’s go all out and win this game!"

Clearly, the just-executed triple play indeed affected the Seibu Lions players’ mentality, leaving them momentarily flustered: in the bottom of the eighth, it was Matsuda Naohiro, acting as the cleanup hitter, who sent the baseball into the stands with a 2-run go-ahead homer, turning the game on its head.

Shortly thereafter, when Igarashi Ryouta, replacing Lin Guanglai, delivered the final good pitch securely into Hosokawa Kei’s glove, the commentator responsible for this game broadcast screamed:

"Lin Guanglai, Dual Swordsmanship challenge, unprecedented 10+10 achievement accomplished!!!"