Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 530 - 115: Critical Lead

"As expected, another intentional walk."

At the center of the Kyocera Dome field, Lin Guanglai tossed his bat to the sidelines, dismantled his batting gear, and strode toward first base. Handing his equipment to an approaching teammate, he began to loiter around first base.

In this crucial battle, ever since Lin Guanglai hit a home run in his first at-bat, Orix has been employing a frenzied intentional walk strategy against him. Regardless of the situation, whenever Lin Guanglai comes up to bat, he’s greeted with an intentional walk, denying him any chance for a direct confrontation.

Judging by the current state of the game, this strategy has proven quite effective. After eight innings, the score between SoftBank and Orix remains deadlocked at the initial 2-2, with no further advancements.

Without the opportunity for direct confrontation, Lin Guanglai feels somewhat stifled. However, he knows this is the kind of treatment a strong batter often faces in professional baseball.

Just like Major League Baseball’s most famous home run machine, Barry Bonds, who was intentionally walked 2,558 times throughout his career and set a single-season record with 232 walks—nonetheless, he completed 762 career home runs and set the single-season MLB record with 73 homers, a record no one has yet eclipsed.

Since he can’t contribute to the team through batting, he must find another way:

Now the game has reached the top of the ninth inning, and for the Orix players, who are desperate to retain a last glimmer of championship hope, their pressure at this moment is certainly immense, much greater than that of the SoftBank players who have a significant margin for error.

At such a time, if base runner Lin Guanglai can constantly create pressure between the bases, it’s inevitable that Orix might make an error under tremendous pressure, giving SoftBank a chance to regain the lead.

As Imamiya Kenta walked toward the plate with his bat, Lin Guanglai gestured towards Manager Akiyama outside the player zone: he was seeking permission to attempt a steal.

Because of the unique dual swordsmanship role, Manager Akiyama has been relatively conservative with Lin Guanglai’s usage. Besides ensuring adequate rest after every pitch before batting, stealing that might lead to injury is strictly prohibited.

Because of this, even though Lin Guanglai has been in professional baseball for almost two seasons, he only has 2 recorded successful steals—a rather meager figure for a hitter with such height, long legs, speed, and stride.

Receiving the message in Lin Guanglai’s signals, Manager Akiyama contemplated for a moment and eventually nodded in agreement.

However, considering his health, Manager Akiyama imposed some restrictions: when Imamiya Kenta is at bat, Lin Guanglai is only to steal second base, leaving the rest to his teammates.

With the manager’s approval, Lin Guanglai’s decisions on the base have become increasingly aggressive. Standing over 190 centimeters tall with a large stride, his lead off first base extends at least two and a half strides.

For any pitcher, this is a bold, almost insulting distance, blatantly challenging, "Your pickoff, I’m not afraid of it."

From the mound, Orix’s closer Sato Tatsuya, who was brought in for the ninth inning, suddenly spun around, swiftly swinging his arm toward first base, sending the ball to the first baseman; Lin Guanglai reacted quickly, diving headfirst to touch the base just before the ball arrived.

The first base umpire extended both arms, "Safe!"

Slowly rising from the dust, Lin Guanglai leisurely brushed dirt off his body; moments later, with the baseball back in Sato Tatsuya’s hands, Lin Guanglai’s figure began to sway again in the opponent’s peripheral vision, stretching out to a dangerous distance like a phantom.

This silent, continuous tug-of-war ceaselessly frayed the nerves of Sato Tatsuya and the other Orix infielders.

"I can’t let him keep distracting me like this!" Sato Tatsuya shook his head fiercely, this time his throw even quicker and more concealed!

However, as if he had anticipated it, Lin Guanglai again dove headfirst into the base, his fluid movements carrying a hint of ease. As the dust billowed, he returned safely to the base once more.

Yet this time, Lin Guanglai didn’t immediately stand up as before; maintaining his dive stance, his front foot anchored on first base, half-kneeling on the ground, he raised his eyes, gazing far toward the mound.

Though he didn’t speak, to Sato Tatsuya, Lin Guanglai’s irksome look seemed to say, "Want to go a few more rounds? I’m game!"

Anger and irritation gnawed at his rationality like corrosive insects; the frustration from two failed pickoffs disrupted his pitching rhythm, making it difficult to regain the composure he had during bullpen warm-ups.

Taking a deep breath, Sato Tatsuya decided to temporarily ignore Lin Guanglai and focus on the batter before him; however, just as he lifted his front foot to pitch toward home...