8 innings, 78 pitches, no runs allowed → 9th inning, solo home run → 90 pitches, 1 run, complete game win… Maddux, the ‘complete pitcher’ who failed
Japanese professional baseball’s Hanshin Tigers’ Masashi Ito (27) hit a solo home run just before the shutout game, which was unfortunately canceled. Although he missed ‘Maddux’ (a shutout within 100 pitches), he tied for first place in the league with his third complete game of the season.
Ito appeared as a starting pitcher in the game against Yakult Swallows held at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Japan on the 3rd.
Ito threw only 55 pitches until the 6th inning, allowed only 2 hits, and continued with no runs. He was hit by a double by lead hitter Soma Uchiyama in the 7th inning and was in danger with one out and runners on third base.
In danger of giving up runs, he struck out last year’s home run king, Munetaka Murakami, with a 145 km inside fastball on the 8th pitch, and blocked him without giving up a run with an infield ground ball.
Ito retired with a three-way error in the 8th inning, and the number of pitches was only 78. If he could block the 9th inning with a 7-0 lead without allowing any runs, this was the number of pitches that ‘Maddux’ could have pitched.
With one out in the ninth inning, Ito hit a solo home run over the left field wall from pinch hitter Yoshihiro Akahane, ending the shutout.
After allowing a run, he struck out Uchiyama on a swing and allowed a left-field hit to Tetsuto Yamada. The game ended with a ground ball to second base on the first pitch against Murakami with 2 outs and runners on first base. It was the 90th pitch.
Hanshin took a 4-0 lead in the first inning thanks to Teruaki Sato’s three-run home run, and Shota Morishita’s solo home run in the middle of the game led to a 7-1 win.메이저놀이터
Hanshin Club website
Ito pitched 90 pitches in 9 innings and recorded a complete game, allowing 5 hits, 1 home run, 3 strikeouts, and 1 run. 9th win of the season. He is tied for first place in the league with his third complete game this season. In the game against Yokohama on August 20th, he pitched 114 pitches and pitched 9 shutouts.
Ito said after the game, “We allowed a home run at the end. “It’s a pity, but he pitched well until the 9th inning, so it was good,” he said. Looking back on the crisis situation in the 7th inning with one out and a run on third base, “I thought we would be in trouble if we avoided competing with Murakami. “It was good that he attacked and got a strikeout,” he said.
Before the game, Ito was struggling with a hitting percentage of .462 against Murakami, but on this day, he did well with no hits in four at-bats.
After graduating from college, Ito played for two years in professional baseball JR East and joined Hanshin in 2021. In his first year of debut, Ito immediately worked in the starting rotation, recording 10 wins (7 losses) and an ERA of 2.44.
Last year, he appeared in 20 games and showed off his power with 9 wins, 5 losses, and an ERA of 2.63, as well as six complete games. Although he did not complete the required number of innings, he recorded the most complete games in both leagues.