When Orix Buffaloes supervisor Satoshi Nakajima was requested to recap his crew’s victory in its postseason opener on Wednesday, there was just one factor on his thoughts.
“Yamamoto, Yamamoto, Yamamoto — proper?” Nakajima stated.
The Chiba Lotte Marines had been in all probability muttering the identical factor within the visiting clubhouse, solely extra out of frustration and bewilderment than admiration.
Yamamoto made his first playoff look one to recollect, throwing a 10-strikeout shutout within the Buffaloes’ 1-0 win over the Marines in Recreation 1 of the Pacific League Climax Sequence Last Stage at Kyocera Dome in Osaka on Wednesday night time.
The Buffaloes ace was in whole management, permitting only one single in every of the primary 4 innings earlier than retiring the ultimate 18 batters so as and ending the sport and not using a stroll.
“I used to be actually excited,” Yamamoto stated throughout his hero interview. “I’m relieved I used to be capable of finding a technique to win.”
Having entered the collection with a one-game benefit, Yamamoto’s gem gave Orix a 2-0 lead over the Marines and left the membership two wins away from the Japan Sequence.
“Regardless that we had the benefit, I believed that getting this win was essential,” Yamamoto stated. “So I used to be positively going to win.”
The sport was one more occasion of the 23-year-old ace shining below the highlight. Recreation 1 might have been Yamamoto’s first NPB playoff recreation, but it surely wasn’t his first time on a serious stage.
He pitched out of the bullpen for the Samurai Japan squad that gained the Premier12 in 2019, permitting one run over 5 innings with six strikeouts throughout that match.
Yamamoto wore the nationwide crew uniform once more this summer time — as a starter this time — through the Tokyo Olympics. He allowed two runs and struck out 18 over 11⅓ innings to assist Japan win its first Olympic gold medal in baseball.
Earlier than Wednesday night time, his greatest recreation for Orix might have are available in his ultimate begin this yr, when he confronted the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, a playoff crew, on Oct. 25 in a recreation that was essential to the Buffaloes’ hopes of profitable the Pacific League pennant. Yamamoto delivered then as effectively, hurling a seven-strikeout shutout in a 4-0 win.
He once more lived as much as the lofty customary he’s set for himself when he took the mound within the Climax Sequence for the primary time Wednesday. That was a superb factor for the Buffaloes, as a result of there was no room for error with Ayumu Ishikawa dealing for the Marines. Ishikawa held Orix to at least one run on 5 hits over seven innings.
The Buffaloes scored for Yamamoto within the backside of the primary and the right-hander didn’t bend the remainder of the best way as he protected a slim one-run benefit.
“It’s been a very long time since we’ve performed and it seemed like Yoshinobu was just a little nervous,” stated Takahiro Okada, who drove within the recreation’s solely run on an RBI single within the first. “So I’m glad we had been in a position to rating first.”
One of many Marines’ few scoring alternatives got here within the prime of the primary, with slugger Brandon Laird on the plate and a runner on second with two outs. Yamamoto buckled Laird’s knees with an enormous curveball to finish that risk. He broke out the curveball once more within the fourth inning to strike out Koki Yamaguchi, to finish the inning with a runner on third.
“I put runners on base in each inning within the early a part of the sport and needed to pitch in tough conditions,” Yamamoto stated. “By some means, the curveball actually helped me.”
Yamamoto has already had a spectacular yr, and it might probably nonetheless get higher. He made a powerful and convincing case for each the Sawamura Award and PL MVP honors by going 18-5 with a 1.39 ERA, 206 strikeouts and a 0.85 WHIP in 193⅔ innings through the common season, and completed the yr with 15 straight profitable selections.
His efficiency helped carry the Buffaloes from last-place finishes in 2019 and 2020 to the PL title this yr. He helped Orix win the interleague title, contributed to Japan capturing Olympic gold on the Tokyo Video games and continued profitable within the second half of the NPB season to assist the Buffaloes carry house their first pennant since 1996.
His newest big-game efficiency introduced his crew nearer to the Japan Sequence, later this month, the place he’ll be hoping to cap the yr by profitable the most important prize nonetheless up for grabs.
“I’m going to pitch with all my energy,” he stated, “to verify we end as the very best in Japan.”
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