OSAKA – SoftBank Hawks reliever Arata Shiino threw three perfect innings and three pitchers kept the Seibu Lions at bay in a 2-1 win Monday.
Shiino (4-2) replaced starter Yuki Matsumoto in the fourth inning and struck out two of the 13 batters he faced at Osaka’s Kyocera Dome.
“I was focused on retiring one batter at a time. I’m really glad with the result,” Shiino said.
Yurisbel Gracial had a sacrifice fly against Lions starter Wataru Matsumoto to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third. Kenji Akashi scored the winning run in the following inning on a wild pitch by the Seibu rookie.
Three Hawks relievers held the hard-batting Lions scoreless. Hiroshi Kaino and Livan Moinelo pitched an inning each before closer Yuito Mori took the mound in the ninth.
Mori picked up his 26th save by fanning two, including Hotaka Yamakawa, who leads the Pacific League with 35 home runs.
“The relievers were doing really well, so all I had in mind was not allowing any hits,” Mori said.
Tomoya Mori drove in the Lions’ opening run in the top of the first.
Source : Baseball – The Japan Times