Today, in Japan’s official match against the Nippon Hanshin Team, Shohei Otani served as the starter with 3 designated strikers, and hit 3 points in the center and field in 3 innings, which was also the team’s first hit record in the official warm-up match.
Japan is preparing for the classic group B match that will start on the 9th. Today, the first warm-up match was held at the Osaka Dome. Otani was struck out by Hanshin starting pitcher Hiroto Saiki in the first inning. When the count was 2 good and 1 bad, he caught the 136-kilometer fingering ball and blasted it into the center field stand, helping Japan expand to a 4:0 lead.
Japan’s starting pitcher Yamamoto retired from the field in 3 innings, completed the task with 50 pitches, and had 4 hits, including 3 innings of Hanshin opener Koji Hinata Kinmoto, who struck out 4 times and took a 4:1 lead. The pitching task was handed over to the second pitcher Keiji Takahashi.
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