Central League Hiroshima 1-3 Yakult (September 25, 2024 Mazda)
Photo by Sponichi
On the 25th, Hiroshima lost to Yakult, marking their third straight loss. With 65 wins, 65 losses and 5 draws, their season-high 14 points have now been reduced to zero. With eight games remaining this season, their chances of participating in the CS on their own have vanished, and with third-place DeNA beating the Giants, the gap in points has widened to 1.5.
This brings their record for September to 4 wins and 17 losses. As of September 1, they had 14 points, the most of the season, and were in first place until the 4th, but their points have now run out.
In the first inning, Kuri, who started the game, gave up the first run with an RBI single to Osuna. In the seventh inning, the third pitcher Moriura collapsed with an RBI single to Kawabata and a walk, giving up two runs.
In the 8th inning, Sakakura hit a timely single to right field to bring one point back, and the team still had a chance with two outs and runners on second and third, but the next batter was out and they were unable to score any additional points.
The main exchanges with Coach Arai after the match are as follows:
–Your sixth attack put you in good form, but…
“That’s pretty impressive. I hope he will enter the match tomorrow with that mindset of wanting to repay the favour.”
–Kuri gave up one run in the fifth inning.
“It was the fewest runs allowed. Even if he had gone there, the next inning was the only one he could have pitched, so he needed to score runs, and that’s why I said “good job” to him.”
–Not only are the batting lineup scoring runs, but they’re only hitting singles and not many long hits.
“Well, well, I guess that’s a bit much. See you tomorrow, and see you tomorrow. I want to keep looking forward, and I want everyone to prepare as if they’re going to hit tomorrow.”
-From your perspective as a coach, what is the atmosphere among the players, staff, and team?
“Not really in terms of the atmosphere. We play in that kind of atmosphere every day, thinking, ‘OK, let’s do it again today.’ When we start losing, it may seem that way to those around us, but in reality, I think they’re thinking, ‘OK, let’s do it,’ ‘Let’s go today,’ during practice and in games. Those around us may see us as lacking energy in situations like this, but I think we’re all in that kind of atmosphere, thinking, ‘Let’s do our best today,’ or, as we would now call, ‘Let’s do it tomorrow.'”
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