Kenji Ohtonari seems to be emerging as the great white hope for the SoftBank Hawks injury-riddled starting rotation. Ohtonari has been nigh unhittable in 2 starts, and he spun a real gem at Yahoo! Dome against the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
Ohtonari (2-0) spun a 2-hitter, striking out 6 and walking 2. His opposite number, Mitsuo Yoshikawa, was rocked for 7 runs (all earned) on 9 hits in just 3 and 1/3 innings. Hitoshi Tamura paced the SoftBank offense in the first inning, clubbing a 3-run home run to set the tone for the rest of the day. The only offense from Nippon Ham came from Terrmel Sledge and Hichori Morimoto, both pounding out singles.
Yoshikawa got into trouble in the 4th inning and SoftBank made him pay. He first gave up singles to Shotaro Ide and Munenori Kawasaki, then was replaced by Yataro Sakamoto. Sakamoto promptly hit Tamura (he would leave the game), then gave up a double to Matsunaka, which plated Ide and Kawasaki, then Hiroshi Shibahara joined the party by singling in Matsunaka and Tamura.
Meanwhile, Ohtonari did not let any more than one Fighters batter on base during the game. The complete game gives the SoftBank bullpen a rest (Koji Mise in particular). Ohtonari also recorded 12 ground ball outs to go with the 6 strikeouts.
Ohtonari (2-0) spun a 2-hitter, striking out 6 and walking 2. His opposite number, Mitsuo Yoshikawa, was rocked for 7 runs (all earned) on 9 hits in just 3 and 1/3 innings. Hitoshi Tamura paced the SoftBank offense in the first inning, clubbing a 3-run home run to set the tone for the rest of the day. The only offense from Nippon Ham came from Terrmel Sledge and Hichori Morimoto, both pounding out singles.
Yoshikawa got into trouble in the 4th inning and SoftBank made him pay. He first gave up singles to Shotaro Ide and Munenori Kawasaki, then was replaced by Yataro Sakamoto. Sakamoto promptly hit Tamura (he would leave the game), then gave up a double to Matsunaka, which plated Ide and Kawasaki, then Hiroshi Shibahara joined the party by singling in Matsunaka and Tamura.
Meanwhile, Ohtonari did not let any more than one Fighters batter on base during the game. The complete game gives the SoftBank bullpen a rest (Koji Mise in particular). Ohtonari also recorded 12 ground ball outs to go with the 6 strikeouts.