Kobayashi Sets New Save Record
Perhaps the biggest demonstration of just how
seriously one should NOT take spring training
numbers is the Buffaloes. Kobayashi was getting
lit up with regularity and after consulting with
Hiromitsu Ochiai in the pre-season in the hope of
elevating his average for a triple crown run
Nakamura experienced a significant power outage.
Indeed, it appeared that what happened to
the Dragons Takeshi Yamasaki was going to occur
with the stocky Kintetsu third sacker: that is,
his power numbers would decline as his batting
average goes up. But once the bell rung Nakamura is absolutely obliterating the ball (his latest home run going a reported 455 feet) and is hitting .350 to boot. The question for Nakamura is will PL pitchers be able to stop Cabrera so that he can get back into the home run and RBI race?
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Michael Westbay
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Founder
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Lotte's new winning pattern is <starter> --> <middle relief (when necessary)> --> Fujita --> M. Kobayashi. Yes, they've got the infamous "double stopper" combo going, and going well it is as the two combined to close the last 5 games in a row.
Lotte has won their last 6 games in a row to climb up to 3rd place, just 1.5 games behind front running Orix, .5 behind the defending Pacific League champion Hawks. And Kobayashi has closed each one of those 6 games this past week for a save, without a day off.
Hiroshima's Sasaoka and Kintetsu's Ohtsuka both saved games 5 days in a row in 1996 and 1998 respectively. But according to Nikkan Sports, there isn't even a case where a pitcher saved 6 games in a row with a travel day in between, let alone 6 days in a row. Hey, this is one of the few save records that former BayStar Sasaki never got!
But that's not the only pitching story this game. Kuroki started and got his 6th win of the season - with no losses. Having given up 3 earned runs (a 2-run homer by Kokubo in the first and a solo home run by Hamana in the 5th), Johnny's ERA "balloons" to 2.00, still best in the league over 2nd place Raggio's (Daiei) 2.58. Even though he had missed almost a month after getting a come-backer off his shin, Kuroki leads the league in wins with 8, one more than Kintetsu's Maekawa (7 and 5).
May provided all of the necessary offense with a gyakuten ("come from behind") 3-run home run in the first inning to make the score 3-2, then an RBI double in the bottom of the 8th to make the score 4-3, which is how it ended.
With the likes of Kuroki and Kobayashi, Lotte has the lowest ERA in the Pacific League, coming in at 3.63. The second lowest ERA is Orix's 4.32, about half a run per 9 innings more. Considering that Lotte has the second lowest batting average (.254 compared to last place Nippon Ham's .242), it's pitching that is keeping the team in contension this season.
When asked if coming in to save 6 in a row was tough, Kobayashi said, "No, it's fine, and simple. But look, (Fujita) had gotten the first out, there was nothing to get tired about."
Gambare Kobayashi. That was #15 on the way to ??.