The Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball suffered a 0-6 shutout loss to the Yomiuri Giants on 8 August. The first-place Pacific League team was swept by the fourth-place Central League team. The Oryx have been on a roll in interleague play this year. They won back-to-back series against the Central League’s Hiroshima Carp and Junichi Dragons to take the lead in the league. However, a second straight loss to Yomiuri saw them lose the top spot to the Chiba Lotte Marines.안전놀이터
A shocking defeat.
The game went into extra innings at 0-0. In the 10th inning, an unbelievable situation unfolded. The Yomiuri bats pounded the Orix mound for six runs. After scattering six hits in the ninth inning, they pounded out five in the 10th, including two home runs.
No. 2 Takayuki Kajitani and No. 3 Akihiro Yuto hit back-to-back singles to set the tone. The Oryx walked No. 4 Kazuma Okamoto to load the bases with two outs, but the move proved disastrous. Pinch-hitter Yoshihiro Maru hit a grand slam.
On a 1B2S count, a slider from Orix right-hander Hitomi Honda was driven to the centre of the strike zone. The ball went over the centre fence of the Osaka Dome without missing a beat. 4-0.
Takumi Oshiro followed with a single to right, and Adam Walker followed with a two-run homer to right. Again, it was Honda on the mound. 6-0.
This all happened with the bases loaded two innings later. The nightmare began when Honda, the fourth Ducks pitcher, got two outs on four pitches. It must have felt like they were possessed by something.
In the bottom of the 10th inning, the Ducks retired three straight batters. The Oryx bats had gone 24 consecutive innings without scoring a run over their last three games.
Okamoto, Yomiuri’s No. 4 hitter, singled to left in the top of the sixth. In interleague play, he is 14-for-35 with four doubles, four home runs and eight RBIs. Leads the interleague in home runs and is tied for third in RBIs.