First win in three games of two games
Miyagi Hiroya 22, the new ace of the Orix Buffaloes in Japanese baseball, belatedly reported his first win of the season. Miyagi took the mound as the starting pitcher at a home game against the Nippon-Ham Fighters at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan on Sunday, and pitched 105 pitches during eight innings, allowing six hits, seven strikeouts, two walks and no runs. He recorded his first win in his third game of this season. Miyagi struck out the first batter in the first inning and started with three outs. With three outs in the second inning as well, he struck out a runner and grounded out to the first base, and was on the verge of being first or second base with a walk and an infield single by shortstop. He escaped the crisis by striking out swinging and swinging. In the fourth inning, he sent out the leadoff hitter due to shortstop error, and then got a hit to the right field, putting the batter at risk with no outs and runners on the first and second bases. He blocked the batter without losing a point by striking out swinging and hitting a double grounder to the second base, easing the burden of his teammate's error. After striking out one in the fifth inning, he continued his clean pitching with three outs. After one out in the sixth inning, Ryota Isovata and Chusei Manami had consecutive hits, but Martinez flew to left field and Shun Mizutani to center field to overcome the crisis. Miyagi threw 91 pitches through the seventh inning without losing a point, and took the mound again in the eighth inning with a 5-0 lead. With one out, Isovata had an infield single to shortstop, and sent runners to the second base due to an error. Manami had a hit to the right field, and was on the verge of hitting first and third base. He caught Martinez with a fly ball to the second baseman, struck out pinch-hitter Kato with a swing and roared. Orix ended the game with a strikeout in the ninth inning with two outs and runners on first and second base. Miyagi started as the starting pitcher for this season's opening game. As Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who had been the ace pitcher for the Orix Buffaloes until last year and won the fourth consecutive pitcher title for three consecutive years, advanced to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the U.S., Miyagi will take on the ace title starting this year. He started against the Softbank Hawks in the opening game on March 29 and became a losing pitcher by allowing six hits, nine strikeouts, and three runs in six ⅓. He pitched well against the Chiba Lotte Marines on the 5th by allowing six hits, five strikeouts, and one run in seven innings, but he became a losing pitcher again. After three attempts, he blocked the Nippon Ham batters from allowing no run on the day and recorded his first win. He has one win and two losses and an earned run average of 1.69 in three games this season. He pitched 21 ⅓ innings with four walks and 21 strikeouts. Miyagi joined the Orix Buffaloes with the first pick in the 2019 draft. In his first year since his debut, he played in the first division in three games, winning 1-1 with a 3.94 ERA. He has won double digits for three consecutive years since 2021, playing with Yamamoto as a one-two punch. Last year, he had 10 wins, 4 losses and a 2.27 ERA in 22 games.