Van den Hurk clinches 10th win of season
Dutchie Rick van den Hurk was simply lights out today as he clinched his tenth victory of the season. Van den Hurk lasted seven innings and got just enough run support to earn the win as the Softbank Hawks defeated the Orix Buffaloes 1-0.
In a real pitching matchup between Van den Hurk and Yushi Nishi of the Orix Buffaloes,
Van den Hurk did a tad better. Nishi gave up one run on six and two walks as he struck out six. Van den Hurk on the other side allowed only three hits, did not issue a walk and fanned seven as he faced only twenty-four batters.
For four innings both teams were each other’s match but the Hawks had some good opportunities to open the score as they had runners in scoring position in the first and second inning (besides the fifth and the eighth) but in both cases, they left the runners behind.
Eventually, in the fifth inning, Takuya Kai drew a walk and advanced to second base in a typical Japanese way, thanks to a sac bunt. With one out Kenta Imamiya came through with a single to left field that allowed Kai to score the game’s sole run also because the left fielder couldn’t scoop the ball and ran over it.
Van den Hurk retired the side in five of the seven innings he was out on the mound. Only in the seventh inning, he got into trouble when the Buffaloes had runners in scoring position with only one out but thanks to a flyout and a popup, Rick got out of the inning without any damage.
In the tweet below, you can see all outs Van den Hurk made today.
【THE FEATURE PLAYER】
持ち味のストレートの強さが戻ってきた！福岡ソフトバンク(@HAWKS_official)・バンデンハーク投手(@rickvandenhurk )の150超ストレートまとめ！ #sbhawks pic.twitter.com/lgRx21ddei— パ・リーグ.com / パーソル パ・リーグTV【公式】 (@PacificleagueTV) September 9, 2018
Thanks to this win the Softbank Haws stay in the pennant race. The Hawks trail the Seibu Lions by four games and have a slim 1.5 game lead over the Nippon Ham Fighters. The Orix Buffaloes are in fourth place, trailing the Hawks by ten games and close to elimination. If nothing changes in the standings, the Seibu Lions will clinch a spot in the Pacific League championship series as they will face the winner of the playoff series between the Hawks and the Fighters.