Nippon Professional Baseball Yakult Swallows outfielder Norichika Aoki (41) was hit in the head by a pitcher at the Hiroshima Carp game on the 26th and was replaced. In the top of the 7th inning, trailing 3-5, Hiroshima's second pitcher, Ryoji Kuribayashi (27), hit Aoki in the head with a fastball of 154km/h on the 4th pitch. In an instant, Hiroshima Matsuda Stadium was enveloped in silence as if cold water had been poured on it. Aoki, who had been down for a while, was carried away on a stretcher. He was immediately taken to the hospital and underwent a detailed examination.
It is said that it is the 7th time in his career that Aoki, who is a left-handed hitter, has been hit by a beanball. The previous six were hit by a ball thrown by a left-handed pitcher. Kuribayashi is the first right pitcher. Fortunately, it wasn't a major injury. Aoki hit a three-run home run as a pinch hitter against the Yokohama Baystars held at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo on the 28th.
In the bottom of the 6th inning, trailing by 1-3, 1 out, 1st and 2nd base. Coach Takatsu Shingo raised the odds. In the snide at-bat between pitchers 9, Aoki was put on a pinch hit. I took a break on the 27th and started the game in two days. Season 3 home run. 토토 Coach Takatsu's pinch-hit strategy was successful. "I'm fine with my body," Aoki said. "I tried to concentrate at the plate." The 41-year-old veteran Aoki reached his 1,000th career run with this home run.
Aoki's three-run home run turned Yakult back to 4-3. It would have been a great story if we had kept the lead, but the bullpen collapsed. In the top of the 8th inning, Yokohama No. 4 Shugo Maki hit a timely double to the center fielder from Musa 1st base, turning the game around. In the second out and third base that followed, pinch hitter Yamato hit a left-handed hit at the right time to overturn the game. Yakult right-hander Noboru Shimizu, who took the mound in the 8th inning, failed to block Yokohama’s center batting line.
Yakult, who suffered a come-from-behind defeat by 4-5 by 1 point, fell into a 5-game losing streak. They are in 5th place, 1.5 games ahead of the 'last runner' Chunichi Dragons. I started aiming for the championship for three consecutive years, but it is getting farther and farther away. Aoki, born in 1982, is the oldest player in the Japanese professional baseball field this year. The home run on this day was the 1923rd in his career . Aoki is the only player in Nippon Professional Baseball to achieve 200 hits twice in one season. His sophomore year, he hit 202 in 2004 and 209 in 2010. Last season he had just 55 hits, but this year he has 49 in 65 games.