[Nippon-Ham] Kota Yazawa responds to his first cleanup appearance of the season with a two-run triple: “I stepped up to the plate with the attitude of the No. 5 batter.” | Pacific League

Pacific League Rakuten vs. Nippon-Ham (17th, Rakuten Mobile)

Nippon-Ham pitcher Kota Yazawa showed off a hit that lived up to manager Shinjo’s expectations.

He was the first clean-up hitter of the season, batting fifth and playing in right field, making his starting line-up start since the 1st. With a one-run lead in the third inning, with one out and runners on first and second, he hit a two-run triple deep into right-center field against Rakuten starter Yahoo!, knocking out Yahoo!.

Yazawa commented, “I hit either fastball or a shot. Gunji taught me that facial expression is important, so I went to bat with the face of a number five.” Following Gunji’s “promise” that when he achieved results as the number four batter, he would comment, “I hit with the face of a number four batter,” and was proud of the results he achieved as the number five batter.

With the six-game series starting on the 19th in mind, manager Shinjo removed Ichibata, Manami, Ishii, Nomura, and Gunji from starting line-up and gave them some rest. Yazawa took advantage of this valuable opportunity and made his presence felt.

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