[Rakuten] Spencer Howard leaves the game for the second consecutive game, his first loss of the season: “I thought I’d overcome it and do my best, but…” | Pacific League

[Rakuten] Spencer Howard who suffered his first loss of the season after being forced to leave the game for the second consecutive game, said, “I thought I’d overcome it and do my best, but…”

Sports Hochi

2025.9.29(月) 22:17

Pacific League: Orix 4-0 Rakuten (29th, Kyocera Dome)

Rakuten pitcher Spencer Howard started for the first time this season after a five-day break, but allowed a sacrifice sacrifice fly in the first inning and a two-run home run in the second. After throwing his first pitch to Kita with one out in the fourth inning, he left mound for treatment and was taken out of the game. He threw 56 pitches in 3 1/3 innings, giving up three hit and three runs resulting in his first loss in his ninth game of the season. Manager Miki revealed, “His arm was a little stiff again, so we avoided it,” and Howard expressed regret, saying, “I was trying to push through it and do my best, but I came out too strong again.”

In his last appearance on the mound on September 23rd against Nippon-Ham (ESCON), where he earned his fifth win, he was taken out in the middle of the seventh inning. He reportedly had the same symptoms as he did then. “It doesn’t matter if there’s a five-day break, I guess this is how baseball ends up,” he reflected. It’s highly likely that this will be his last appearance of the season, but it ended in a disappointing result.

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