The peace was brief. Shintaro Fujinami (Oakland Athletics), a one-time rival of Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Angels), dedicated Thurman’s game-winning home run.
Fujinami suffered his eighth loss of the season (5-5) after giving up two runs (one earned) on two hits with three strikeouts in 1⅔ innings of relief in the first game of the second half of the 2023 Major League Baseball World Series against the Minnesota Twins at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California, USA on Friday (July 15).
Fujinami took the mound with runners on first and second in the eighth inning, tied 3-3, and got Carlos Correa to ground into a double play, shortstop to first base. After a drawn-out battle that lasted 10 pitches, he induced a 99.4-mph (159-kilometer) four-seam fastball to the second baseman. It was a successful pitching change.
Fujinami took the mound in the ninth inning, still tied 3-3, and gave up a leadoff double to Donovan Solano. He struck out the next batter, Byron Buxton, to give himself some breathing room, but then faced Joey Gallo for the game-winning run. A two-pitch, 99.9 mph (160 km/h) fastball from 0B-1S sailed over the right field fence. It was the sixth homer he had allowed in 14 games since June 3 against the Miami Marlins. 가입머니
Fujinami then struck out Willie Castro and Alexi Kirillov in succession to end the inning, but only after giving up two runs. Oakland fell to 4-5, and Fujinami took the loss.
Fujinami was a high school rival of Ohtani’s who threw a 160-kilometer fastball. He made his professional debut with the Hanshin Tigers and won double-digit games for three consecutive years starting in 2013, but he fell short of expectations after 2017 due to pitching difficulties and injuries. In 2020, he was indefinitely demoted to the second team for being late for team training following a COVID-19 infection.
After going 3-5 with a 3.38 ERA in 16 games last year, Fujinami pursued the major leagues through the posting system after the season ended, and finally realized his dream of playing in the United States when he signed a one-year, $3.25 million deal with Oakland in January.
As expected, Fujinami struggled through the month of April, going winless and posting a 13.00 ERA in four losses, starting with eight runs in 2⅓ innings in his debut against the Los Angeles Angels on April 2. He continued his slump in May with a 10.50 monthly ERA without much of a turnaround.
Fujinami entered June with a 3.97 monthly ERA and a six-game scoreless streak from June 29 against the New York Yankees to July 10 against the Boston Red Sox, but he went on a tear again.
Fujinami’s ERA, which once soared to 30.86, has fallen to 9.06.