Nippon Professional Baseball’s Nippon Ham has lost 11 straight games for the first time in 18 years. They couldn’t hold on to a four-run lead and suffered a late loss.
The Nippon Hammers lost 4-5 to the Orix on April 22 at Kobe Stadium at Hotomoto Field in Japan.
The loss snapped an 11-game losing streak for the Nihon Hammers, which began on May 5 against SoftBank. The 11-game losing streak is the first in 18 years since 2005.
It was the first time in 11 games that the Nihon Hammers scored four or more runs, but there was some bad news as well, as their starting pitcher was hit by a pitch and had to be removed.
안전놀이터 In the second inning, the Hornets had two runners on base on an error and a hit by pitch. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, and two batters later, three straight singles put them in scoring position for a 4-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second, Orix Cedeno gave up a solo home run. It was Cedeno’s third straight game with a home run.
One inning later, starting pitcher Ito was hit in the left leg by a pitch and deflected, causing him to suffer a nagging injury. Continuing to pitch, Ito gave up a two-run homer to Noguchi in the second inning to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Ito was eventually removed early after throwing 76 pitches in five innings due to the lingering effects of the hit.
Nihon Ham gave up a run in the seventh inning to tie the game at 4-4, then gave up a game-tying home run to Wakatsuki on defense in the bottom of the ninth.
Nihon Ham manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo said after the game, “See you tomorrow. We can’t keep playing like this. We have to keep our heads down and keep our spirits up.”
Meanwhile, SoftBank also lost to Chiba Lotte 2-5 on the 22nd. It was SoftBank’s 10th straight loss. SoftBank has lost 10 consecutive games since their win over Nippon Ham on April 6.
According to Japanese media, it is the first time in history that two teams in the same league have lost more than 10 games in a row at the same time.