The Cy Young Award Dallas Keuchel (Chiba Lotte Marines) failed to win even in his third appearance of this season. Rather, he is facing a losing battle ahead of the Pacific League’s “tie” record.
Keuchel started the 2024 Japanese professional baseball Seibu Lions at ZOZO Marine Stadium in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, on the 29th (Korea time), and spent five innings with 99 pitches, six hits (one homer), two walks, six strikeouts, and two runs (two earned runs).
Keuchel, who was drafted by the Houston Astros as the 221st overall pick in the 7th round of the Major League Rookie Draft in 2009, won the 2015 season Cy Young Award, including the Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers, and recently won the Chiba Lotte uniform after winning 103-92 with a 4.04 ERA in 282 appearances. It was because his skills fell noticeably and his position in the big leagues narrowed.
Keuchel, who joined Chiba Lotte, made a not bad first appearance in his debut match with the Softbank Hawks on the 17th by allowing three hits, two walks, three strikeouts, and two runs (two earned runs) during five innings, and then recorded a quality start+ (three earned runs or less in seven innings) in his showdown with the Orix Buffaloes on the 23rd. However, he failed to get support from the batters both times, and this trend continued.
He got off to a bad start. Keuchel started the game in the first inning by giving up a straight walk to Seibu’s leadoff hitter Shinya Hasegawa, who was “the overwhelmingly last” in the game. Despite his pitches slightly touching the strike zone, the umpire’s hand never went up. Keuchel, who was driven to the first and second bases after receiving a hit by Sosuke Genda, took a breather by striking out Manaya Nishikawa. He then erased a runner who was heading to the second base when Seibu double-stealed, and produced a second out count.
However, the only problem was the changeup on the second pitch that he threw against Ryu Sei Sato hit to the center of the strike zone, leading to a two-run homer to the left. Since then, Keuchel has hardly stabilized and had a hard time pitching as Shota Hiranuma hit the batter. Still, he ended the inning without allowing any additional runs by tying the follow-up hitter, Shuta Tonosaki, to the third baseman. 토토사이트
Keuchel quickly produced two outs in the second inning and hit a double, putting Hasegawa on the verge of another run, but in a critical situation, he struck out Hasegawa to end the inning. In the third inning, he also allowed a walk and a hit in the scoring position with two outs, but there was no run this time. Keuchel, who began to take the flow, struck out one and grounded out two in the fourth inning, creating the first three-out inning.
Keuchel took the mound in the fifth inning as well, and started the inning by striking out Hasegawa, his first batter. Later, he sent out a runner after receiving a hit from Genda, but he completed a two-run pitch in five innings by striking out his follow-up batter Nishikawa with a ground ball to the third baseman and striking out Sato. However, as Chiba Lotte’s batters were tied to Seibu’s mound on the day, the two-run homer he allowed in the first inning led to the winning run, and he took the first loss in his third appearance.
Keuchel’s loss on the day will also be remembered in history. From the opening game to the previous day (April 28), Chiba Lotte had been continuing its 16th consecutive win against Seibu. If the team wins on the day, it would have been on par with the 17th consecutive win by the Nankai Hawks against the Tokyo Orioles in 1965, but it ended up kneeling just before it achieved the “tie” record in the Pacific League. For Keuchel, it was regrettable.
