Yomiuri Giants ace Shosei Dogo 안전놀이터(23) threw a complete game shutout, throwing a whopping 149 pitches.
Dogo started the game against the Yakult Swallows at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on March 3 and pitched nine innings, allowing one run on five hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts. Yomiuri won 2-1.
With the win, Dogo became the first team in the Central League to reach the 10-win plateau. In the Pacific League, Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Oryx) reached 10 wins. Dogo threw a whopping 149 pitches to complete the game. His third complete game of the season is the most in the league.
After striking out the side in the first inning, Dogo gave up a leadoff double to right to Munetaka Murakami. A walk put runners on first and second, but he got Osuna to ground out to shortstop to end the threat.
Back-to-back strikeouts in the third and fourth innings. With one out in the fifth, he gave up a double to left to Tetsuto Yamada and a single up the middle to Osuna to tie the game at 1-1.
Retired the side in order in the sixth and got Murakami to ground out to first base in the seventh, then gave up a single to left to Santana. Yamada grounded out to shortstop and Miyamoto struck out swinging to end the inning. The eighth inning ended with another triple play.
At the end of the eighth inning, Miyamoto had thrown 127 pitches. According to Japanese media outlet Daily Sports, after the top of the eighth, pitching coach Hideyuki Awano asked Togo if he could continue, and Togo replied, “Please let me finish.”
Then, with one out in the bottom of the eighth, Kazuya Okamoto hit a solo home run to break the 1-1 tie. Okamoto, the league’s home run leader, followed up his leadoff home run in the second inning with two solo shots. “Okamoto-san’s home run got us going,” Dogo said after the game.
Dogo led off the ninth inning with a single and a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs. He struck out Santana with a 150-kilometer fastball and got pinch-hitter Aoki to ground out to second base to put runners on second and third. He then faced Miyamoto on a 2B-2S count and got the final out on a 149-pitch, 150-kilometer fastball to left field to preserve the win.
After throwing a season-high 149 pitches for his second straight double-digit win, Dogo said, “It’s special. I want to praise myself, and I want to do my best to aim higher,” he said.
This is the third time he has thrown more than 140 pitches this season. Manager Yomiuri Hara said, “It’s a rare sight to see (a complete game) these days. It’s not common in our team,” praised manager Yomiuri Hara.
Dogo went 12-8 with a 2.62 ERA in 25 games last year, his first double-digit win total, and won the strikeout title (154).
He pitched for Team Japan at the World Baseball Classic in March, helping them win the title, and is 10-2 with a 2.43 ERA in 16 games this season.