Jiei Okawa (大川慈英) took the mound in the middle of the eighth inning against the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and delivered effective relief. The first-round draft pick, a right-handed rookie, made his first competitive road appearance and showed that he is gaining form.
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters pitcher Jiei Okawa (大川慈英) took the mound in the middle of the eighth inning and delivered effective relief. The first-round draft pick, a promising young right-hander making his first road appearance, produced a strong outing.
The game was played at ZOZO Marine Stadium. Since returning to the top team for the game against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, he had made his first appearance of the season while trailing and went on to record his second relief appearance of the season. He had previously recorded his first hold after entering in relief from the 11th inning of an extra-inning game, and said he felt his pitching was gradually becoming more stable.
He described his own style as “spirited” and said he took confidence from being able to pitch calmly. Together with the circumstances of his previous appearances, his comments indicated that his form is currently improving.