NPB: Sun Yi-lei fires a 154 kph fastball but gives up a run in one-third of an inning, Yang Po-hsiang hitless

Taiwanese pitcher Sun Yi-lei reached 154 kph, but his relief appearance for the Nippon-Ham Fighters lasted only one-third of an inning. He allowed two hits, a walk and one run as Nippon-Ham beat the Rakuten Eagles 5-2.

Yang Po-hsiang, Rakuten’s Taiwanese infielder, started at second base and batted ninth. He grounded out to the pitcher in the third inning and struck out against Nippon-Ham ace Hiroto Ito in the fifth. A pinch-hitter replaced him in the seventh, leaving him hitless in two at-bats and dropping his batting average to .222.

Nippon-Ham broke the game open with four runs in the third inning. Franmil Reyes hit his 31st home run of the season, a three-run shot, and Yutaka Gunji added another homer in the fifth to give the Fighters a 5-0 lead. Rakuten scored once in the seventh, ending Ito’s shutout bid.

Sun entered in the eighth against Rakuten’s Ryu Monoyama, who immediately singled to right. Sun then recorded an out on a fly ball by Carson McCusker, threw a wild pitch and gave up an RBI single to YG Yasuda. After walking Ryosuke Tatsumi, he left the game. Mizuki Hori stopped the rally, and closer Taisei Yanagawa finished the win. Ito allowed one run over seven innings to earn his ninth victory, while Rakuten starter Takahisa Hayakawa took his seventh loss after giving up five runs in six innings.