Japanese pitcher Shintaro Fujinami (29, Oakland Athletics) earned a lucky relief win.
Fujinami took the mound as the team’s fourth pitcher against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field in Wisconsin, U.S., on Monday (Nov. 11) and pitched one inning of one-hit ball, striking out one and walking none to earn his third win of the season. Threw 15 pitches (nine strikes). His ERA, which was 11.57 before the game, dropped slightly to 11.23.
Fujinami took the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied 1-1. He walked Brian Anderson with one out, but struck out Joey Wimmer on a wild pitch. His sixth pitch, a 101.1 mph (162.7 km/h) four-seam fastball, was checked on a 안전놀이터 2-2 pitch count. Fujinami then struck out Victor Caratini to end the first inning. The Oakland bats scored the game-winning run in the top of the 10th inning to force Fujinami into the win column, and Joel Pyjames pitched a scoreless bottom of the 10th to end the game, 2-1.
Fujinami is no stranger to Korean baseball fans as a rival to fellow Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) alumnus Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels), who joined the organization in 2013. He signed with Oakland last winter on a one-year, $3 million (3.9 billion won) short-term deal, and many were eager to see what he would do when he realized his dream of making it to the big leagues. But he self-destructed in an exhibition game, striking out 17 in 18 and two-thirds innings. He started the opener, but his struggles with his pitches eventually pushed him to the bullpen, where the “walks=runs” formula continued.
In his first start of June, he gave up two runs on two hits (one homer) in one inning against the Miami Marlins. On June 6, he pitched one and two-thirds scoreless innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He didn’t give up a run, but he did walk two batters. In his third start of the month, he threw a scoreless inning and picked up the win. Fujinami’s June ERA is 4.91, which is lower than his April (13.00) and May (10.50) ERAs, but still below expectations.
