After securing another out, Cuba took the field once more with Antonio at the helm.
Ken was first in the batters box to start and originally was filled with confidence. Despite not facing a sidearm pitcher before, he believed that with his high grades in Balance and Coordination, paired with his upgraded mental capacity would give him an edge.
Unfortunately for him, he underestimated how tricky the balls were.
The movements of the ball were something he’d never seen before, making it almost impossible to make a connection with the bat.
Ken missed big on two sinkers and just when he thought that he could predict the course, the final pitch was a devastating slider that completely bamboozled him.
“Strikeout!”
Ken was left scratching his head as he made his way back to the dugout. While the slider was what caught him off guard, he believed that he could track down the sinker if he saw it a few more times.
Both Aki and Kuro also followed suit, being struck out by Antonio to bring an end to the bottom of the 4th inning.
Thus the game entered a period of back and forth strikeouts. Both the Japanese and Cuban batteries were rock solid, not allowing their opponents to get any hits in the subsequent innings.
Yet unfortunately for Japan, Kei was starting to show signs of fatigue.
At the bottom of the 5th, his pitches were starting to become erratic. Perhaps it was due to the pressure of pitching in a high stakes environment like the World Cup, but he was beginning to throw more balls.
He allowed the opposing DH Miguel Tellez to walk with four balls, bringing Cuba back to the top of their batting order.
The leadoff batter Noel Vega hit a line drive back to Kei on the mound and was easily cleaned up with a throw to first.
“3 outs, changeover!”
As the Japanese players made their way off the field, Daichi waited for Kei. In all honesty he was a little concerned about the quality of the pitches he was receiving, especially in this inning.
“Hey man, are you all good?” He asked, trying to mask his concern.
“Hmm? Sure why?” Kei replied, wiping the sweat from his brow.
He didn’t seem worried and was doing a good job of hiding his fatigue, but it didn’t fool Daichi. As someone who paid close attention to his pitcher’s, he knew when something was not right.
“Your pitches are lacking the sharpness that you had at the start of the game. Are you getting tired?”
Kei’s features stiffened, but he quickly composed himself. He wasn’t expecting such a harsh evaluation out of the blue.
“I’m fine. I’ll pick it up again in the next inning.” He replied before walking off and leaving Daichi to trail behind.
Daichi narrowed his eyes, his mind torn. They would be facing the Lopez twins at the start of the next inning and they could not allow them to close the gap in score.
The problem was, they would be playing a game every day and only had 3 pitchers to choose from. Since Satoshi had pitched yesterday, he was meant to be resting today, meaning they only had one more viable option.
His gaze moved to Ken who was jogging in from the outfield.
‘Is it time?’
As everyone filed into the dugout, Daichi lagged behind and entered last.
“Coach, do you have a moment?” He asked Coach Takashi
Coach Takashi could see the concern on Daichi’s face yet his expression didn’t change.
“I know what you’re about to say, but I won’t be changing pitchers until the 7th inning.” He said simply, not even giving Daichi a chance to rebut.
“Ah…”
Daichi was taken aback for a moment, not expecting such a statement from the coach. Not only was he aware of his thoughts, he also seemed really stubborn on the matter.
Just as he was about to retort, he received a tap on the shoulder from his father.
“The onus is on you to keep us ahead until the 7th inning. We can’t afford to change our pitching rotation, especially this early into the World Cup.” Chris said, his expression soft.
He was silent for a while before nodding. Like he had expected, the coach’s didn’t want to call out Satoshi for this game, even if it meant they were risking losing.
“But what about Ken? He—”
“Daichi. This isn’t up for discussion.” Cutting off his son’s words, Chris frowned a little. He had thought that Daichi would get the hint, but he seemed a little stubborn in this case.
“Y-Yes sir.”
Having not got what he came for, Daichi was forced back to the bench, deep in thought. Even when Kei wasn’t looking fatigued, they had struggled with holding the Lopez twins back from hitting.
If it wasn’t for Ken’s heroics in the outfield, the last hit from Jorge would have been a home run and they’d be in a worse off position.
‘If they’ll change pitchers in the 7th, that means we’ll just need to get through the next inning…’
While this was happening, Atsushi had already gone up to bat for Japan to start the bottom of the 5th. He had managed to get a hit, but it was quickly tracked down by the short stop and sent to 1st base for an out.
Both Riku and Masayuki continued to struggle against the sidearm pitcher, both getting out shortly after.
So Japan was forced to go back onto the field for the start of the 6th inning. Despite being up on the scoreboard 5-3, the atmosphere seemed heavy.
This was because the two big hitters for Cuba would be up to bat soon.
“Batting 2nd, Left outfield, Ricardo.”
Daichi got into position and felt a considerable pressure come over him. He gazed at Kei on the mound and felt himself losing faith in their ability to keep Cuba at bay.
However, he shook his head in the next moment.
Will Kei be able to keep the Japanese team on top? Or will he fall over against the Lopez twins.
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