Taiwan’s Hsu Jo-hsi on Wednesday pitched six scoreless innings with six strikeouts, leading the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to a 6-1 victory in his first start in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league.
The 25-year-old right-hander, who signed a three-year deal with the reigning NPB champion Hawks in December last year, took to the mound for the first time in an away game against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Sendai, Japan, in front of more than 24,500 fans.
In each of the first three innings, Hsu retired the Eagles, facing only three batters, with help from catcher Takashi Umino, who twice threw out runners that had reached base.
Photo: CNA
Hsu threw 86 pitches, notching six strikeouts over six scoreless innings against the Golden Eagles, while allowing only three hits and two walks.
The Hawks went on to win the game 6-1, improving their record to 5-0.
In a post-game interview, Hsu thanked his manager for the opportunity to start the game and his teammates for their strong defensive performance.
Hsu also singled out catcher Umino for praise, saying he had trusted his pitch calls and focused entirely on execution.
With the performance, Hsu became the first Taiwanese pitcher to win his inaugural start in an NPB game since Kuo Chun-lin did so for the Saitama Seibu Lions in 2015.
In yesterday’s game, the Eagles pipped the Hawks 5-4.
In other games finished before press time last night, the Orix Buffaloes defeated the Seibu Lions 7-3 at the Belluna Dome in Saitama, the Chunichi Dragons pipped the Yomiuri Giants 2-1 at the Vantelin Dome Nagoya and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows beat the Hiroshima Toyo Carp 2-1 at Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium in Tokyo.