Tokyo International News Agency

The Yokohama DeNA BayStars secured their first home victory of the season on April 7th. In a game where pitchers Fukasawa, Hashimoto, Sakamoto, and Ise provided strong relief, and the offense notched over five runs, closer Yasuaki Yamasaki entered in the final inning. Despite a four-run lead, which is not typically a save situation, Yamasaki took the mound. In an unexpected turn, he gave up a two-run home run after a throwing error, making the game a nail-biting one-run difference. However, Yamasaki, often celebrated by fans for his “Yasuaki Theater” moments, showed no signs of wavering. He calmly retired the next three batters in order, contributing to the team's victory. On social media, expressions of relief like “That was close!” and “My stomach was churning” were plentiful, alongside numerous comments praising his resilience and ability to recover, such as “The home run wasn't needed, but it's impressive he didn't collapse from there,” “It'sさすが (as expected) th...

The Yokohama DeNA BayStars clinched their long-awaited first victory of the season on April 1st, presenting a joyous debut win to Manager Aikawa. What particularly excited fans was the stellar performance of closer Yasuaki Yamasaki, who flawlessly closed out the 9th inning. His comeback story garnered significant attention, with "Yasuaki" even becoming a trending topic on social media. In this game, new foreign pitcher Cox delivered a stable pitching performance, taking control of the game. The offense also showed strong cohesion, scoring three runs with concentrated hitting in the first inning and later featuring a home run by Miyazaki in the middle innings. Fans praised Cox, saying, "Nice pitching, Cox! That was splendid stability." Then came the 9th inning, and Yasuaki Yamasaki took the mound. After several seasons where there had been various discussions regarding his position as closer (known in Japan as the 'guardian deity'), he surprised fans with suc...