"Swing and miss, strikeout! Batter is out!"
With the umpire's call from behind home plate, Rakuten's unwavering cleanup hitter Andrew Jones was struck out by Lin Guanglai.
When it all happened, there was a noticeable pause in the cheers from the home fans; even old Jones in the batter's box was evidently dissatisfied with being struck out by three consecutive good pitches, almost barely holding back the urge to smash his bat, returning with full of anger to the dugout by home plate.
And then, fifth batter McCarthy swung at the very first pitch, sending a high flyball towards right field, easily caught by Hasegawa Yu who was guarding the right side of the field.
Including the three up, three down in the bottom of one inning, Rakuten's batting lineup had failed to get on base consecutively for five players, including key batters like Gintei and Jones, who were completely suppressed by Lin Guanglai, not even in peak form, at the opening stage.
