The balance of victory in this match seemed to favor the visiting Ham Team from the very beginning.
In the top half of the first inning, today's starting pitcher Shetsu Shou quickly got two outs: a fly ball to the outfield and a strikeout swiftly dealt with the first two batters of the Ham Team. It seemed like a relatively easy half inning.
However, when Dai-Kang Yang chose to swing fiercely at the first pitch of his first at-bat and sent the ball into the right-field stands in front of forty thousand home spectators, the rhythm of the game suddenly went awry.
As a pitcher who heavily relies on control and breaking balls, Shetsu Shou's pitching rhythm was disrupted right from the start; he had little time to adjust before facing Ham Team's heart of the lineup again.
Nakata Shou and Ohtani Shohai hit consecutive singles, and with pressure mounting at first and second base, Shetsu Shou made another mistake:
