Orix lefty Kei Igawa turned back the clock on Saturday, looking like the Sawamura Award winner of 10 years ago as he struck out nine in 5-1/3 innings in the Buffaloes' 2-0 victory over the Seibu Lions.
Igawa (2-1) had superb command of his once-deadly changeup to keep the Lions hitters guessing before leaving due to an issue with his pitching hand in the sixth inning. The former Hanshin Tigers ace and New York Yankee allowed four singles and hit a batter before a crowd of 24,895 at Seibu Dome in Saitama Prefecture.
"I do poorly in day games, so I wanted to give it my utmost," said the 33-year-old, who damaged the nail on the index finger of his pitching hand. "I don't throw hard, but I was on target with my slow stuff. I wanted to stay out of bad counts and dictate the pace. To do that, I wanted to get a lot of first-pitch strikes."