Shohei Otani was sublime on Wednesday night. He was dazzling, superb, resplendent. He was all that and more, almost more than there are adjectives to describe him. Basically at Saitama Seibu Prince Dome on Wednesday night, Shohei Otani the pitcher was good enough, for a moment, to make you forget about Shohei Otani the batter.
Otani threw one of the best games of the season in a 1-0 Fighters victory over the Seibu Lions that clinched the Pacific League pennant. Of the Lions who started the game, only Tomoya Mori and Tatsuyuki Uemoto made it on base; only Shuta Tonosaki avoided striking out.
This was a start that will fan the flames of Otani's already burgeoning folk hero-like stature. On one of the most important stages the 22-year-old has performed on, he stood tall and delivered. He went the distance, allowing a single to Mori in the fifth and walking Uemoto in the ninth. He struck out 15, with 11 Lions going down swinging.