Former Yomiuri Giants pitcher Hisanori Takahashi predicted Tomoyuki Sugano would throw his third consecutive shutout on Tuesday night at Tokyo Dome. His former teammate, and current Yokohama BayStars manager Alex Ramirez, believed, and hoped, there would be a different outcome.
But if it wasn't abundantly clear after Sugano's last two outings it is now. The Giants ace has made it nearly impossible to bet against him. Almost as impossible as scoring just one run off him.
Sugano went the distance yet again, striking out nine in his third shutout in as many starts, and Hayato Sakamoto led the Kyojin at the plate in a 5-0 win over the BayStars in front of 45,259 at the Big Egg.