Yoshinobu Yamamoto cruised through eight innings before giving up a late run, leading the Orix Buffaloes to a 4-1win over the Seibu Lions on Saturday afternoon.
With extremely sharp command of his fastball and cutter, the 20-year-old kept hitters from putting the barrel of their bats on the ball, and made the Lions' jobs exponentially more difficult with an occasional curve or splitter they did not see coming.
The right-hander, a starter this season after starring in late relief last season, struck out 10 while allowing five hits and two walks over 8-1/3 innings at Kyocera Dome. Seibu's first two hits were grounders that just missed gloves, and the third a softly hit fly over the infield.