Friday, April 07, 2006

Uehara Watch: Episode 2

Unlike his WBC pitching comrade, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kyojin ace Kouji Uehara experienced a downer in his second start of the year. Big things are expected of Uehara as the frontman of Japan's favorite team and all eyes were on him last night.

After being locked in a complete game pitching duel with Chunichi ace Kenshin Kawakami, legendary Dragons' third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami hit a sayonara (walk-off) home run against Uehara, who had pitched brilliantly until that point. The Dragons beat the Giants 5-1. You can tell by the reaction of Uehara in the photos how he felt about the moment. We'll have to see how he bounces back in his next start and how his Giants' teammates come back in the next ballgame.

Uehara's updated stats below (click to enlarge):

No comments: