"That shameless bastard! Does he have no honor?" Makoto shouted, clutching his beer precariously in his hand.
"What honor? Intentionally walking is a legitimate strategy, we do it all the time against Hiroki." Riku added, flashing Hiroki a crooked grin.
Hiroki ignored the guy, his eyes locked onto the big screen. He let out a sigh, shaking his head thoroughly. "Unless they get some runners on base before Daichi and Ken are up, they'll keep getting walked every time." He stated.
"Are they really going to keep doing that? Even if they get ahead eventually?" Shiro asked, a hint of frustration in his tone.
Hiroki shrugged, "Why wouldn't they? They're essentially reducing the risk of losing by purposefully not facing Detroit's decent batters."
Shiro sighed, "I played with Ken for 2 years, and watched him for years after that. I never saw him intentionally walk anyone."
"Ya know why!? Cos we're Japanese!" Makoto announced, stumbling to his feet. "We are warriors who face our opponents head on with no tricks. Only through this will our honor remain for generations to come."
Hearing his declaration, everyone at the table sent him a glare.
"This isn't the battlefield Makoto… This is baseball. Just because people play a certain way, doesn't make them less honorable." Masayuki added his two cents.
However, Makoto shook his head emphatically. "As a former captain of a Koshien winning team, I could never force my pitcher to intentionally walk someone."
Everyone at the table groaned in response. This washed up guy was talking as if he was the one who led his team to win at Koshien that year, when everyone present knew the situation.
Yusuke who was sitting next to Makoto patted his bald head, "Yes, yes Captain. You are such an honorable man, good job."
The words sounded a little patronizing, but the tipsy Makoto seemed to appreciate them.
He sat back in his chair and grinned, "I always knew you had potential Yusuke. Between you, Ken and Hiroki, we truly had the most talented team in High School that year."
With Makoto now calmed down, everyone could turn back to the big screen and check on the game. Unfortunately, Samson struck out, followed quickly by a grounder from Jaime Schoop.
It was pounced upon by Ryan and sent to John Berti at second base who was able to step on the bag and send a throw back to first, completing the double play.
Just like that, the bottom of the 2nd ended scoreless, despite the two intentional walks.
Back on the field, Ken and Daichi returned to the dugout with dark expressions. Being intentionally walked was stifling. While it was a runners instinct to try and get on base, not being given the chance to hit the ball was painful.
At least that's how Ken felt.
Perhaps this was one of the reasons why he had never tried to intentionally walk someone. But mostly, it was because of his pride. As an Ace pitcher, Ken believed that no one was better than him.
Of course he had the system and plenty of skills to back up his natural talent, so why would he need to resort to such tactics in order to win a game?
"We're going to need to get people on base before us, otherwise we won't be able to play offense at all." Daichi stated, grabbing his chest protector from his gear.
"Mmm." Ken nodded wordlessly in response. They were only in the 3rd inning now, they still had plenty of time to score some runs, he just needed to make sure that he kept the opponent from scoring from this point onward.
"How is your new glove?" Ken asked.
Daichi collected it from his bag and put it on, "Still a little stiff since its new, but the webbing shouldn't break this time, if that's what you're asking."
Ken chuckled, "Just making sure… I'll be throwing some heat from now on, just make sure you catch them alright?"
Daichi stood up and slapped him on the back hard, "You just worry about yourself on the mound, I'll catch whatever you throw at me."
Ken was about to dish out the same punishment but was interrupted by a figure.
"How are you guys feeling?" Mark Williams, their coach and grandfather asked, wearing a small smile.
"We're as good as you can be after being intentionally walked." Ken admitted wryly.
Mark laughed in response, "Well it looks like you two will be just fine. It might be annoying, but you need to be patient. It's still early on in the game, we'll have plenty of opportunity to get runners on base and runs on the board. Focus on each batter, don't grow complacent."
"Yes sir!" Ken said, saluting emphatically.
Mark shook his head and chuckled, moving aside. "Now hurry up, don't keep the fans waiting."
After hearing his grandfathers small pep talk, both Daichi and Ken were locked in as they ascended the stairs to the field. At no point did they expect tonight's game to be easy, so there was no point in getting frustrated.
The two brothers continued to dominate the Miami batting lineup, striking out 2 in succession before the designated hitter, James Groshans sent a grounder right to first base.
"3 outs, changeover."
The next inning, Kris Carpenter the 8th batter for the Ligers started off the batting. Like many expected, the 8th and 9th batters were easily dispatched before Ryan Greene appeared to face Ryan once more.
Despite it being his 2nd at-bat, Ryan could not even get a sniff of the ball.
Thus, the 3rd inning finished with the game remaining scoreless.
By now, everyone believed that the game would be a complete repeat of the first game they played over a week ago. It was going to be a pitchers duel, one that might even go into extra innings if this kept up.
However, in the bottom of the 4th, a sudden shift occurred, causing the home crowd to go nuts.
WHOOOOOOSH
WHACK!
"Adrian Baddoo hits a double! The Ligers now have a runner on 2nd with no outs."