Sun Yi-Lei clocks 156 km/h in NPB start, takes loss against SoftBank

On June 20, Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters pitcher Sun Yi-Lei took the mound against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Over 4 innings of work, Sun surrendered 5 runs (4 earned) and 6 hits, including one home run. Despite hitting a career-high 156 km/h on the radar gun, the Fighters ultimately fell to the Hawks 10-7, with Sun tagged as the losing pitcher.

Sun, who earned his first NPB win on June 11 against the Yokohama DeNA BayStars with 6 shutout innings, faced early trouble in this matchup. After yielding hits to Tomoya Masaki and Tatsuya Yanagimachi, a groundout and a passed ball allowed the Hawks to take an early lead. Sun managed a clean second inning, but allowed a solo home run to Masaki in the third. After exiting in the fifth inning following a hit and a walk, relief pitcher Daiki Kikuchi gave up a three-run homer to Kensuke Kondo, two of which were charged to Sun's record.

Offensively, the Fighters struggled early before吉田賢吾 (Kengo Yoshida) hit a two-run shot in the fifth. Despite a late rally, the team could not overcome the deficit created by the Hawks, led by Kondo's stellar performance of two home runs and 7 RBIs. Sun finished his outing with 96 pitches, 4 strikeouts, and 2 walks, bringing his ERA to 3.60.