BASEBALL/Taiwanese pitcher Gu Lin throws complete game shutout for 2nd NPB win

Taipei, May 11 (CNA) Taiwanese pitcher Gu Lin Ruei-yang (古林睿煬) earned his second win in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) on Sunday, leading the Nippon Ham Fighters to a 4-0 victory over the Rakuten Eagles with his first complete game shutout in the Japanese league.

Gu Lin became only the third Taiwan-born player to record a complete-game victory in NPB with fewer than 100 pitches.

The last time a Taiwanese pitcher achieved the feat was in 2011, when Chen Wei-yin (陳偉殷) did so while playing for the Chunichi Dragons.

In his third NPB start after making the jump from Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) on Sunday, the right-hander retired 17 consecutive batters before giving up his first hit with two outs in the top of the sixth inning at the Fighters' home stadium, Es Con Field Hokkaido.

Offensively, Gu Lin's teammate Kengo Yoshida led off with a home run against Eagles starter Takayuki Kishi (2-2) in the bottom of the first, and Kazunari Ishii widened the gap to 3-0 with a two-run homer in the second.

Ultimately, the 24-year-old Taiwanese delivered a near-perfect game Sunday, striking out seven while allowing only two hits and no walks in a 98-pitch outing that led the Fighters to their fourth straight victory and the top spot in the Pacific League.

Gu Lin now has a 2-1 record with an ERA of 2.91.

During a postgame interview after being named MVP for the first time in his NPB career, Gu Lin expressed gratitude to his teammates for scoring a number of runs early in the game.

He also thanked catcher Yua Tamiya for guiding him through Sunday's game.

Fighters manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo told Japanese media that the team had planned to relieve Gu Lin in the top of the eighth inning, but he decided to let the Taiwan-born pitcher finish the game.

Shinjo praised Gu Lin's command -- particularly his sliders -- during Sunday's game, adding that he looks forward to the pitcher's future outings.

Gu Lin joined the Fighters during the offseason after six seasons with the Uni-Lions in the CPBL. He was the CPBL's 2024 MVP, leading the Tainan team to the Taiwan Series, though they lost the championship title to the CTBC Brothers.