On Tuesday we learned that Nippon Ham Fighters manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo has asked the club to reward players in their salary evaluations for playing like he did. And let’s just say, Shinjo has a high opinion of how much he contributed to his team’s victories as a player, but his “Don’t worry be happy” facade slipped a little after Tuesday’s game.
We also had Masahiro Tanaka on the mound as the Pacific League-leading Rakuten Eagles tried to extend their franchise-record winning streak to 11 straight decisions and some bad COVID news for the Chunichi Dragons.
Shall we get started?
Eagles 7, Marines 0: At Miyagi Stadium, Tanaka (4-1) pitched really well but won a pitchers’ duel against Lotte lefty Kazuya Ojima (0-4) largely because the Eagles’ offense got better bounces than the Marines’ did, scoring one run on a fluke two-out bases-loaded single and getting a bonus run on a wild pitch before José Marmolejos broke things open with a two-run double in Rakuten’s five-run eighth.
Tanaka, whose fastball has been much sharper this season, pretty much put it where he wanted it, allowing him to destroy hitters with his slider and splitter as he struck out seven and walked one while allowing four singles.
The Marines nearly broke through on a pair of ground ball singles in the fifth, but Adeiny Hechavarria smoked a ball to short that could easily have gotten through. With two outs and two on in the Eagles’ fifth, Ojima barely missed with a 3-2 pitch to Haruki Nishikawa, loaded the bases and pinch-hitter Ginji Akaminai hit a dribbler that Hechavarria at short nearly made a play on.
“I’d prefer not to.”
–Ginji Akaminai when asked to go back over his game-winning RBI “single.”
A wild pitch made it 2-0 before Tsuyoshi Yamasaki sparked the eighth-inning rally. He walked, stole second, and beat the throw to third on a grounder to short, a play I love, giving the Eagles an extra base, an out and an extra base runner. Marmolejos then blasted a one-out pitch off the fence in left to chase Ojima.
Buffaloes 4, Fighters 2: At Sapporo Dome, Taisuke Yamaoka (3-1) struck out nine over eight innings while allowing two runs, one earned. Keita Nakagawa doubled in Koji Oshiro and scored on a two-out delayed double steal.
Oshiro homered in the third off lefty Takayuki Kato (2-3) in the third, and Yamaoka gave up a two-run homer to Yuki James Nomura in the fourth. One run was unearned because Yamaoka failed to make a good play on a bouncer and was charged with an error.
Yoshihisa Hirano worked the ninth for his 10th save.
After the game, manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo skipped his presser, and as he does in such cases, left a comment for the press.
“There was no sign players looked like they wanted to remain with the major league club. If you don’t swing the bat, you’re never going to get results.”
–Typically upbeat manager Tsuyoshi “BIGBOSS” Shinjo.
Carp 3, Tigers 0: At Koshien Stadium, Ryan McBroom hit a two-run sixth-inning home run and Hiroki Tokoda (4-1) threw a five-hit seven-strikeout shutout. Yuki Nishi (2-3) allowed two runs in six innings to take the loss.
The win moved the Carp to within one game of the Central League-leading Swallows.
BayStars 3, Giants 1: At Niigata Prefectural Baseball Stadium, Fernando Romero (3-3) allowed a run over seven innings, while Giants rookie Iori Yamasaki had one bad first inning and that was the ball game. Two singles and a hit batsman loaded the bases. A Shugo Maki sac fly and a Neftali Soto flare single made it 3-0.
On one of those nights where the BayStars bullpen functioned like it was supposed to, Hiromu Ise struck out the side in the eighth and Yasuaki Yamasaki struck out Adam Walker and Kazuma Okamoto to end the game and earn his fourth save.
Dragons 1, Swallows 0: At Jingu Stadium, Yakult stranded 10 runners, while Ariel Martinez had three of Chunichi’s seven hits, including his first home run, off Yasuhiro Ogawa (1-3), while Shinnosuke Ogasawara (2-1) went six innings for the Dragons. Raidel Martinez pitched the ninth and stranded two but earned his ninth save.
Earlier in the day, the Dragons announced that starting catcher Takuya Kinoshita and third baseman Takuya Ishikawa have both been sidelined by COVID-19. After the game, Chunichi revealed that rookie outfielder Kosuke Ukai has also tested positive.
Starting pitchers
Fighters vs Buffaloes: Sapporo Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Chihiro Kaneko (0-1, 7.20) vs Jacob Waguespack (0-1, 1.69)
Eagles vs Marines: Miyagi Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Masaru Fujii (1-0, 0.00) vs Tokito Kawamura (1-0, 7.20)
Hawks vs Lions: Fukuoka Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Nao Higashihama (3-1, 3.16) vs Chihiro Sumida (1-3, 2.65)
Swallows vs Dragons: Jingu Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Daiki Yoshida (-) vs Yuichiro Okano (0-1, 11.57)
Tigers vs Carp: Koshien Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Takumi Akiyama (1-3, 6.16) vs Allen Kuri (1-1, 2.13)
Active roster moves 5/10/2022
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 5/20
Central League
Activated
| Tigers | IF | 31 | Jefry Marte |
| Tigers | IF | 55 | Naomasa Yokawa |
| Giants | P | 19 | Iori Yamasaki |
| Giants | IF | 10 | Sho Nakata |
| Dragons | P | 67 | Kotaro Ueda |
| Dragons | C | 27 | Shota Ono |
| Dragons | OF | 7 | Akira Neo |
| Dragons | OF | 31 | Masaru Watanabe |
| BayStars | P | 35 | Tomoya Mikami |
| BayStars | OF | 52 | Seiya Hosokawa |
Dectivated
| Swallows | P | 18 | Naruki Terashima |
| Tigers | IF | 00 | Yasuhiro Yamamoto |
| Dragons | IF | 2 | Takaya Ishikawa |
| Dragons | OF | 6 | Ryosuke Hirata |
Pacific League
Activated
| Buffaloes | IF | 10 | Koji Oshiro |
| Buffaloes | OF | 38 | Ryoto Kita |
| Marines | P | 60 | Rikuto Yokoyama |
| Eagles | P | 71 | Kazuki Yoshikawa |
| Eagles | OF | 50 | Atsuki Muto |
| Lions | P | 69 | Yoshinobu Mizukami |
Dectivated
| Eagles | IF | 0 | Hiroto Kobukata |
