Sorry folks, but I’m going to need to keep this super short tonight, since I have an early morning podcast recording, think you’ll enjoy that, and a hospital visit to get an appointment for hip surgery.
So here are the scores:
- Tigers 10, Swallows 2 — Mel Rojas broke up a scoreless game with a three-run third-inning homer off Cy Sneed (6-5) and the Tigers, losers of eight straight, poured it on late.
- BayStars 4, Giants 3 — DeNA extended its franchise-record home winning streak to 14 games after the third straight game with a tie-breaking homer, after Neftali Soto did those honors for two days, it was Keita Sano’s turn. The win pulled DeNA to within six games of the first-place Swallows.
- Dragons 6, Carp 1 — The Dragons avoided being swept on the road, which is a moral victory for Japan’s worst road team. Dayan Viciedo doubled in a pair of first-inning runs and scored another.
- Lions 8, Hawks 5 — Brian O’Grady broke a first-inning tie with a three-run homer as Seibu took two of three from the second-place Hawks to increase their PL lead to 2-1/2 games.
- Eagles 2, Fighters 1 — Rakuten battling tooth and nail with Orix for the third playoff spot, sweep their series in Sapporo.
On Friday, Roki Sasaki, who was rained out of his start against Orix on Wednesday, will start against Rakuten. He’s 0-1 against them in three starts this year with a 4.70 ERA.
Friday’s starting pitchers
Eagles vs Marines: Miyagi Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Takayuki Kishi (7-6, 3.21) vs Roki Sasaki (6-3, 1.96)
Lions vs Buffaloes: Seibu Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Tatsuya Imai (3-1, 2.70) vs Yoshinobu Yamamoto (10-5, 1.70)
Hawks vs Fighters: Fukuoka Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Yugo Bando (0-0, 3.12) vs Cody Ponce (2-3, 3.58)
Giants vs Tigers: Tokyo Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Iori Yamasaki (4-3, 3.25) vs Yuki Nishi (8-7, 2.19)
BayStars vs Carp: Yokohama Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Shinichi Onuki (9-4, 2.44) vs Shogo Tamamura (1-1, 3.60)
Dragons vs Swallows: Nagoya Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Yudai Ono (5-7, 2.70) vs Yasuhiro Ogawa (5-7, 2.89)
Active roster moves 8/18/2022
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 8/28
Central League
Activated
| Tigers | P | 15 | Junya Nishi |
| Tigers | IF | 51 | Takumu Nakano |
| BayStars | P | 42 | Fernando Romero |
Dectivated
| Tigers | OF | 32 | Kota Inoue |
| Dragons | P | 17 | Yuya Yanagi |
| BayStars | C | 36 | Shuto Takajo |
Pacific League
Activated
| Eagles | P | 41 | Yoshinao Kamata |
| Fighters | C | 30 | Shingo Usami |
Dectivated
| Buffaloes | OF | 27 | Kendai Gen |
| Eagles | P | 71 | Kazuki Yoshikawa |
| Fighters | P | 62 | Daiki Mochizuki |
| Fighters | C | 65 | Yuki Umebayashi |
