On Wednesday, for the second straight day, Rakuten and Nippon Ham were rained on and the Hiroshima Carp had the last word — this time off the bat of Matt Davidson. And as the Seibu Lions put their stamp on a series in Kobe against Orix, Takeya Nakamura, too, let his bat do the talking, since — as his hero interviews show — it probably speaks more than he does.
Wednesday’s games
Hawks 3, Marines 0: At Fukuoka Dome, Kohei Arihara (7-4) bounced back from getting his butt kicked by the Buffaloes in his last start to hold Lotte to four hits and no walks over eight innings.
One-out first-inning singles by Masaki Mimori and Yuki Yanagita set up a run to score on a ground ball to first against Yuji Nishino (8-4). Kenta Imamiya capped the rally with a sac fly. A fifth-inning Ukyo Shuto RBI single completed the scoring.
We had five games Tuesday, with Rakuten and Nippon Ham getting rained out in Sendai. Cy Sneed did his best Shohei Ohtani impression, Yusuke Oyama continued to contribute like he’s raising money for Jerry’s kids, something Carter Stewart Jr. could relate to, and Hiroshima and DeNA played a wild one.
In other news, Buffaloes pitcher Taisuke Yamaoka spouted off, while Orix catcher Kenya Wakatsuki announced what he’ll do with his free agency rights this autumn.
Tuesday’s games
Lions 3, Buffaloes 0: At Kobe Green Stadium, Orix appeared headed for its third 1-0 game in its last three, but that plan came off the rails in the top of the eight. A one-out error, a two-out Takuya Hiruma double and a Kento Watanabe homer made it 3-0. Brooks Kriske, who joined Seibu this summer after pitching for DeNA last year, earned his second save.
