A day after Japan had two Madduxes, there were three shutouts, two of which were complete games. Off the field, the Orix Buffaloes got some good news and bad news, while Seibu infielder Ryusei Sato is out with a left-wrist fracture, and the Lotte Marines announced that Roki Sasaki has had another setback and is being deactivated.
Thursday’s games:
Tigers 5, Buffaloes 0: At Osaka UFO Dome, Yuki Nishi (3-3) shut out his former team on six hits and no walks while striking out four. It took Hanshin three scoring opportunities before the Tigers cashed in their first one against Daiki Tajima (3-3) in a four-run fourth. With one out and two on, a run scored on a grounder, with the batter safe at first on a fielder’s choice. Seiya Kinami doubled in one run and Shota Morishita doubled in two more.
Nishi retired 12 straight after a second-inning leadoff single, and then set down the next eight after a leadoff double in the sixth. The Buffaloes’ loss snapped a seven-game win streak.
On Wednesday in Japan, Hiromi Ito and Chihiro Sumida each tossed a Maddux, while each league’s front-runner got roughed up by the rival league’s cellar dweller, including one in which an 18-year-old catcher fresh out of high school had a big major league debut. Also, the Japan Series rematch series went to Game 2 in Osaka. In other news, the Buffaloes called up Leandro Cedeno, while the Yakult Swallows brought back setup man Noboru Shimizu for the first time in a month and a half, and he said he has fixed those things that made him ineffective in April
Wednesday’s games:
Fighters 7, Dragons 0: At Kitahiroshima Taxpayers Burden Field, Hiromi Ito (6-1) struck out seven while holding Chunichi to three singles and no walks in a 98-pitch Maddux to snap the Fighters’ three-game losing streak.
Chunichi’s Shinnosuke Ogasawara (2-6) retired the first two hitters in the fourth before three singles put a run on the board and Chusei Mannami made it 4-0 with his eighth home run. Former Dragon Yuya Gunji made it 5-0 off his former batterymate Ogasawara with his sixth home run. Nippon Ham’s Daiki Narama’s two-run eighth-inning single completed the rout.
