Category Archives: News

NPB wrap 4-23-21

Fujinami helps BayStars snap skid

BayStars 7, Tigers 1

At Koshien Stadium, DeNA’s Yuya Sakamoto (1-1) worked six solid innings, and of the three different Shintaro Fujinamis we’ve seen, protégé Fujinami (2013-2015), problem child Fujinami (2016-2019) and comeback Fujinami (2020-2021), Friday’s version definitely looked like the 2016-2019 version with four runs from six walks in four-plus innings.

The BayStars’ win snapped a 12-game winless streak of 10 losses and two ties. With a 3-1 lead in the fifth, Tigers rookie Teruaki Sato made the misplay of the game. He charged a two-out ground ball into right, overran it. Kazuki Kamizato, who scored on the play, was credited with a three-run single.

The BayStars opened the scoring in the second in a most Fujinami way, on a groundout after three no-out second inning walks. Fujinami walked in the BayStars’ third run by following Keita Sano’s third-inning RBI double with three more straight walks.

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Giants 2, Carp 1

At Tokyo Dome, Yomiuri ace Tomoyuki Sugano (2-1) threw his second straight complete game victory, outdueling Hiroshima’s Allen Kuri (3-2) with all three runs coming on home runs, a two-run fifth-inning shot by Giants catcher Takumi Oshiro and Seiya Suzuki’s fifth home run in the sixth.

Afterward, Sugano was asked about Oshiro’s contribution.

“He called a good game, and helped me attack aggressively. I feel grateful for him since I have to say he carried me,” Sugano deadpanned as the Tokyo Dome crowd, prohibited from vocal cheering nevertheless erupted in laughter.

Oshiro shared the hero interview podium and one would have thought he was Giants manager Tatsunori Hara’s nephew instead of Sugano. Hara loves to tease reporters when asked about tactics by refusing to give away secrets.

Asked about his approach to the game, Oshiro borrowed from his skipper’s playbook, and said, “I can’t say that. It’s a secret.”

Giants-Carp highlights

Swallows 6, Dragons 4

At Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium, Tetsuto Yamada homered twice, doubled, scored three runs and drove in three in the Yakult Swallows’ come-from-behind win over the Chunichi Dragons. Yamada, who hit 12 homers last year, has seven in 2021.

Rookie Yasunobu Okugawa started for the Swallows and again proved very hittable as the Dragons put swings on lots of his pitches as he surrendered four runs on10 hits over five innings without issuing a walk. Lefty Takahiro Matsuba took a 4-1 lead into the fifth inning. Yamada’s RBI double, the Swallows’ third hit of the inning, chased him. Munetaka Murakami plated Yamada for the tying run with his third hit of the day, off new reliever Hiroshi Suzuki.

The Swallows were denied a run in the third when the umpires ruled Munetaka Murakami safe at the plate as he tried to score from second on a wild pitch. The Dragons asked for a video review of Matsuba’s tag, and the umps ruled Matsuba had tagged him without reference to the pitcher’s obstruction for blocking off the plate without the ball.

We’ve had lots of obstruction calls decided after video review, but no ump in Japan to my knowledge had ever ruled obstruction on the field. This was another case of the umps forgetting the rule book.

Two new Swallows made their debuts, first baseman Jose Osuna, who went 2-for-4 with a double, and outfielder Domingo Santana, who was hitless in four at-bats.

Hawks 3, Marines 2

At Chiba’s Zozo Marine Stadium, four straight one-out hits off Lotte Marines closer Naoya Masuda (0-3) brought the SoftBank Hawks from a run down in the top of the ninth and closer Yuito Mori closed the door on the hosts with his seventh save. All three of Masuda’s losses have come against the Hawks.

Lotte starter Toshiya Nakamura was handed a two-run lead in his season debut against SoftBank’s Shuta Ishikawa, who couldn’t locate his breaking pitches and hit three batter and scared a few others.

SoftBank’s Yuki Yanagita, however, did that thing of his where he seems to flick at a pitch away and still drive it 400 feet to the opposite field. His fourth homer, in the fourth, made it 2-1 Lotte and there it stood.

Nakamura worked five innings, and three Marines relievers, Fumiya Ono, Frank Herrmann and Yuki Karakawa kept the champs at bay. Hawks manager Kimiyasu Kudo went with a pair of relievers to get Ishikawa out of a two-on two-out pickle in the seventh.

Marines manager Tadahito Iguchi said of his closer’s troubles against the Hawks, “We need to discuss that in a meeting. He’s not getting the job done.”

Buffaloes 6, Fighters 1

At Sapporo DomeTaisuke Yamaoka (1-2) struck out 10 while allowing a run over eight innings to pace the Orix Buffaloes to their fourth straight win, over last-place Nippon Ham. Drew VerHagen (0-1) worked into the fourth inning in his second start, allowing two runs in the fourth on Steven Moya’s first homer.

Lefty Ryusei Kawano followed VerHagen to the mound as he had a week earlier, but failed to replicate the three perfect innings he twirled against the Eagles. New Fighters third baseman Ronny Rodriguez fumbled a routine two-out grounder, allowing in a run and Kotaro Kurebayashi somehow pulled a low pitch away into the left-field corner for a two-run double that put the game on ice.

The Fighters remained without a win at Sapporo Dome.

Eagles 2, Lions 2

At Sendai’s Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi, the Rakuten Eagles’ Hideaki Wakui started against the Seibu Lions’ Kona Takahashi in a pitchers’ duel that neither team deserved to lose, and this being Japan, neither did.

Cory Spangenberg made an impact in his Lions’ season debut, walking twice singling and tying it 1-1 in the sixth with an RBI double.

Rakuten’s two new imported hitters also made their first appearances this year. Rusney Castillo injured a left oblique muscle fouling off a pitch in the second in his first at-bat and left the game. Brandon Dixon, not to be confused with Seibu rookie Brandon Tyson Tysinger or Orix Buffaloes reliever Brandon Dickson, homered in his second at-bat to open the scoring.

Rakuten’s Hiroto Kobukata homered in the sixth to tie it, but a Takumi Kuriyama leadoff single in the eighth and a two-out Spangenberg walk allowed Takeya Nakamura to tie it with an RBI single past short against his former teammate Wakui.

Lions shortstop Sosuke Genda probably would have gotten to the ball, but Kobukata isn’t in that class.

Starting pitchers

Masahiro Tanaka returns to Sendai on Saturday for his first game at his old home park since he saved Game 7 of the 2013 Japan Series.

Pacific League

Fighters vs Buffaloes: Sapporo Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Naoyuki Uwasawa (1-2, 4.81) vs Sachiya Yamasaki (0-2, 3.63)

Eagles vs Lions: Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Masahiro Tanaka (0-1, 5.40) vs Keisuke Honda (-)

Marines vs Hawks: Zozo Marine Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Manabu Mima (2-0, 2.49) vs Rei Takahashi (1-1, 4.37)

Central League

Giants vs Carp: Tokyo Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Shosei Togo (2-1, 2.92) vs Koya Takahashi (0-0, 0.00)

Swallows vs Dragons: Jingu Stadium 5:30 pm, 4:30 am EDT

Hirotoshi Takanashi (2-0, 3.38) vs Yuya Yanagi (1-1, 1.73)

Tigers vs BayStars: Koshien Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Masashi Ito (1-0, 2.25) vs Taiga Kamichatani (0-2, 7.80)

Active roster moves 4/23/2021

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 5/3

Central League

Activated

GiantsIF5Hiroyuki Nakajima
GiantsIF37Akihiro Wakabayashi
GiantsIF48Zelous Wheeler
GiantsOF8Yoshihiro Maru
CarpP46Mikiya Takahashi
SwallowsIF13Jose Osuna
SwallowsOF25Domingo Santana

Dectivated

GiantsP50Chiaki Tone
GiantsIF00Dai Yuasa
GiantsOF36Shingo Ishikawa
GiantsOF39Soichiro Tateoka
BayStarsP22Taisei Irie
CarpP66Atsushi Endo
SwallowsIF00Nobuyuki Okumura
SwallowsIF46Kengo Ota

Pacific League

Activated

MarinesP48Toshiya Nakamura
MarinesC32Toshiya Sato
LionsIF22Cory Spangenberg
EaglesIF9Brandon Dixon
EaglesIF36Yasuhito Uchida
EaglesOF12Rusney Castillo
BuffaloesP30Kohei Suzuki

Dectivated

MarinesP20Taiki Tojo
MarinesC39Yuta Yoshida
LionsIF31Ryusei Sato
BuffaloesP13Hiroya Miyagi

NPB wrap 4-22-21

Buffaloes win thriller

Buffaloes 7, Lions 6

At Osaka’s Kyocera Dome, Orix’s Takahiro Okada tied the game with two outs in the top of the ninth with a two-out, three-run triple, and Yutaro Sugimoto plated the game winner with a single off Seibu closer Tatsushi Masuda (1-0).

The Buffaloes, trailing 6-3 after Aito Takeda’s three-run eighth-inning double put the Lions up, opened with singles by Yuma Mune and Masataka Yoshida. Adam Jones, nearly missed extra-bases before grounding sharply to third. Ryusei Sato tried to get the easy force at second, but all were safe on a fielder’s choice after a video review kept the game alive.

Okada, who had already double and singled, followed with a good at-bat in which he fouled off a pair of two-strike pitches before pulling a fly into the right-field corner. Sugimoto grounded a good 3-2 pitch into the hole at short but Golden Glover-winner Sosuke Genda couldn’t stop it.

Reed Garrett struck out two in a 1-2-3 seventh and was the pitcher of record for the Lions before the blown save. The Buffaloes’ three-run hole was partly due to a decision to prevent the runner on second from scoring with two outs in the eighth. With the outfield pulled way in, the Buffaloes had no chance to catch Takeda’s high fly to the warning track in center.

Fighters 3, Marines 1

At Chiba’s Zozo Marine Stadium, Takahide Ikeda  (2-2) a journeyman right-hander acquired in a low-voltage March trade with Rakuten turned in his second straight solid effort for Nippon Ham, allowing a run on six hits and a walk while striking out seven over seven innings. Lotte starter Daiki Iwashita (2-2) allowed two runs over five innings.

The Fighters broke a 1-1 tie in the second on a Ryo Watanabe single and a Ryo Ishikawa double. The pair contributed to a sixth-inning insurance run as Watanabe doubled and went to third on an Ishikawa single before scoring on a sac fly.

Thursday’s games marked the Japan debut for new Fighter Ronny Rodriguez, who batted sixth and started at third. He struck out swinging twice in three at-bats. Bryan Rodriguez began his fourth season in Japan with a scoreless eighth before closer Toshihiro Sugiura earned his fifth save.

Giants 8, Tigers 3

At Tokyo Dome, Hanshin starter Takumi Akiyama (2-2) more than doubled his ERA in a three-inning crash and burn, walking none but giving up six runs on 10 hits. Giants starter Yuki Takahashi (4-0) gave up a weird double to open the game, but managed to give up two doubles and a walk but no runs in the first.

Takahashi entered with a 0.41 ERA. He walked four and allowed three runs over six innings, but the game was never out of hand. Kazuma Okamoto, who homered twice on Wednesday, opened the scoring with a two-run first-inning double and scored on a Shinnosuke Shigenobu single.

Hayato Sakamoto made up for being caught looking in the first by capping the Giants’ second with a two-run home run. Prior to the game’s start, NTV’s video feed showed two Tigers fans walking into Tokyo Dome, one wearing a Fumiya Hojo shirt, which made me wonder if Hojo was currently even on the first team. He proved he was with a two-run pinch-hit homer in the sixth.

Giants-Tigers highlights

Dragons 1, BayStars 0

At Yokohama Stadium, Koji Fukutani (1-1), Chunichi’s surprising Opening Day starter, allowed four hits and a walk over eight innings while striking out seven, and the Dragons scored the game’s only run on a ninth-inning throwing error after stranding six runners over the first four innings.

Pinch-runner Wataru Takamatsu scored from first on a two-out ninth-inning infield single. Shortstop Tatsuhiro Shibata made a diving stop to keep a grounder in the infield, but his needless throw to first short-hopped Neftali Soto for an error. With the win – and the BayStars’ 10th straight losing decision, the Dragons now have their first win streak of the season.

DeNA official: Bad start former manager’s fault

BayStars starter Haruhiro Hamaguchi worked six scoreless innings despite walking six. He allowed back-to-back singles to open the game and another single in the fourth.

Shibata foreshadowed his ninth-inning error with a wide throw to first. His attempted throw to complete a 3-6-1 double play missed but was saved when first base coach Masahiro Araki couldn’t get out of the way. The Dragons lead runner tried to score but was out first-to-short-to-first base coach-to-pitcher-to-third-to-catcher. Does this go as “3-6-C-1-5-2?”

Tyler Austin had two of the BayStars’ four hits.

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Swallows 7, Carp 4

At Hiroshima’s Mazda Stadium, the fourth time taking the lead was the charm as Yakult finally overcame Hiroshima, breaking a 4-4 eighth-inning tie on a Kotaro Yamasaki’s two-run triple off 24-year-old lefty Atsuya Horie (0-1).

Scott McGough (2-0) who allowed the Carp to tie it for the third time on two hits and an error in the seventh, got the win after one-out pinch-hit singles by Yudai Koga and former batting champ Shingo Kawabata set the table for Yamasaki. The Swallows leadoff man had walked twice and scored on rookie Hiyu Motoyama’s third-inning homer and came home in the eighth on a Motoyama squeeze.

Hiroki Kondo and Taichi Ishiyama each worked a scoreless inning to close it out with Ishiyama getting his Japan-best seventh save.

DeNA skipper Miura throws extra BP

First-year DeNA BayStars manager Daisuke Miura dusted off his pitching form on Thursday and threw over 100 pitches in early batting practice in an effort to wake up his offense, Hochi Shimbun reported.

“Out batting practice pitchers are all pretty tired,” said Miura, the BayStars former ace. “It didn’t mean anything. I was glad I was able to throw strikes.”

Former Lotte coach, Hawks player Robson dies

Tom Robson, who finished his playing career in 1976 with the Nankai Hawks and returned to coach the Lotte Marines starting in 1995, died of natural causes in Chandler, Arizona, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Bobby Valentine, who had Robson on his coaching staffs with Texas, Lotte and the Mets, tweeted the sad news. Robson stayed on with the Marines in 1996 after Valentine was fired. He rejoined Valentine with the Mets and returned to Japan with him as a Marines coach from 2004 to 2006.

Starting pitchers

Pacific League

Fighters vs Buffaloes: Sapporo Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Drew VerHagen (0-0, 3.00) vs Taisuke Yamaoka (0-2, 2.74)

Eagles vs Lions: Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Hideaki Wakui (3-0, 1.24) vs Kona Takahashi (3-0, 3.18)

Marines vs Hawks: Zozo Marine Stadium 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT

Toshiya Nakamura (-) vs Shuta Ishikawa (1-2, 3.25)

Central League

Giants vs Carp: Tokyo Dome 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT

Tomoyuki Sugano (1-1, 2.05) vs Allen Kuri (3-1, 2.77)

Swallows vs Dragons: Jingu Stadium 5:30 pm, 4:30 am EDT

Yasunobu Okugawa (1-1, 7.20) vs Takahiro Matsuba (0-2, 4.80)

Tigers vs BayStars: Koshien Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Shintaro Fujinami (2-0, 1.90) vs Yuya Sakamoto (0-1, 5.40)

Active roster moves 4/22/2021

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 5/2

Central League

Activated

CarpIF51Kaito Kozono

Dectivated

CarpIF61Masaya Yano

Pacific League

Activated

MarinesP37Fumiya Ono
MarinesOF38Akito Takabe
FightersIF53Ronny Rodriguez

Dectivated

MarinesOF2Kyota Fujiwara
EaglesC55Takaya Tanaka
EaglesIF30Toshitake Yokoo
EaglesIF48Yoshiaki Watanabe
FightersIF48Kyohei Ueno