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NPB games of May 30, 2019

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Thursday was a big day for a couple of 20-year-old rookies as Sho Yamaguchi took a no-hitter into the seventh inning at Jingu Stadium, and Haruto Takahashi beat the Yomiuri Giants at Koshien Stadium.

The Yakult Swallows, meanwhile, moved to within two losses of their Central League record for consecutive losses.

Central League

Carp 13, Swallows 0

At Jingu Stadium, Hiroshima rookie Sho Yamaguchi (1-0) allowed one hit over seven scoreless innings in his first pro start, as he dealt Yakult its 14th straight defeat.

The 20-year-old Yamaguchi, Hiroshima’s second draft pick in 2017, started out relying on a good fastball and slider, and mixed in his curve and splitter as the game went along. He didn’t allow a hit until Yakult rookie Munetaka Murakami muscled a broken-bat flare over short with two out in the seventh.

Xavier Batista opened the scoring in the first off Yasuhiro Ogawa (1-7) with his 13th home run and his fourth over the past seven days. Ogawa made too many mistakes up in the zone, and with Yakult’s defense looking less than solid he allowed seven runs on nine hits and four walks over 4-1/3 innings.

BayStars 8, Dragons 1

At Nagoya Dome, Jose Lopez hit a first-inning grand slam off Chunichi rookie Akiyoshi Katsuno, while DeNA lefty Katsuki Azuma (3-1) struck out 10, while tossing a five-hitter to win his third straight start.

Tigers 5, Giants 2

At Koshien Stadium, Hanshin lefty Haruto Takahashi (1-0) struck out nine, while allowing four hits and walking two, while Pierce Johnson and Rafael Dolis each worked a scoreless inning of relief to finish off Yomiuri.

Tigers cleanup hitter, 24-year-old Yusuke Oyama, hit a three-run, first-inning homer off Taylor Jungmann (3-2) and singled home Yoshio Itoi from third in the fifth inning. Jungmann repeatedly fell behind in counts and walked five.

Pacific League

Fighters 8, Marines 0

At Sapporo Dome, Kohei Arihara (6-2) struck out a career-high 13 batters in a four-hitter without issuing a walk to win his 14th career game at the Nippon Ham’s main park, and his 14th against Lotte, whom he’s beaten more than any other team.

Marines starter Atsuki Taneichi (3-1), winner of his previous three starts, struck out eight over four innings, but allowed 11 hits and a pair of home runs.

Second-year slugger Kotaro Kiyomiya iced the game in the fourth inning with a three-run home run, the 8,000th in franchise history.

Hawks 5, Buffaloes 4

At Kyocera Dome, Orix’s defense gave away two unearned runs for the second straight game, helping SoftBank win a bullpen game against one of the PL’s more impressive young pitchers, 20-year-old rookie Tsubasa Sakakibara.

Alfredo Despaigne broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth with a two-run home run, and a 4-4 tie with an eighth-inning RBI single. Sakakibara allowed four runs, two earned, over six innings and did not figure in the decision.

In other news

  • Shun Takayama’s game-winning home run on Wednesday was the third sayonara grand slam in a game between the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants. It was the first by a pinch hitter.
  • Hanshin Tigers pitcher Shintaro Fujinami walked one batter and struck out two in three scoreless innings in a Western League game against Orix on Thursday.
  • SoftBank Hawks outfielder Akira Nakamura, who was diagnosed with an autonomic nerve disorder in March, could be activated as early as Friday, when he is expected to rejoin the first team for practice in Fukuoka after playing in a Western League game on Wednesday with no difficulties.
  • The Orix Buffaloes have activated infielder Kohei Suzuki, not to be confused with pitcher Kohei “K” Suzuki.
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NPB games of May 29, 2019

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There were a couple of big home runs from unexpected sources on Wednesday, while the Yakult Swallows continued to lose, dropping their 13th straight.

Central League

Carp 5, Swallows 3

At Jingu Stadium, Seiya Suzuki opened the scoring with his 15th home run, a first-tinning, two-run shot off rookie lefty Keiji Takahashi (0-2), tied it with a broken-bat, fifth-inning double and scored from second on a two-out infield single as the Carp came from a run down to take command after a rain delay.

The Swallows, who lost their 13th straight, took a one-run lead in the bottom of the first on rookie Munetaka Murakami‘s 14th home run, a three-run shot off Daichi Osera.

Osera (5-2), who allowed four runs in six innings against the Swallows two weeks earlier, improved to 11-0 in his career against Yakult, the only CL team he has never lost to.

A night after loading the bases in with a one-run lead, Carp closer Shota Nakazaki again made things interesting, putting the tying runs on board with walks before nailing down his eighth save.

Tigers 8, Giants 4, 12 innings

At Koshien Stadium, Shun Takayama, whose career has gone nowhere since he was the CL’s 2016 rookie of the year, hit a pinch-hit, sayonara grand slam to lift Hanshin over Yomiuri. It was his second career pinch-hit homer, the other one coming on Sept. 29, 2017.

Jefry Marte, who singled and scored Hanshin’s first run, tied the game with his fifth home run, a two-run, eighth-inning homer off former closer Hirokazu Sawamura. Marte went 3-for-5, opening the Tigers 11th with a single.

Hayato Sakamoto became the 104th NPB player with 200 career home runs, while new Giant Yoshihiro Maru hit his 155th and 156th, and lefty Nobutaka Imamura allowed two runs over six innings.

Hanshin side-armer Koyo Aoyagi remained winless at Koshien against the Giants in his career, allowing three runs over five innings on eight hits, two walks, and a hit batsman.

BayStars 2, Dragons 1, 11 innings

At Nagoya Dome, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo singled home the tie-breaking run in the top of the 11th off Chunichi closer Hiroshi Suzuki (0-2).

Dragons starter Yudai Ono struck out seven, allowed a run over eight innings, while contributing to Chunichi’s sixth-inning game-tying run with a one-out single.

Pacific League

Lions 4, Eagles 1

At Hirosaki, Ken Togame (3-0) struck out seven and allowed one run over six innings, while Hotaka Yamaka hit his 22nd home run in Seibu’s win over Rakuten. The home run puts Yamakawa on pace to hit 64 this season. The current NPB record is 60, set by Wladimir Balentien of the Yakult Swallows.

A night after he homered twice and drove in five runs, Jabari Blash came to bat with runners on just once and walked.

Hawks 5, Buffaloes 2

At Kyocera Dome, rookie Go Kamamoto went 3-for-4 and singled home two runners who had reached on errors to snap a 2-2, fourth-inning tie as SoftBank snapped a three-game losing streak.

Hawks starter Kotaro Otake (2-2) escaped several jams to allow two runs over six innings on eight hits while striking out one. Orix starter Daiki Matsuba (0-4) allowed four runs, two earned, on nine hits and a walk over six innings to take the loss.

Yurisbel Gracial drove in an insurance run for the Hawks with his ninth home run

Fighters 5, Marines 3

At Sapporo Dome, Kensuke Tanaka, playing in his final pro season, hit the second pinch-hit home run of his career, the previous one coming on Sept. 28, 2005. This one was also a two-run shot and also against Lotte. What is it about September pinch-hit home runs?

This one overturned a 4-3 deficit with two outs in the eighth inning. Lotte rookie Daiki Iwashita allowed an unearned run on four walks and three hits over six innings, but a pair of relievers let the Fighters back in the game.

Ryo Akiyoshi worked a 1-2-3 ninth to record his 10th save.

In other news:

  • On Tuesday, Yakult Swallows reliever Ryota Igarashi celebrated his 40th birthday by pitching in his 800th NPB game. Igarashi, who pitched in 83 major league games, mostly with the New York Mets, is seventh all-time in career games. Japan’s career saves leader, Hitoki Iwase, pitched in 1,002 — all for the Chunichi Dragons.