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NPB games, news of Sept. 21, 2019

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The Yomiuri Giants avoided setting a franchise record for most seasons without a league pennant on Saturday, when they came from behind to beat the second-place DeNA BayStars 3-2 in 10 innings at Yokohama Stadium.

Central League

Giants 3, BayStars 2

At Yokohama Stadium, DeNA just couldn’t get the final out. Closer Yasuaki Yamasaki retired the first two batters in the ninth, but two walks set up Seiji Kobayashi for a game-tying RBI single when Yamasaki missed high with a mediocre 1-1 slider.

Kazuki Mishima walked two batters to open the 10th, and struck out the next two, but surrendered the go-ahead run on a bouncer that found a hole.

The Giants bullpen, too pitched itself into trouble in the seventh and eighth inning, when DeNA had two on and no outs. Hirokazu Sawamura kept the BayStars from pulling away in the eighth when Jose Lopez smoked a two-out liner that was caught at third base for the final out.

“They never give up after two outs,” BayStars manager Alex Ramirez said. “They were able to come back during the game. They really did deserve that (pennant).”

“Plan B now for us. Our guys did a tremendous job until this point and there is nothing to be ashamed of. We’ve got to just continue playing.”

Game highlights are HERE.

Tigers 4, Carp 2

At Koshien Stadium, 39-year-old former Cub Kyuji Fujikawa converted his 14th-straight save opportunity as Hanshin beat Hiroshima.

Game highlights are HERE.

Dragons 14, Swallows 2

At Jingu Stadium, Yuya Yanagi (11-6) surrendered 19-year-old Munetaka Murakami’s 36th home run but little else over six solid innings as Chunichi clobbered last-place Yakult.

Pacific League

Fighters 8, Hawks 1

At Yafuoku Dome, Koehi Arihara (15-8) made SoftBank’s final home game of the regular season a bitter experience as the Nippon Ham ace allowed a run in seven innings that inched the Hawks closer to a second-consecutive second-place finish.

Game highlights are HERE.

Eagles 6, Lions 1

At Rakuten Seimei Park, Seibu missed a chance to cut their magic number to clinch to two after Tatsuya Imai struck out six over seven scoreless innings. Instead, Rakuten rallied against the Lions’ bullpen ace, middle reliever Katsunori Hirai (4-2), who allowed five runs in a third of an inning.

Game highlights are HERE.

Buffaloes 3, Marines 1

At Kyocera Dome, Brandon Dickson, who took over Orix’s closer role in mid-season, saved his 18th game after Taisuke Yamaoka (12-4) held Lotte to a run over eight innings.

Game highlights are HERE.

Baseball, Free, News

NPB games, news of Sept. 20, 2019

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Not all of Japan was focused on a different sport as the Rugby World Cup kicked off in Tokyo on Friday, when NPB played four games and both pennant-race leaders took a step toward clinching a championship.

Yamaguchi returns as winner

Pitching in just his second game at his old home park since he left as a free agent for the Central League rival Yomiuri Giants after the 2016 season, Shun Yamaguchi pitched into the seventh inning in a 9-4 win over the DeNA BayStars on Friday.

Squaring off against Kentaro Taira, whom the BayStars received in compensation for him, Yamaguchi left the game with a five-run lead after six innings. Taira (5-6) allowed four runs over 3-2/3 innings in the NPB’s first match-up between a pitcher who left as a free agent and the pitcher his former team took as compensation.

Yamaguchi (15-4), allowed two runs through the first six innings, but left two on with two outs, and Kan Otake surrendered a two-run double to Yamato Maeda before the third reliever of the inning, Hirokazu Sawamura struck out home run king Neftali Soto with the bases loaded.

Hayato Sakamoto hit two home runs to move to 39, four back of Soto in the home run race, while Kazuma Okamoto drove in two runs for the Giants with a double and a home run.

Game highlights are HERE.

Pacific League

Lions 5, Eagles 3

At MetLife Dome, Seibu cut its magic number to repeat as PL champs to four when Ernesto Mejia hit a pinch-hit sayonara home run in the ninth inning to down Rakuten.

Here’s the Lions’ hero interview featuring Katsunori Maeda, who set a franchise record by pitching in his 79th game of the season, and Mejia.

Game highlights are HERE.

Hawks 1, Fighters 0

At Yafuoku Dome, Rick van den Hurk returned to SoftBank’s first team for the first time since his June season debut and allowed three hits and a walk while striking out eight over six innings to beat Nippon Ham.

Here’s Rick van den Hurk’s hero interview.

Game highlights are HERE.

Buffaloes 11, Marines 8

At Kyocera Dome, Stefen Romero homered and drove in four runs while Brandon Dickson recorded his 17th save as Orix kept Lotte from moving back into third place.

Romero took part in the Buffaloes’ hero interview HERE.

Game highlights are HERE.