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NPB games, news of Aug. 17, 2019

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Pacific League

Buffaloes 6, Marines 0

At Kyocera Dome, Stefen Romero continued to rake, hitting a pair of RBI doubles in support of 24-year-old rookie Daichi Takeyasu (3-1) as last-place Orix beat Lotte.

Romero’s three-hit game gives him an 11-game hit streak. His hero interview with Takeyasu is HERE.

Takeyasu, the third pick of the Hanshin Tigers in NPB’s 2015 draft, has been a finesse pitcher in his three previous minor league seasons, striking out about six batters per nine innings. On Saturday, he struck out five, walked four and surrendered two hits.

He has pitched well each time he’s faced a team for the first time. After interleague, the Hawks and Lions saw him for the second time and he allowed 11 runs in five innings. Against opponents facing him the first time, he’s 3-0 having allowed nine runs in 40 innings.

“You can’t win with two hits,” Marines manager Tadahito Iguchi told reporters afterward. “He was precise with his location and got us to hit his pitches.”

Ikuhiro Kiyota, batting cleanup for the Lotte for the first time this season, said, “His pitches looked hittable, but we were hitting bad pitches. His locations were good and his fastball had a good feel to it.”

Game highlights are HERE.

Fighters 6, Eagles 1

At Sapporo Dome, Kohei Arihara (12-6) struck out six, while allowing one run over seven innings, and Nippon Ham scored four runs off Shu Sughara (1-3) over 2-2/3 innings to snap a nine-game losing streak at the expense of Rakuten.

Mizuki Hori, the Fighters’ regular opener, worked the eighth, and closer Ryo Akiyoshi the ninth to complete the two-hitter.

Game highlights are HERE.

Lions 13, Hawks 8

At Yafuoku Dome, Seibu gave SoftBank’s Kodai Senga (11-5) the worst hiding of his career, scoring nine runs in three innings, with Takumi Kuriyama highlighting a nine-run second inning with a three-run home run.

The Lions’ Kona Takahashi (9-5) held the Hawks scoreless through seven innings before surrendering six runs in the eighth.

Game highlights are HERE.

Central League

Giants 4, Tigers 2

At Tokyo Dome, Hayato Sakamoto hit his 32nd home run in the first inning, and Yomiuri padded its lead with three runs off Hanshin’s bullpen after Yuki Nishi (5-8) finished his solid six-inning outing.

For the second-straight day, the Tigers loaded the bases in the top of the first, but this time didn’t even score a run, and didn’t have another good scoring chance again.

With a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning, the first two Giants batters reached, manager Tatsunori Hara had Alex Guerrero, with 65 homers in 280 career NPB games, sacrificing. Here’s how that played out on the Dazn broadcast:

Announcer: “That sacrifice by Guerrero raised the volume at Tokyo Dome.”

Murata: “If Guerrero was in poor form, that might have been expected. But he’s hitting well right now. So I think that is just an outstanding move by the manager…”

and wait for it…

Murata: “…That tells you the manager’s intent is to absolutely win. He’s setting the tone (of an in-your-face challenging atmosphere).”

Announcer: “Manager Hara has pushed the Giants one step closer to victory, and the infield is all the way in now.”

Game highlights are HERE.

Swallows 6, Dragons 5

At Jingu Stadium, Munetaka Murakami broke a 4-4 tie with his 27th home run and added a second solo shot as Yakult outlasted Chunichi.

Murakami now has the third-highest single-season home run total for a player under 20 behind Kazuhiro Kiyohara’s first two seasons (31 as an 18-year-old rookie and 29 the next year).

BayStars 8, Carp 3

At Yokohama Stadium, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo hit two home runs and now has 201 for his career, while lefty Kenta Ishida (3-0) threw six scoreless innings to earn the victory as DeNA snapped a five-game losing streak with a win over Hiroshima.

News

Carp’s Batista fails doping test

The Hiroshima Carp deactivated first baseman Xavier Batista on Saturday, the day after they learned from NPB that he had tested positive for a banned substance. Batista’s 26 home runs leads the team.

The 27-year-old, who signed a six-year contract extension in 2017, becomes the sixth player to fail a doping test in Japan since NPB adopted testing protocols in 2007.

Baseball, Free, News

NPB games, news of Aug. 16, 2019

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The BayStars’ mantel as the No. 1 challengers to the Giants’ pennant hopes took a hit on Friday, as Daichi Osera broke through for his first win this season against DeNA in the opener of the Carp’s three-game series in Yokohama.

Central League

Carp 4, BayStars 2

At Yokohama Stadium, Daichi Osera (10-6) went the distance to beat DeNA for the first time this season, allowing Hiroshima to take over second place for the first time since July 5 — when they were in the middle of their 11-game losing streak.

Osera, who allowed seven runs in 4-2/3 innings against the BayStars on June 28, the first defeat of that losing streak, allowed five hits and three walks, while striking out four. He also singled and scored the tie-breaking run after the BayStars came back to even it 2-2.

BayStars starter Shoichi Ino, who had not pitched with the first team since allowing six runs over three innings against the Carp on July 15 — when they snapped that losing streak, was fairly sharp despite an uneven record in the minors during his absence.

Ino (3-5) allowed three runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out five over 4-2/3 innings. In seven minor league games this year, he was 2-5 with a 4.66 ERA, although he did strike out 32 batters in 36-2/3 innings.

“He was better than what I expected. Unfortunately, we couldn’t support him. He pitched very good,” BayStars manager Alex Ramirez said after DeNA lost its fifth straight.

“That happens. It’s part of the game. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”

Game highlights are HERE.

Giants 2, Tigers 1

At Tokyo Dome, Hanshin failed to cash in a number of scoring opportunities, while Yomiuri did more with less, coming from behind on Kazuma Okamoto’s 22nd home run, a two-run shot, in the fourth.

Giants right-hander Toshiki Sakurai (7-2) won his second straight start, holding the Tigers to a run on Yangervis Solarte’s first-inning sacrifice fly after the visitors loaded the bases with one out.

New Giant Rubby De La Rosa earned his third save for the league leaders, who increased their lead to 4-1/2 games.

Game highlights are HERE.

Dragons 4, Swallows 2

At Jingu Stadium, Chunichi’s Yohei Oshima and Noamichi Donoue each hit a two-run, first-inning home run off Yasuhiro Ogawa (3-11) in a win over Yakult.

The Swallows had a chance to get even in the eighth, but ran themselves out of the inning, when Yuhei Takai tried to score from first on Munetaka Murakami’s one-out double off Joely Rodriguez.

Pacific League

Buffaloes 2, Marines 1

At Kyocera Dome, Lefty Andrew Albers (2-2) returned to duty after dealing with a herniated lumbar disc in May with seven scoreless innings, while Brandon Dickson worked pitched out of a two-on, one-out jam in the ninth to nail down his 13th save as last-place Orix beat Lotte.

“Good to be back,” Albers told the crowd on the post-game heroes podium. “The fans are great. It’s always fun coming here to play in front of them. They show up and support us.”

“I was just happy to get back here and contribute to our making a push. Luckily tonight I was able to do that, and the team really backed me up. The defense behind me was amazing. (Catcher Kenya) Wakatsuki called a great game. It was fun to be a part of this again.”

“We turned a great double play in the second, and Masataka (Yoshida) makes a great catch in left that saves a leadoff double. When guys are playing like that behind you, you just try to throw it over, and they were finding gloves tonight.”

Marines starter Yuji Nishino (1-2), making his second straight after over a year in the bullpen, struck out 10 over seven innings, but allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks to take the loss.

Game highlights are HERE.