On Friday, the DeNA Deniers went in hunt of the tie or win that will secure their spot in the Central League’s postseason, while SoftBank had an opportunity to open up a one-game gap ahead of third-place Rakuten, and Hiroshima looked to solidify its hold on second place in a game against Chunichi.
We also have an outside shot of having a batting Triple Crown winner.
Off the field, there’s a lot going on. The Nippon Ham Fighters have agreed to contract terms with a teenage pitching phenom, two teams have expressed interest in acquiring Hotaka Yamakawa following allegations of sexual assault — and this should surprise no one, while NPB’s owners are on the verge of anointing two new minor league teams.
As usual, I’ll get to those details after a recap of today’s games.
Friday’s games
Deniers 6, Tigers 3: At Yokohama Stadium, DeNA fell behind, and Hanshin had opportunities to bury their hosts and prevent them clinching a playoff berth, but could not do it. The win meant Yomiuri would finish fourth in consecutive years for only the second time in franchise history, sparking an apology from the Giants’ owner and a non-answer about manager Tatsunori Hara.
A pair of two-out first-inning walks from Koyo Aoyagi (8-6) set up Toshiro Miyazaki‘s RBI single for DeNA. Yusuke Oyama’s 18th home run, his third in three games, tied it 1-1 leading off Hanshin’s second. Teruaki Sato followed with a double and scored on Seiya Kinami sac fly. Sato repeated the feat leading off the fourth with a double before scoring on a Seishiro Sakamoto sac fly — when Sakamoto was robbed of a double by left fielder Tatsuo Ebina — to make it 3-1.
Aoyagi’s third two-walk inning allowed DeNA to tie it and take the lead in the fourth, with Taiki Sekine singling in one and Keita Sano‘s sac fly leveling the scores. Sekine then scored the go-ahead run on a Miyazaki double.
Three Tigers no-out singles loaded the bases in the fifth but DeNA matched that with a trio of pitchers as Ishida and two relievers each recorded a strikeout with Shota Morishita, Oyama and Sato going down in order.
The DeNA win consigned Yomiuri to back-to-back fourth-place finishes for the second time in franchise history. It forced an apology out of the team and makes us wonder whether Yomiuri can find a way to rid itself of manager Tatsunori Hara.
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