Sunday was a special day in NPB, when Hiroshima hosted a game 78 years after the city was flattened by the world’s first atomic bombing. To mark the occasion the team from the City of Peace held its annual “Peace Nighter”with fans being given green towels except those at the uppermost infield seats who received red ones, to create a “peace line” at the same height as the Atomic Bomb Dome – that stands just a hundred meters or so from the location of the Carp’s former ballpark. After the fifth inning, John Lennon’s “Imagine” was played.
There were also baseball games. Kazuma Okamoto hit three home runs in a game for the first time, Keita Nakagawa drew a pair of jacks, Carter Stewart Jr. was luckier than good, and Toshiki Abe finally got to be a local hero.
DeNA lost its eighth straight game at Yokohama Stadium, and with the loss, they can no longer win the pennant just by winning every game on their schedule, which nobody but the editors care about. In Korea, former Tiger Aaron Wilkerson threw six innings in a three-pitcher combined no-hitter for KBO’s Lotte Giants.
Sunday’s games
Giants 13, Carp 0: At New Hiroshima Citizens Stadium, Hiroshima declined to be offensive, getting just six runners on base, while Okamoto reached 30 homers for the sixth straight season, former Carp Hisayoshi Chono hit one out, and Sho Nakata hit the 300th of his career. Yohander Méndez (3-3) worked six innings. Tyler Beede worked a scoreless inning for Yomiuri.
