Moore the merrier against Eagles
Matt Moore (3-1) overcame an awkward start to allow two runs over 6-1/3 innings as the SoftBank Hawks departed from protocol by not practicing prior to crushing the Rakuten Eagles at Fukuoka’s PayPay Dome.
Moore struggled with the bottom of umpire Tomiji Iizuka’s strike zone and threw 24 pitches in a first inning as he pitched out of a two-on one-out jam. He surrendered Stefen Romero’s 18th home run with no outs and one on in the seventh, registered his sixth strikeout and then made his exit.
Ukyo Shuto had four hits, stole two bases–he leads the PL with 20–and scored twice for the Hawks, while Yuki Yanagita hit his 24th home run for the hosts.
Neal triggers Buffaloes stampede
The Orix Buffaloes scored six runs off Zach Neal (3-6) and routed the Seibu Lions 8-2 to earn Opening Day starter Taisuke Yamaoka (1-3) his first win of the season at Osaka’s Kyocera Dome.
Steven Moya, activated on Thursday, hit his first home run of the year to open the scoring in the first with a two-run shot into the second deck. Neal then surrendered four-straight hits followed by a sac fly in the five-run inning.
Yamaoka allowed two runs over six innings on eight hits and a walk while striking out six. Yutaro Sugimoto, one of the minor leaguers acting manager Satoshi Nakajima activated had four hits, scored two runs and drove in two for the Buffaloes.
Marines lose fight with reserves
Reserve outfielder Go Matsumoto singled in a run in the Nippon Ham Fighters’ five-run third inning and added a two-run home run in a bullpen day for the hosts in their 7-3 win over the Lotte Marines at Sapporo Dome.
Nick Martinez, who started the season in the rotation but has been relieving of late, allowed three runs over three innings, but Takayuki Kato (2-1) picked up the slack with three scoreless innings to earn the win while three others worked one scoreless run apiece.
The Fighters did most of their damage against lefty Toshiya Nakamura (2-3) tagging him for six runs, five earned, over 3-2/3 innings.
Austin powers Ino to victory
Tyler Austin’s sixth home run, a three-run second-inning moon shot, was the big blow in the DeNA BayStars’ 6-0 win over the Yomiuri Giants at Yokohama Stadium.
Shoichi Ino (6-4) worked six innings, and Spencer Patton, Kenta Ishida and Tomoya Mikami finished up to hand the Giants their second shutout loss since their magic number “appeared” on Tuesday. The 34-year-year-old Ino got the better of 20-year-old rookie right-hander Shosei Togo (7-4).
The BayStars win moved them to within 11 games of the defending champion Giants.
Swallows gut Carp
Naomichi Nishiura drove in four runs, including the game’s first with a sacrifice fly as the Yakult Swallows left a 14-5 mark on the Hiroshima Carp at Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium.
Albert Suarez (3-0) allowed four runs over six innings, striking out seven without issuing any of the walks that got him demoted in July when he was leading the CL in ERA, to earn his first win since July 1. Tetsuto Yamada brought the hosts back from a run down with his ninth homer, a two-run shot in the Swallows’ five-run fifth off Hiroki Tokoda (1-6).
Oyama kills Dragons in their lair
Yusuke Oyama homered twice and drove in six runs as the Hanshin Tigers overcame a 3-1 deficit to beat the Chunichi Dragons 8-4 at Nagoya Dome.
Former Dodger and Korean RBI king Jerry Sands batted fourth in front of Oyama and reached base four times. He walked twice, singled and was hit by a pitch and scored on both of his teammate’s home runs.
Active roster moves 9/18/2020
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 9/28
Central League
Activated
| Giants | P | 95 | Hayato Horioka |
| Giants | C | 22 | Seiji Kobayashi |
| Giants | OF | 88 | Gerardo Parra |
| BayStars | P | 35 | Tomoya Mikami |
| Tigers | C | 94 | Fumihito Haraguchi |
| Dragons | P | 50 | Tatsuya Shimizu |
Dectivated
| Giants | P | 19 | Toyoki Tanaka |
| Giants | C | 38 | Yukinori Kishida |
| Giants | IF | 52 | Takumi Kitamura |
| BayStars | P | 45 | Michael Peoples |
| Tigers | C | 44 | Ryutaro Umeno |
Pacific League
Activated
| Lions | P | 50 | Shunta Nakatsuka |
| Marines | P | 24 | Yusuke Azuma |
| Fighters | C | 22 | Shinya Tsuruoka |
Dectivated
| Lions | P | 27 | Tetsuya Utsumi |
| Marines | P | 62 | Shoji Nagano |
| Fighters | P | 57 | Toshihiro Sugiura |
| Buffaloes | P | 17 | Hirotoshi Masui |
Starting pitchers for Sept. 19, 2020
Pacific League
Fighters vs Marines: Sapporo Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Kohei Arihara (4-7, 4.30) vs Tsuyoshi Ishizaki (0-0, 10.64)
Buffaloes vs Lions: Kyocera Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Sachiya Yamasaki (2-4, 4.95) vs Sean Nolin (1-1, 7.20)
Hawks vs Eagles: PayPay Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Shunsuke Kasaya (2-3, 3.48) vs Ryota Takinaka (-)
Central League
Swallows vs Carp: Jingu Stadium 6:30 pm, 5:30 am EDT
Daiki Yoshida (1-4, 5.15) vs Masato Morishita (6-2, 2.39)
BayStars vs Giants: Yokohama Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Haruhiro Hamaguchi (4-4, 3.94) vs Nobutaka Imamura (3-0, 3.72)
Dragons vs Tigers: Nagoya Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Koji Fukutani (3-2, 2.78) vs Takumi Akiyama (5-1, 3.06)
