I’ll admit, Paul Simon probably won’t be updating the Joe DiMaggio line in “Mrs. Robinson” to account for Yangervis Solarte’s departure from the Hanshin Tigers, but the CL club was indeed wondering where he’d gone after he failed to report to the farm team.
Solarte, who sparked joy into the Tigers after stepping into the starting lineup soon after his arrival from the States, was demoted to the farm team on Aug. 19 after batting .188 in 80 plate appearances.
The Tigers announced his signing on July 7, and arrived 14 days later. He practiced on July 23, played in a farm game the next day and was activated for first-team duty on July 26. After hitting four home runs in 20 games, he was gone.
The Tigers were anticipating his activation on Friday, but he informed manager Akihiro Yano that he was “unmotivated” and was returning to Osaka.
Central League
Dragons 8, BayStars 3
At Nagoya Dome, Yuya Yanagi (10-5) bounced back from allowing two first-inning home runs to work seven innings and earn his first win since July 7 as Chunichi came from behind to beat DeNA.
“I felt in my bones how hard just one win is to come by,” said Yanagi after achieving a new career high in wins.
BayStars rookie Taiga Kamichatani (6-6) gave up the lead in the bottom of the first and then made things hard on himself by rushing on a sacrifice bunt and juggling the ball for an error, and then throwing a two-strike forkball in the strike zone when it didn’t need to be. The pitch was hit for an RBI double in Chunichi’s four-run second.
Tigers 7, Carp 3
At Mazda Stadium, Yuki Nishi (7-8) allowed three runs over eight innings. He allowed 11 hits but no walks, and escaped more trouble by serving up three double play ground balls as Hanshin beat Hiroshima.
Giants 10, Swallows 6
At Jingu Stadium, Hayato Sakamoto doubled twice and hit his 36th home run, scoring three runs and driving in two to pace Yomiuri past Yakult. Alex Guerrero homered to open the fourth and break a 3-3 tie as the Giants snapped a six-game losing streak
Pacific League
Marines 4, Hawks 0
At Yafuoku Dome, Yuji Nishino (2-2), who has spent the bulk of his career as a reliever — including three seasons as Lotte’s closer — threw a four-hitter for his first career shutout to beat SoftBank.
Tsuyoshi Wada (4-4) surrendered two runs over 4-1/3 innings to take the loss. Nishino allowed the first two runners to reach in the first and fourth innings. The Hawks tried to steal a run in the fourth, but Yurisbel Gracial was out at home on a delayed double steal to end the inning.
Leonys Martin, whose two dropped balls in center were instrumental in both of SoftBank’s runs on Friday, iced the game for the Marines in the sixth with a two-run home run.
Game highlights are HERE.
Fighters 8, Buffaloes 7
At Sapporo Dome, Taishi Ota singled four times, scored three runs and drove in one, while Ryo Watanabe singled, homered, scored twice and drove in four as Nippon Ham held off Orix.
The Fighters rocked Andrew Albers (2-4) for six runs, five earned, over three-plus innings, while Kohei Arihara (14-7) allowed four runs over six innings to earn the win, giving away three runs in the sixth after he had an 8-1 lead.
Ryo Akiyoshi struck out the side in the ninth to earn his 21st save.
Game highlights are HERE.
Eagles 5, Lions 3
At Rakuten Seimei Park, Rakuten whacked Seibu starter Kona Takahashi (10-6) for four runs in the fourth inning — two scoring on Hiroaki Shimauchi’s tie-breaking two-run double.
Game highlights are HERE.
