The biggest news was not in NPB, but Japan’s marquee high school pitcher Roki Sasaki hitting close to 100 miles per hour (160 kph or 99.4 mph) in competition. The Ofunato High School senior struck out 21 batters over 12 innings in — according to the Nikkan Sports — a 194-pitch effort.
The boy of summer
Sasaki broke a 2-2, 12th-inning tie with a home run, allowing his team to advance to Monday’s quarterfinals. Ofunato manager Yohei Kokubo, has been assiduously careful of his young star’s arm, and it will be interesting to see whether he pitches Monday. Kokubo said that decision would be made after seeing how Sasaki feels.
He was working on two days rest after a six-inning called game in the third round in which his velocity maxed out at 155. Two days before that he maxed out at 147 in a five-inning game.
The semifinals are on Wednesday with the final on Thursday.
Earlier in the spring, I wrote about how Sasaki could reshape Japan’s baseball labor market and MLB’s international amateur setup. You can find that story HERE.
Pacific League
Marines 9, Fighters 4
At Sapporo Dome, Nippon Ham’s short starter program is designed to get vulnerable starters out of the game before they blow up, but Kazuki Hori’s fuse proved dangerously short on Sunday as he surrendered seven first-inning runs in a loss to Lotte.
Rookie Kazuma Mike, who has spent much of his professional career on developmental contracts with the Hiroshima Carp and in independent ball, capped the rally with a three-run homer, the first of his career.
The loss snapped Nippon Ham’s five-game winning streak.
Game highlights are HERE.
Lions 10, Buffaloes 3
At MetLife Dome, Hotaka Yamakawa’s Japan-leading 30th home run, a three-run, sixth-inning blast brought Seibu from a run down in a win over Orix.
For the second straight night, Masataka Yoshida homered to break a tie, his 17th home run putting the Buffaloes up 3-2 in the sixth against Zach Neal (5-1) who worked six innings to get the win.
Steven Moya put the visitors up in the first with a two-run homer.
Game highlights are HERE.
Hawks 4, Eagles 2
At Rakuten Seimei Park, 34-year-old SoftBank veteran Yu Hasegawa, who spent the first half of the season with the club’s rehab legion due to Achilles tendon issues, brought the Hawks back from a 2-1 deficit with his first hit of the year, a two-run home run in a win over Rakuten that snapped a six-game losing streak.
Closer Yuito Mori returned to active duty and struck out two batters in a 1-2-3 eighth, a feat rookie Hiroshi Kaino repeated in the ninth to record his eighth save since Mori was sent down to the farm in June.
Game highlights are HERE.
Central League
Tigers 5, Swallows 2
At Koshien Stadium, Yuki Nishi (4-7) struck out six and allowed two runs over seven innings to earn the win for Hanshin, and rookie Koji Chikamoto put his team in front with a three-run, fifth-inning home run off Yakult submariner Hirofumi Yamanaka (0-2).
Carp 2, Giants 1, 10 innings
At Mazda Stadium, Seiya Suzuki singled in the winning run in the 10th inning, as Hiroshima sent league-leading Yomiuri to its fourth-straight loss.
BayStars 5, Dragons 4
At Yokohama Stadium, Jose Lopez’s grand slam helped lift DeNA past Chunichi when the Dragons could only manage two runs over the final three innings despite putting nine runners on base over that span.
BayStars closer Yasuaki Yamasaki protected a one-run lead for his 20th save despite loading the bases with one out.
News
Wada deactivated
The Hawks deactivated lefty Tsuyoshi Wada on Sunday due to discomfort in his right hamstring. Wada was able to walk without assistance and said it felt better than he expected a day after he collapsed to the mound in Sendai in the fifth inning after four scoreless innings of work.
The Hawks got some good news, however, when closer Yuito Mori returned to the mound for the first time since June 15.
