Happy Roki Day to all who celebrate. In Japan on Sunday, we had a long-awaited moment for Japan’s other BIG name youngster, while a couple of series sweeps were wrapped up.
Sunday’s games
Tigers 2, Dragons 1: At Nagoya Dome, Hanshin earned a series tie, one win, one loss and one tie, by snapping Chunichi’s seven-game unbeaten streak.
Chunichi’s Kodai Umetsu struck out 13 while allowing two two runs on four hits and three walks over eight innings, but Hanshin came from a run down behind seven scoreless innings from Hiroto Saiki with Takumu Nakano singling and scoring the tying run in the third and then singling in the go-ahead run in the seventh.
Giants 2, Carp 1: At Tokyo Ugly Dome, Yomiuri’s Rei Takahashi went x innings, and allowed his first CL run, while Thomas Hatch allowed two runs over six innings in his second Japan start, with rookie Masaya Hagio, the Giants’ second draft pick in 2022, hitting a two-run homer, his second, to bring Yomiuri from a run down in the third as the the hosts swept the three-game series.
Swallows 9, BayStars 0: At Yokohama Dome, Munetaka Murakami, a day after being dropped down to the No. 2 spot for the first time as a pro and going 2-for-3 with a walk and his first RBI, batted second again and hit his first home run of the season, a first-inning solo shot. Miguel Yajure threw six innings for the Swallows.
The BayStars suffered from a case of “timely Chunichitas” a malady that describes teams setting the table but unable to bring themselves to take the final step toward scoring. DeNA got the leadoff hitter on in the first three innings, and twice having two on with one out against Yajure. Trailing 2-0 in the seventh, DeNA wheeled out Yuito Mori for his CL debut after the Hawks cut the injury-plagued former PL saves leader, and the Swallows blew him out of the water in a seven-run inning.
Yakult’s Domingo Santana and Jose Osuna each went 3-for-4 with Osuna doubling twice.
Marines 9, Eagles 2: At Miyagi Stadium, Roki Sasaki touched 159 kph on one pitch, and had one more at 158 and another at 157 in a 106-pitch outing in which he allowed a first-inning solo homer to Hideto Asamura, three walks and two singles and another unearned run over seven innings while striking out seven. Sasaki improves to 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA.
The Eagles, who allowed an NPB-high 29 doubles through Saturday, have now allowed 33.
Hawks 4, Lions 1: At the domed stadium formerly known as “Prince,” SoftBank baptized Kona Takahashi‘s belated season debut with some fire to complete a three-game sweep. Yuki Yanagita went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Taisei Makihara singled and scored in the third, and tripled in two and scored in the Hawks’ three-run sixth.
Jesus Aguilar scored Seibu’s only run off Ryosuke Otsu (2-0) with his second homer in two games, in the seventh.
Buffaloes 6, Fighters 3: At Osaka UFO Dome, Orix’s Luis Castillo allowed Ariel Martinez‘s three-run first-inning homer but had little trouble after that over six innings he struck out eight and walked one. RBI singles in the bottom of the first from Tomoya Mori and Marwin Gonzalez tied it, while Ryo Ota doubled in the go-ahead run in the third and singled and drove in one of Orix’s two-run fifth.
