The Hanshin Tigers on Saturday became the first team to go beyond half capacity since the start of the pandemic, although the Koshien stadium crowd of 40,354 was still masked and prohibited from vocal cheering.
There, we had a pitchers’ duel between Aaron Wilkerson and Matt Shoemaker, which was fun, while Renato Núñez and Arismendy Alcantara did a ton of damage as Nippon Ham KO’ed the Marines, who were wearing super cool new uniforms on a day I’ll call “Roki Eve.”
Ready? OK. Let’s get started.
Saturday’s games
Tigers 2, Giants 1: At Koshien Stadium, former Milwaukee Brewer Aaron Wilkerson (1-0) outdueled veteran MLB hurler Matt Shoemaker (0-1) to win his Japan debut as the Hanshin Tigers scraped out their third win of the season and their first win streak.
The Tigers scored an unearned run in the third. Catcher Ryutaro Umeno singled, was sacrificed to second with one out by Wilkerson and scored on Giants shortstop Hayato Sakamoto‘s throwing error when he tried to get the out on Takumu Nakano‘s infield single.
Back-to-back no-out doubles from Koji Chikamoto and Yusuke Oyama made it 2-0 in the fourth. Giants leadoff man Naoki Yoshikawa, who reached base three times, walked to open the sixth and scored after singles by Gregory Polanco and Kazuma Okamoto. Wilkerson stranded two before Raúl Alcántara, Atsuki Yoasa and Suguru Iwazaki closed it out. Iwazaki earned his second save.
BayStars 6, Swallows 0: At Yokohama Stadium, Neftali Soto homered for the second straight game and Toshiro Miyazaki also belted a two-run shot, his third, while Taiga Kamichatani (2-0) Madduxed Yakult with a 91-pitch no-walk four-hitter. Keita Sano was on base for both of the home runs and doubled in two in the sixth.
Swallows starter Juri Hara (1-2) gave up four runs over three innings.
Carp 3, Dragons 2: At Hiroshima Citizens Stadium, Chunichi starter Yuichiro Okano (0-1) singled in two second-inning runs off Carp ace Daichi Osera (2-1), who went six innings to earn the win after a double play got him out of a third-inning jam.
Hiroshima loaded the bases with no outs in the third on singles by Ryoma Nishikawa and Ryosuke Kikuchi and a walk by Kaito Kozono. Ryan McBroom singled in two runs, and Shogo Sakakura plated the other.
The Dragons’ defense threatened to give away another run in the sixth, but kept it close until Ryoji Kuribayashi closed it in the ninth with three strikeouts for his fifth save.
Eagles 6, Hawks 5: If Haruki Nishikawa made a birthday wish for a home run before his final at-bat at Kitakyushu City Baseball Field, it came through. The Eagles leadoff man celebrated his 30th birthday by belting a two-run, one-out homer in the ninth off Hawks closer Yuito Mori (0-3). Eagles closer Yuki Matsui then turned down the lights on the hosts in the ninth with his fourth save.
Nishikawa opened the first with a leadoff walk from Colin Rea, went to third on an errant pickoff throw and scored on a Hideto Asamura single. José Marmolejos first Japan home run made it 2-0 in the second.
A Taisei Makihara single, a Seiji Uebayashi double set up the Hawks’ third against Rakuten right-hander Hideaki Wakui for Tatsuro Yanagimachi, who singled them home and took second on the throw. A groundout and a Takuya Kai single made it 3-2 Hawks.
A Marmolejos walk and a Ryosuke Tatsumi double set up Tsuyoshi Yamasaki‘s two-out two-run single in the fifth, but the Hawks tied it in the home half. Takuya Kai walked, and scored from third via a passed ball, a sacrifice and a Yutaka Nakamura single.
Singles by Nakamura and Yurisbel Gracial off Tomohiro Anraku in the eighth set up Seiji Uebayashi’s RBI double, although second baseman Asamura cut down Makihara trying to score on a groundout to keep it a one-run game.
Veteran Ginji Akaminai reached on a one-out pinch-hit single in the ninth and Nishikawa followed with his second home run.
Fighters 11, Marines 4: At Chiba Marine Stadium, what looked like a pitchers’ duel between Lotte’s Ayumu Ishikawa (2-1) and Nippon Ham’s Hiromi Ito (1-2) evaporated in the Fighters’ four-run fifth inning.
With the Fighters leading 2-1 after Renato Núñez’s fourth-inning RBI single, Ryo Watanabe, who doubled and scored the tying run in third, opened the fifth with a single. Arismendy Alcantara singled for the second time, and Watanabe scored on a sac fly. Alcantara scored on a Kazunari Ishii squeeze.
With one out and the bases loaded after an error and singles by Go Matsumoto and Kensuke Kondo chased Ishikawa, reliever Kenta Onuma served up a two-run Núñez double.
The Marines made it a 6-3 game in the bottom of the fifth when Ito got over-eager on a two-out 1-2 pitch off the outside corner to Brandon Laird. The right-hander strutted off the mound pumping his fist until umpire Tomoya Ishiyama brought him back to earth, literally.
Afterward, Ito tweeted out that he was ashamed by his behavior and had apologized to the ump.
Alcantara opened the sixth with his third home run, and walked and scored in the four-run seventh.
Buffaloes 3, Lions 0: At Osaka Dome, Yutaro Sugimoto broke the ice in Orix’s three-run fifth inning, the only tough frame faced by Lions rookie Chihiro Sumida (1-2), who allowed all three runs on two walks and four hits over six innings.
Rangel Ravelo drew an eight-pitch leadoff walk and scored after singles by Ryoichi Adachi and Sugimoto. A sacrifice and a little Shuhei Fukuda liner into the gap in right rolled to the wall as Seibu’s drawn-in outfielders gave chase and Fukuda ended up on third.
The Buffaloes’ trio of Ryota Muranishi, Jesse Biddle and Yoshihisa Hirano preserved the shutout with Hirano getting his fourth save.
Sunday’s starting pitchers
Marines vs Fighters: Chiba Marine Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Roki Sasaki (2-0, 1.57) vs Naoyuki Uwasawa (0-2, 3.00)
Buffaloes vs Lions: Osaka Dome 1 pm, 12 midnight EDT
Soichiro Yamazaki (0-1, 9.35) vs Dietrich Enns (1-0, 0.00)
Hawks vs Eagles: Kagoshima Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Nao Higashihama (1-0, 1.32) vs Ryota Takinaka (0-0, 1.50)
BayStars vs Swallows: Yokohama Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Shinichi Onuki (0-1, 7.20) vs Keiji Takahashi (2-0, 0.84)
Tigers vs Giants: Koshien Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Joe Gunkel (0-2, 4.09) vs Yuji Akahoshi (1-1, 1.80)
Carp vs Dragons: Hiroshima Citizen’s Stadium 1:30 pm, 0:30 am EDT
Masato Morishita (2-0, 1.88) vs Koji Fukutani (0-1, 3.00)
Active roster moves 4/16/2022
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 4/26
Central League
Activated
| Tigers | P | 18 | Kosuke Baba |
| Tigers | P | 52 | Aaron Wilkerson |
| Tigers | IF | 00 | Yasuhiro Yamamoto |
| Carp | IF | 69 | Ryutaro Hatsuki |
| Carp | OF | 38 | Koki Ugusa |
| Dragons | P | 36 | Yuichiro Okano |
| BayStars | P | 65 | Ryosuke Miyaguni |
Dectivated
| Tigers | P | 40 | Yuya Onaka |
| Tigers | P | 54 | Ren Kajiya |
| Carp | IF | 00 | Kaisei Sone |
| Carp | OF | 55 | Ryuhei Matsuyama |
Pacific League
Activated
| Buffaloes | C | 44 | Yuma Tongu |
| Buffaloes | IF | 3 | Ryoichi Adachi |
| Eagles | P | 32 | Alan Busenitz |
| Eagles | P | 62 | Naoto Nishiguchi |
| Eagles | IF | 0 | Hiroto Kobukata |
| Lions | IF | 56 | Ryota Kawano |
Dectivated
| Buffaloes | P | 98 | Chang Yi |
| Buffaloes | C | 32 | Sho Fukunaga |
| Marines | P | 18 | Kota Futaki |
| Marines | P | 35 | Shota Suzuki |
| Lions | IF | 33 | Jantzen Witte |
Sunday’s starting pitchers
Marines vs Fighters: Chiba Marine Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Roki Sasaki (2-0, 1.57) vs Naoyuki Uwasawa (0-2, 3.00)
Buffaloes vs Lions: Osaka Dome 1 pm, 12 midnight EDT
Soichiro Yamazaki (0-1, 9.35) vs Dietrich Enns (1-0, 0.00)
Hawks vs Eagles: Kagoshima Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Nao Higashihama (1-0, 1.32) vs Ryota Takinaka (0-0, 1.50)
BayStars vs Swallows: Yokohama Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Shinichi Onuki (0-1, 7.20) vs Keiji Takahashi (2-0, 0.84)
Tigers vs Giants: Koshien Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Joe Gunkel (0-2, 4.09) vs Yuji Akahoshi (1-1, 1.80)
Carp vs Dragons: Hiroshima Citizen’s Stadium 1:30 pm, 0:30 am EDT
Masato Morishita (2-0, 1.88) vs Koji Fukutani (0-1, 3.00)
Active roster moves 4/16/2022
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 4/26
Central League
Activated
| Tigers | P | 18 | Kosuke Baba |
| Tigers | P | 52 | Aaron Wilkerson |
| Tigers | IF | 00 | Yasuhiro Yamamoto |
| Carp | IF | 69 | Ryutaro Hatsuki |
| Carp | OF | 38 | Koki Ugusa |
| Dragons | P | 36 | Yuichiro Okano |
| BayStars | P | 65 | Ryosuke Miyaguni |
Dectivated
| Tigers | P | 40 | Yuya Onaka |
| Tigers | P | 54 | Ren Kajiya |
| Carp | IF | 00 | Kaisei Sone |
| Carp | OF | 55 | Ryuhei Matsuyama |
Pacific League
Activated
| Buffaloes | C | 44 | Yuma Tongu |
| Buffaloes | IF | 3 | Ryoichi Adachi |
| Eagles | P | 32 | Alan Busenitz |
| Eagles | P | 62 | Naoto Nishiguchi |
| Eagles | IF | 0 | Hiroto Kobukata |
| Lions | IF | 56 | Ryota Kawano |
Dectivated
| Buffaloes | P | 98 | Chang Yi |
| Buffaloes | C | 32 | Sho Fukunaga |
| Marines | P | 18 | Kota Futaki |
| Marines | P | 35 | Shota Suzuki |
| Lions | IF | 33 | Jantzen Witte |
