In Japan on Tuesday, the Central League has some new leaders, one team suffered consecutive losses for the first time this season, another was shutout for the first time, and then we have the Hiroshima Carp.
In other news, the Hanshin Tigers are asking fans at Koshien Stadium to mind their manners, a Hawks pitcher has had season-ending surgery, Lions ace Kona Takahashi has rejoined the major league club after starting the season on the farm, due to shoulder tightness, and the DeNA BayStars have joined the Yomiuri Giants in holding negotiations with their former captain, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo.
Tuesday is also the start of this year’s “home-away-from home games, with the Swallows hosting the Giants in Kagoshima, and the Hawks hosting the Fighters in neighboring Kumamoto Prefecture in one of Japan’s most scenic ballparks with the outfield seating overshadowed by huge stands of trees.
Tuesday’s games
Tigers 1, Carp 0: At Koshien Stadium, Hiroshima, having been shut out in their past three games at home, took their scoreless act on the road, where Shoki Murakami struck out eight while allowing two hits over seven innings, Javy Guerra worked the eighth, and closer Suguru Iwazaki worked around a two-out single to secure his third save.
Carp lefty Hiroki Tokoda (0-1) allowed a run on eight hits and two walks over seven.
The Tigers broke the ice in the fifth in textbook fashion, a single by the No. 8 hitter, a sacrifice by Murakami and a single by Koji Chikamoto, who had made a terrific grab in the first to rob Takayoshi Nomo of a single to lead off the game.
Former Tiger Craig Brazell threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Dragons 3, BayStars 1: At Yokohama Stadium, Sho Nakata drove in three runs, and Shinnosuke Ogasawara (1-0) worked seven innings as Chunichi pulled into a tie atop the CL standings with DeNA at 6-4. It marked the first time the Dragons have been in first place since May 10, 2016.
Nakata singled in a run after new DeNA import Andre Jackson (1-1) walked the first two Chunichi hitters he faced, but the BayStars tied it on back-to-back two-out doubles from Yamato Maeda and Yudai Yamamoto in the second.
Nakata made it 2-for-2 in the third after the top two hitters, Hironori Miyoshi and Mikiya Tanaka singled this time and came home on his one-out single.
Raidel Martinez worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his fourth save.
Marines 5, Lions 0: Omiya Park Baseball Stadium, Lotte’s Yuji Nishino (1-1) struck out eight over seven innings as Seibu suffered its first shutout defeat of the season.
A fourth-inning Neftali Soto single off Kaima Taira (1-1) set the table for a two-out two-run Shogo Nakamura single. Hiromi Oka doubled in Tatsuhiro Tamura in the seventh, and Tamura doubled in two against the bullpen in the eighth.
Fighters 4, Hawks 2: Kumamoto Fujisakidai Stadium, Nippon Ham took their bats to the Fighters’ former ace, Kohei Arihara (1-1), in a four-run first inning. Yuya Gunji cracked a leadoff double and scored on a Chusei Mannami single. Franmil Reyes drew a bases-loaded walk, Tatsuki Mizuno singled in a run and Torai Fushimi‘s sac fly made it 4-0.
Former Fighter Kensuke Kondo halved the deficit in the third, scoring Ukyo Shuto on his second home run, off new Fighter Sachiya Yamasaki (1-1), who earned his first win since moving to Hokkaido from Orix as a free agent.
Orix 5, Rakuten 4: At Osaka UFO Dome, Tomoya Mori‘s two-out RBI double capped a two-run first against new Eagle Cody Ponce (1-1). Leandro Cedeno got his second-RBI in the third, singling in Masahiro Nishino, while Keita Nakagawa scored on a Mori sacrifice fly.
A Takero Okajima walk and a Toshiki Abe triple off Daiki Tajima (1-0) got the Eagles on the board in the fourth. Yuya Ogo’s one-out single plated Abe. Ogo doubled in Okajima in the sixth, and Abe doubled in Hideto Asamura in the eighth to complete the scoring.
Yoshihisa Hirano needed 30 pitches to get through a four-batter ninth and secure his third save and his 245th in Japan.
Giants 3, Swallows 1: At Kagoshima Kamoike Stadium, Kazuma Okamoto drove in all three Giants’ runs, Iori Yamasaki (1-0) scraped through 5-1/3 innings, the middle relievers stranded a bunch of runners, and Taisei Ota was nasty in the ninth to secure his third save.
Hideki Nagaoka doubled to open the second off Iori Yamasaki, and scored on a Ryusei Takeoka single. Swallows starter Reiji Kozawa (0-1) stranded six runners through the first three innings, but surrendered the lead in the fifth on a two-run Kazuma Okamoto single. Okamoto made it 3-1 in the seventh with his second home run, off new import Jose Espada.
Tigers to: “Oh behave”
The Hanshin Tigers took to twitter Tuesday ahead of their three-game series with the Hiroshima Carp, asking fans to behave.
“We sincerely ask that each and every visitor to the venue abide by the proper viewing etiquette this season, create an environment where everyone can watch the games in a fun and comfortable manner, and encourage the teams and players with healthy support.”
The tweet includes a video message beginning with someone saying “kutabare!” (fuck you) before former ace Atsushi Nomi pleads with fans to think how they themselves would feel if someone said that to them, and to remember that when they go to the ballpark.
Koshien Stadium’s bullpen cars, unlike those at other stadiums, have roofs and screens so that visiting relievers don’t get pelted from above with rubbish and drinks as the cars make their way through a gap in the stands and on to the field.
Shota Takeda goes under the knife
SoftBank Hawks curveball wizard Shota Takeda has had season-ending Tommy John ligament reconstruction surgery on his right elbow. Once a mainstay of the Hawks’ rotation, Takeda has largely been a fill-in starter and middle reliever for the past four seasons. Currently in his 13th pro season, he is 66-48 with 3.34 ERA and 858 career strikeouts. Last year, he was 1-2 with two holds in 29 games.
Kona is back with Lions
Seibu ace Kona Takahashi is set to return to the Lions starting rotation in this weekend’s series against the SoftBank Hawks and resumed training with the major league club at Seibu Dome on Monday. Takahashi who will likely be posted after this season after being denied by the Lions in the autumn, appeared in four Eastern League games and went 1-1 with a 1.20 ERA.
BayStars join Giants in pursuit of Tsutsugo
Following his release by the San Francisco Giants, former DeNA captain Yoshitomo Tsutsugo has reportedly been in talks with the Yomiuri Giants. On Tuesday, DeNA skipper Daisuke Miura revealed that his team, too, was interested in bringing the left-handed-hitting slugger back to Japan.
The Giants have short-term outfield issues after former BayStar Takayuki Kajitani was deactivated with discomfort in his left knee, and two-time CL MVP Yoshihiro Maru did not travel with the club to Kumamoto for Tuesday’s game with Yakult after feeling a slight hamstring strain during practice.
The BayStars currently have the opposite problem, where to play him, with left fielder Taiki Sekine hitting the cover off the ball and outfielder Tyler Austin producing at first base.
