Wednesday was Roki Sasaki Day, and Sasaki looked really really good for the first time in a couple of months, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was terrific, the DeNA BayStars made a move in the standings, and it was also awards day, when there was kind of a surprise.

And if that’s not enough there’s a riddle to boot: Why are the Rakuten Eagles like Nancy Sinatra?

So let’s get walkin’.

Monthly honors for July

The most obvious choice, Munetaka Murakami, won Central League batter of the month, while Yuki Okabayashi of the Dragons was the CL’s July leader in WAR, which counts defense, and whom John E. Gibson said on the podcast was deserving. But the award, seldom won by shortstops, catchers, or No. 2 hitters, is not for the most valuable player but the most valuable hitter, which explains why first basemen and DHs are about 10 times more likely to win as shortstops or catchers.

Hanshin Tigers pitcher Yuki Nishi, who had virtually the same stats as teammates Koyo Aoyagi and Masashi Ito, and Hiroshima’s Masato Morishita, won the CL pitching award. The official announcement doesn’t say whether or not they picked his name out of a hat or not, as I’d suggested on this week’s podcast.

The PL hitter award went to the OPS leader, and I don’t remember the last time a winner was noted for leading the lead in OBP, so good for them. Given the only starting pitcher with a 3-0 record or better, Daiki Tajima, had a 3.16 ERA, it was not a surprise that a reliever with a 0.00 ERA won, although Seibu’s Yoshinobu Mizukami, who was 2-0 with seven holds and one save, trumped the guy I noticed, Orix’s Yoshihisa Hirano, 0-0 with a six saves and two holds but only pitched 7-2/3 innings.

Wednesday’s games

Hawks 4, Marines 3: At Chiba Marine Stadium, Nao Higashihama (7-5) won a duel of no-hit pitchers with Roki Sasaki (6-3). Higashihama allowed a run on two walks and four hits over seven innings. Sasaki’s fastball was really, really good after the Hawks scored three runs off him in the second.

Yuki Yanagita became the first PL hitter this year to homer off him, pulling a curveball down the line to lead off the inning. A couple of straight fastballs put runners on second and third and two straight one-out squeezes made it 3-0, with Sasaki not getting an out the first time and thus setting up the second.

Takashi Ogino doubled in Hisanori Yasuda in the third to make it a 3-1 game. Sasaki struck out 10 over six innings, including five straight at one stretch, and fanned Taisei Makhihara three times. With Sasaki done after 91 pitches, however, Makihara singled in Ukyo Shuto with an eighth-inning insurance run.

The Marines trimmed the lead to two in the home half on Ogino’s leadoff homer against Koya Fujii.

Fighters 2, Lions 2, 12 innings: At Sapporo Dome, Shuta Tonosaki homered in the third and Aito Takeda singled in Hotaka Yamakawa in the fourth as league-leading Seibu took a 2-0 lead against Kenta Uehara. Kensuke Kondo, whose three-run sayonara homer won Tuesday’s game, doubled and scored in the fifth off Seibu starter Katsunori Hirai.

Yuki James Nomura singled and scored off Burch Smith in the seventh to tie it, and then Taisho Tamai pitched out of the one-out bases-loaded jam he inherited in the eighth to preserve the tie.

Eagles 2, Buffaloes 1, 10 innings: At Osaka Dome, Yoshinobu Yamamoto faced a minimum of trouble through eight scoreless innings, striking out 11 while allowing five hits and no walks, only for the Eagles to tie it when Takero Okajima homered off closer Yoshihisa Hirano on a straight 0-1 fastball in the ninth.

Eagles starter Wataru Karashima allowed a run on a walk and four hits, three coming one after the other with one out in the fifth with Torai Fushimi’s RBI single making it 1-0, but couldn’t get an insurance run. The Buffaloes loaded the bases after two were down in the eighth and paid the price when Hirano failed to close it out.

Yoshiaki Watanabe singled to open the 10^th off Jacob Waguespack (2-6) who ended the inning by striking out Okajima, after hitting one batter and walking Hideto Asamura and Hiroaki Shimauchi to force in the go-ahead run.

If you give the Eagles a chance to walk, they’re going to do a Nancy Sinatra on your ass.

Carp 4, Swallows 1: At Hiroshima Citizens Stadium, Yakult starter Tomoya Hoshi (0-1) allowed three runs in three innings in his first start of the season, while Hiroshima’s Allen Kuri (5-7) Takayoshi Noma singled to open the first, and a hit batsman and a Ryoma Nishikawa single and an RBI groundout made it 2-0. Doubles by reserve catcher Yoshitaka Isomura and Noma made it 3-0. Kaito Kozono hit his sixth home run in the fourth. Tetsuya Yamada walked and scored after a Domingo Santana double and a Norichika Aoki sac fly.

The Swallows’ loss was their fifth straight and their CL lead, now over DeNA, is eight games.

BayStars 3, Tigers 0: At Yokohama Stadium, Haruhiro Hamaguchi (5-4) struck out eight while walking one and giving up three hits over eight innings, and Shugo Maki broke the ice with an eighth-inning RBI double off Masashi Ito (8-3). Second baseman Yasuhiro Yamamoto fumbled a tough two-out grounder and was charged with an error, and Keita Sano singled to set the table for Maki and a two-run Toshiro Miyazaki single.

Yasuaki Yamasaki struck out Teruaki Sato to pitch out of a two-on one-out ninth-inning pickle and pick up his 24^th save.

Giants 2, Dragons 1: At Nagoya Dome,  Shosei Togo (10-5) went eight innings in his second straight start, allowing a run while striking out 12 and earning the win after Sho Nakata’s third hit, his 13^th home run, off Raidel Martinez (2-3) broke the tie.

Rookie Taisei Ota recorded his 27^th save for the Giants.

Thursday’s starting pitchers

Fighters vs Lions: Sapporo Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Kenya Suzuki (1-0, 3.95) vs Wataru Matsumoto (5-3, 3.33)

Marines vs Hawks: Chiba Marine Stadium 5 pm, 4 am EDT

Atsuki Taneichi (-) vs Colin Rea (4-3, 3.41)

Buffaloes vs Eagles: Osaka Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Hiroya Miyagi (6-6, 3.72) vs Hayato Yuge (0-0, 0.00)

BayStars vs Tigers: Yokohama Stadium 5 pm, 4 am EDT

Kenta Ishida (3-2, 3.83) vs Hiroto Saiki (2-0, 1.06)

Dragons vs Giants: Nagoya Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Takahiro Matsuba (4-3, 2.81) vs Iori Yamasaki (3-3, 3.41)

Carp vs Swallows: Hiroshima Citizen’s Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Yusuke Nomura (1-1, 4.26) vs Cy Sneed (6-3, 3.92)

Active roster moves 8/10/2022

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 8/20

Central League

Activated

Dectivated

Pacific League

Activated

Dectivated