It was a typhoon Saturday in the Kanto region, causing games at Jingu and in Chiba to be postponed, but games went on indoors in Fukuoka, Osaka, Tokyo and outdoors in Sendai, where the Rakuten Eagles made some unwelcome history.
The Eagles’ record fell to 50-50, making them the first team in Japanese pro baseball history to fall to .500 after being 18 games over, surpassing the 1948 Tigers, who fell from 17 over .500.
Saturday’s games
Hawks 5, Buffaloes 4: At Fukuoka Dome, SoftBank center fielder Ukyo Shuto preserved a 2-0 second-inning lead by saving three runs with a two-out catch in the gap, scored the game’s first run and the last, drilling the first pitch he saw from rookie Yuki Udagawa (0-1).
He and No. 2 hitter Kenta Imamiya singled and scored in the first against lefty Sachiya Yamasaki. The Buffaloes loaded the bases against Shota Takeda with two outs in the second and were saved when Shuto sprinted deep into the gap in right-center made a leaping catch over his shoulder and tumbled onto the warning track.
Masataka Yoshida, who went 2-for-2 with three walks, walked and scored in the third. Takeda was throwing some good pitches but had no luck getting strikes on the corners and walked five over 5-2/3 innings. He allowed just one run in the third after loading the bases with no outs.
A Yuma Mune error allowed the Hawks to load the bases with two outs in the fourth, and Imamiya singled in two to make it 4-1, but the Buffaloes tied it in a three-run eighth. Livan Moinelo (1-1) worked a 1-2-3 ninth and with one out in the home half, Shuto ended it with his fifth home run of the season.
Lions 6, Eagles 4: At Miyagi Stadium, Masahiro Tanaka’s command was not all that great and a pair of misplaced sliders led to five runs, Brian O’Grady smashing one into right to overturn a 1-0 deficit with a two-run single. Shuta Tonosaki hit the other with two on for his eighth home run.
O’Grady had three hits and a walk, but was put out twice on the bases, once trying to stretch a single, and once when he was doubled off first on a popped-up bunt attempt. Burch Smith struggled with his command in the ninth but stranded two batters to earn his first save in Japan.
Tanaka (6-9) allowed five runs in six innings on 11 hits and a walk while striking out six.
Seibu submarine right-hander Kaito Yoza (9-3) allowed three runs on five hits over six innings. Hiroaki Shimauchi and Takero Okajima singled to set up a second-inning run, and Yoshiaki Watanabe smashed a two-run homer in the fifth to make it 5-3 game.
Giants 4, Carp 1: At Tokyo Dome, Yomiuri’s Daisuke Naoe (1-1) allowed three hits and a walk over six scoreless innings for his first career win, while Hiroshima’s Atsushi Endo (3-6) gave up four runs, three earned.
An error, a Shinnosuke Shigenobu double – when he faked a bunt and slashed the ball down the line — and a Sho Nakata single made it 2-0 in the first, and home runs by Gregory Polanco, his 18th, and Takumi Oshiro, his 11th, made it 4-0 in the fourth. Shogo Itakura homered in the ninth off rookie closer Taisei Ota for the Carp’s only run.
Dragons 2, Tigers 0: At Osaka Dome, Shinnosuke Ogasawara (6-6) pitched out of a fourth-inning jam with three of his career-high 11 strikeouts as he allowed four hits and two walks over seven innings. Yariel Rodriguez worked out of a two-on one-out pickle in the eighth and Raidel Martinez earned his 25th save.
Ogasawara has not allowed a run for 24 consecutive innings as he improved to 2-0 in his matchups with Fujinami.
For the second time in his career and the first time in over seven years, Shintaro Fujinami (0-2) struck out 10 batters without issuing a walk. He allowed four singles over seven innings.
Nineteen-year-old rookie Ryuku Tsuchida singled in the sixth, stole second, was sacrificed to third and scored on a Yuki Okabayashi squeeze. The rookie scored an eighth-inning insurance run after a leadoff double, a sacrifice and a groundout.
Sunday’s starting pitchers
Eagles vs Lions: Miyagi Stadium 5 pm, 4 am EDT
Shoma Fujihira (0-0, 3.75) vs Dietrich Enns (7-6, 2.68)
Marines vs Fighters: Chiba Marine Stadium 5 pm, 4 am EDT
Kazuya Ojima (2-7, 2.59) vs Takayuki Kato (4-4, 1.79)
Hawks vs Buffaloes: Fukuoka Dome 1 pm, 12 midnight EDT
Tsuyoshi Wada (3-3, 2.22) vs Jesse Biddle (3-4, 3.62)
Giants vs Carp: Tokyo Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Matt Shoemaker (4-7, 4.63) vs Haruki Omichi (-)
Swallows vs BayStars: Jingu Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Reiji Kozawa (2-1, 4.56) vs Yuya Sakamoto (0-3, 5.18)
Tigers vs Dragons: Osaka Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Joe Gunkel (5-5, 2.68) vs Yuki Hashimoto (0-0, 13.50)
Active roster moves 8/13/2022
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 8/23
Central League
Activated
| Carp | P | 97 | Geronimo Franzua |
Dectivated
| Swallows | P | 48 | Yuto Kanakubo |
| Carp | P | 14 | Daichi Osera |
| Dragons | P | 46 | Hiroshi Suzuki |
| BayStars | OF | 00 | Shumei Miyamoto |
Pacific League
Activated
| Hawks | P | 25 | Seigi Tanaka |
| Lions | OF | 35 | Gakuto Wakabayashi |
Dectivated
| Buffaloes | P | 21 | Daichi Takeyasu |
| Hawks | P | 40 | Kazuki Sugiyama |
| Lions | OF | 72 | Seiji Kawagoe |
