The monthly MVP awards for batting and pitching, were announced Wednesday, with Chunichi Dragons outfielder Yuki Okabayashi and Yomiuri Giants pitcher Iori Yamasaki honored in the Central League, while Rakuten Eagles second baseman Hideto Asamura and Seibu Lions right-hander in the Pacific League. The worst choice of the bunch was not the worst we’ve ever seen from these awards, but it was in the ballpark.
Jeremy Beasley had a solid night for Hanshin in a duel with Yomiuri’s Foster Griffin, while Elvin Rodriguez won his Japan debut with some big run support from a rookie, who became the third player in either league whose first pro hit was a grand slam.
There were supposed to be six games Wednesday, but SoftBank pulled the plug on its home game with Rakuten due to an approaching typhoon for Fukuoka Dome’s first rainout in 16 years.
Wednesday’s games
Buffaloes 8, Marines 3: At Chiba Marine Stadium, Hiroya Miyagi (7-4) allowed three runs over 6-2/3 innings. He left the mound with two outs and two on, leading 7-1.
Keita Nakagawa doubled in rookie Tokumasa Chano to break the ice in the third against Manabu Mima (1-6). Toshiya Noguchi led off the third with a single, and did the same in the fifth. He scored on a single by Nakagawa, who went to second on the throw and scored on a Tomoya Mori single.
Noguchi walked to open the Buffaloes’ seventh and scored on a Ryo Ota home run. Chano followed with a single and scored on Nakagawa’s fourth hit, his 10th home run. Nakagawa drew a ninth-inning leadoff walk and scored.
Tigers 5, Giants 2, 11 innings: At Tokyo Ugly Dome, Ryutaro Umeno twice put Hanshin in front, the final time with the score tied 2-2 in the 11th. With one out, the Giants elected to load the bases, and Umeno hit a little flare that fell in shallow center to score the runner from third. Lewis Brinson, however, forced the runner at third, leaving Umeno credited with an RBI groundout. Seiya Kinami cashed in two runs with a double, and Suguru Iwazaki recorded his 22nd save.
With no score in the game, Brinson missed a chance to get in scoring position when he singled off the top of the center-field wall but was too late breaking out of his home run trot in the fifth. That bill came due in the seventh, when the Tigers took the lead on a Sheldon Neuse walk and singles by Teruaki Sato and Ryutaro Umeno.
Jeremy Beasley, making his second start, struck out seven over five innings, but left after 68 pitches and Yomiuri went in front in the seventh on a two-out error and a Sho Nakata pinch-hit homer.
Foster Griffin allowed a run over seven innings, and left with a lead that lasted a few minutes until Takumu Nakano homered in the eighth.
Deniers 8, Dragons 2: At Yokohama Stadium, Chunichi’s Hiroshi Suzuki (1-2) allowed two runs, one earned in 2-2/3 innings. He left the mound after Shugo Maki‘s third-inning RBI single made it 2-0, and his relief, Yuichiro Okano threw BP, allowing five runs on six hits and a hit batsmen over 1-1/3 innings.
DeNA-Dragons highlights
Swallows 11, Carp 5: At Jingu Stadium, Domingo Santana doubled to open the second and scored on a sac fly by Yakult rookie Keigo Kitamura, making his second career start. The 22-year-old capped the Swallows’ seven-run third with his first career hit, a grand slam, off rookie Carp lefty Shohei Mori (4-2). Munetaka Murakami stayed 10 behind Japan home run leader, the Giants’ Kazuma Okamoto, with his 21st, and had a two-run single.
Elvin Rodriguez (1-0), who pitched just once in the Eastern League, was signed from the developmental roster in July, and won his Japan debut. The 25-year-old allowed a run in five innings. He struck out six and walked one.
Lions 6, Fighters 0: At Kitahiroshima Taxpayers Burden Field, Chihiro Sumida (6-7) scattered five hits and a walk while striking out 11 in his first career complete game. The Fighters loaded the bases against him in the ninth when he walked Chusei Mannami with his 131st pitch, but needed just one more pitch to end it.
Nippon Ham’s James Marvel (1-1) survived a lot of early traffic, with two double plays turned behind him and a runner thrown out trying to steal as he put up four zeroes in his first Japan start. A two-out error, however, with a runner on set up Sosuke Genda‘s fifth-inning RBI single, and Mark Payton chased the right-hander with an RBI double.
Shuta Tonosaki put the game out of reach David MacKinnon reached base four times for the Lions and scored a run.
Monthly MVP selectors turn back the clock
The selection of Chunichi’s Yuki Okabayashi as the CL’s most valuable hitter for July is one of those moments where one wonders if the world is stuck in a time warp, and that everything that looked like progress is in the rearview mirror while we relive past mistakes.
Okabayashi had a terrific month, but he won the award because he batted an empty .382. The only saving grace in his honor, was that the selectors chose to mention he also led the CL in on-base percentage (.417) and runs scored (15). Those things are important but teammate Takaya Ishikawa had a .391 OBP, while belting five homers and leading the CL with eight doubles, and posting a .712 slugging average, while Munetaka Murakami also had four times as many extra-base hits and led the league with seven homers while posting a .386 OBP.
