Sunday was a crazy day in the day job, and there were six games, so I’m going to get straight to them.
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Sunday’s games
Lions 4, Fighters 3: At Sapporo Dome, Katsunori Hirai (5-4) surrendered two first-inning runs on RBI singles by Kensuke Kondo and Shoma Imagawa but left the bases loaded and worked four more scoreless innings.
Fighters starter Hiromi Ito (7-7) was chased after failing to retire the first four batters in the Lions’ sixth. Lefty Ryusei Kawano struck out Brian O’Grady before surrendering a sac fly to Jantzen Witte that tied it and a two-run double to Seiji Kawagoe.
Kaima Taira, standing in for COVID-stricken closer Tatsushi Masuda allowed three straight two-out hits before securing his fourth save by leaving the bases jammed.
The win snapped the Fighters’ seven-game losing streak and left Seibu a half-game out of first place.
Buffaloes 7, Eagles 3: At Miyagi Stadium, lefty Daiki Tajima (6-3) allowed just two runs despite giving up eight hits and four walks over five innings. Keita Nakagawa walked and scored in the first doubled in two runs in the second and singled in a run in the sixth.
Yoshihisa Hirano notched his 23rd save on four pitches after Jesse Biddle allowed a run in the ninth and left two runners on with two outs.
Hawks 5, Marines 3, 10 innings: At Chiba Marine Stadium, SoftBank’s Shuta Ishikawa allowed three runs over six innings. He walked in the go-ahead run in the third, and Hisanori Yasuda made it 3-1 with a sac fly. Shu Masuda hit his first career home run off Enny Romero in the fourth.
Roberto Osuna, suspended 75 games by MLB for domestic violence, surrendered the tying run on a home run by Alfredo Despaigne, who recently returned from COVID-19, and singled with two outs in the 10th off Tayron Guerrero (3-3). Hikaru Kawase hit a two-run double on a deep fly ball to the gap in left, and Livan Moinelo struck out two in the ninth for his 13th save.
Tigers 3, Dragons 1: At Koshien Stadium, Joe Gunkel (4-5) worked eight innings, allowing an unearned run in the first before Hanshin scored three in the home half. Takumu Nakano and Kairi Shimada singled to open the inning against Yuya Yanagi (6-7).
An error on the subsequent sacrifice loaded the bases and two scored on a Teruaki Sato single. A delayed double steal of home made it 3-1. Chunichi loaded the bases in the eighth with Luke Wakamatsu, the son of former Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu, drawing a leadoff walk in his big league debut. Gunkel ended the inning with his fourth strikeout and Suguru Iwazaki worked the ninth for his 19th save.
Carp 10, Giants 5: At Tokyo Dome, two-run homers by Adam Walker and Sho Nakata staked Yuki Takahashi (1-5) to a four-run lead that evaporated in a six-run fourth inning with the big blow coming off the bat of pinch-hitter Shota Dobayashi, the Carp’s third slam in three games.
Allen Kuri (4-6) allowed a run over three innings, his first relief appearance in three years.
The win kept the second-place Carp ahead of the third-place BayStars on winning percentage.
BayStars 10, Swallows 2: At Yokohama Stadium, Haruhiro Hamaguchi (4-3) allowed two first-inning runs, scoring on a Munetaka Murakami double and a Jose Osuna single. Masayuki Kuwahara halved the lead in the first with his second homer, off Cy Sneed (4-3), who let the game get away in a four-run third.
Rookie Tatsuo Ebina was hit by a pitch to open the inning, Kuwahara singled, Keita Sano singled in the tying run, Toshiro Miyazaki doubled in another, and Yasutaka Tobashira singled in two more. Kuwahara, who reached base four times, doubled in two more runs in a five-run sixth.
Hamaguchi struck out eight while walking one over six innings.
The Swallows’ lone good bit of news as they lost their seventh game in eight was the return of Domingo Santana from knee cleaning surgery.
Starting pitchers
Fighters vs Lions: Sapporo Dome 1 pm, 12 midnight EDT
Takahide Ikeda (1-1, 2.57) vs Kaito Yoza (6-3, 2.49)
Eagles vs Buffaloes: Miyagi Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Shoma Fujihira (0-0, 3.00) vs Jacob Waguespack (2-4, 3.72)
Marines vs Hawks: Chiba Marine Stadium 5 pm, 4 am EDT
Manabu Mima (4-6, 4.46) vs Nao Higashihama (6-3, 2.48)
Swallows vs Giants: Jingu Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Masanori Ishikawa (5-3, 2.91) vs Tomoyuki Sugano (6-5, 3.08)
Dragons vs BayStars: Nagoya Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Hiroto Takahashi (2-3, 3.12) vs Fernando Romero (3-5, 5.85)
Carp vs Tigers: Hiroshima Citizen’s Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Kazuki Yabuta (0-0, 6.75) vs Takuma Kirishiki (0-3, 5.02)
Active roster moves 7/17/2022
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 7/27
Central League
Activated
| Swallows | OF | 25 | Domingo Santana |
| Tigers | P | 49 | Joe Gunkel |
| Giants | P | 47 | Yuki Takahashi |
| Giants | P | 58 | Itsuki Yamamoto |
| Giants | IF | 52 | Takumi Kitamura |
| Giants | OF | 38 | Yuki Okada |
| Dragons | IF | 96 | Luke Wakamatsu |
| Dragons | OF | 00 | Shunta Goto |
Dectivated
| Swallows | OF | 2 | Patrick Kivlehan |
| Tigers | P | 35 | Hiroto Saiki |
| Giants | P | 29 | Matt Andriese |
| Giants | P | 50 | Chiaki Tone |
| Giants | IF | 0 | Daiki Masuda |
| Giants | OF | 9 | Seiya Matsubara |
| Dragons | C | 57 | Ariel Martinez |
| Dragons | IF | 3 | Shuhei Takahashi |
| Dragons | OF | 31 | Masaru Watanabe |
Pacific League
Activated
| Buffaloes | P | 20 | Taisuke Kondo |
| Hawks | C | 19 | Takuya Kai |
| Hawks | IF | 33 | Shu Masuda |
| Hawks | IF | 99 | Isami Nomura |
| Fighters | P | 91 | Yuri Furukawa |
| Fighters | IF | 6 | Arismendy Alcantara |
Dectivated
| Buffaloes | P | 68 | Masaru Nakamura |
| Fighters | P | 14 | Takayuki Kato |
| Fighters | P | 15 | Naoyuki Uwasawa |
| Fighters | P | 54 | Taisho Tamai |
| Fighters | IF | 2 | Kenshi Sugiya |
| Lions | P | 19 | Shunsuke Sato |
