For the first time since June, Wednesday was Roki Eve for those who celebrate. The Marines right-hander will be making his first start since June 8, which was two weeks after his eighth start of the season. In Wednesday’s game, the Marines’ big bats continued to torment the Seibu Lions as all six home teams won.
In other news, the Lotte Marines on Tuesday announced they had signed former Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel, while the SoftBank Hawks acquired 26-year-old infielder Jeter Downs.
Wednesday’s games:
Eagles 3, Hawks 2: At Miyagi Stadium, Hideto Asamura led off Rakuten’s second with his 10th home run, and catcher Hikaru Ota tripled in Daichi Suzuki and Kazuki Murabayashi off SoftBank’s Ryosuke Otsu (6-5). Rakuten rookie Tatsuki Koja (3-4) held the Hawks scoreless until Kenta Imamiya singled to open the fourth, Ukyo Shuto was hit by a pitch, and both scored on a Kensuke Kondo double. Koja retired the last seven batters he faced and three relievers added 1-2-3 innings with Takahiro Norimoto getting his 22nd save to complete the two-hitter.
Carp 2, BayStars 1: At New Hiroshima Citizens Stadium, Hiroshima took a 2-0 lead after two were gone in the fourth on a Shogo Sakakura single, a Ryosuke Kikuchi double and a Masaya Yano single off Katsuki Azuma (8-2). Shugo Maki halved Hiroshima’s lead in the sixth when he doubled with two outs and scored on a Toshiro Miyazaki single off Hiroki Tokoda (10-5). The BayStars stranded 11 runners, with Taylor Hearn and Ryoji Kuribayashi each leaving two on. Kuribayashi got his 28th save.
Dragons 1, Swallows 0: At Nagoya Dome, rookie Chunichi right-hander Yuta Matsukihira (1-1) worked six innings for his first career win. Three relievers completed the five-hit shutout with Raidel Martinez reaching 30 saves for the third straight season. Kaito Muramatsu, who reached base four times, led off Chunichi’s third with a double and scored on a Shuhei Takahashi single off Cy Sneed (1-5).
Marines 6, Lions 2: At Chiba Marine Stadium, Gregory Polanco hit three solo homers, and Neftali Soto hit another off right-handerMinato Aoyama (1-3) to stake C.C. Mercedes (3-5) to a 3-0 lead. Shuta Tonosaki homered with one on in the sixth, but Akito Takabe singled in Toshiya Sato in the home half. The Lions fell to 0-13 against Lotte this season.
Fighters 9, Buffaloes 2: At Kitahiroshima Tax Payers Burden Field, Ariel Martinez hit a two-run first-inning double, and singled to open Nippon Ham’s three-run fourth, when Yuki James Nomura doubled him in and Torai Fushimi capped the rally with a two-run single off 19-year-old rookie Kyosuke Saito (2-2). Sachiya Yamasaki, the PL’s All-Star Game 1 starter, allowed a run over six innings to improve to 7-3.
Tigers 9, Giants 6: At Koshien Stadium, Masaki Oyokawa (1-1) allowed two runs over five innings, and had the first two hits of his pro career in a win over Yomiuri.
Seiya Kinami singled in two runs in a four-run first inning off Foster Griffin (5-3), who lasted four innings, and Oyokawa capped the rally with his first career hit an RBI single. Left fielder Luis Okoye ended the Tigers’ inning by nailing Kinami at the plate on the play, preventing Oyokawa from getting his second career RBI, although he did reach again on an infield single.
The Giants pulled within a run in the sixth, when pinch-hitter Makoto Kadowaki singled and scored on a Naoki Yoshikawa single, but Hanshin scored four more in the home half, set up by no-out singles by Seishiro Sakamoto and Kento Itohara. Takumu Nakano doubled in one, Teruaki Sato singled in two more, and Kyosuke Noguchi‘s single drove in the fourth.
Marines recruit Keuchel
The 36-year-old, 190.5-centimeter pitcher, who has a career record of 103-92 with a 4.04 ERA over 13 Major League Baseball seasons, was granted free agency by the Milwaukee Brewers on July 18 after pitching in four games for them this season.
Keuchel, a five-time Gold Glove winner, led MLB with 20 wins and 232 innings pitched in 2015 when he was voted the American League’s Cy Young Award winner. He has not thrown 100 innings in a season since 2021.
The Marines entered play Tuesday second in the PL, 11 games back of the SoftBank Hawks.
Hawks sign former 1st-round pick Downs
The SoftBank Hawks have acquired 26-year-old minor league utility player Jeter Downs, the 32nd overall pick in the 2017 draft. Downs was slashing .264/.360/.498 this year in 274 plate appearances for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
