A day after Japan had two Madduxes, there were three shutouts, two of which were complete games. Off the field, the Orix Buffaloes got some good news and bad news, while Seibu infielder Ryusei Sato is out with a left-wrist fracture, and the Lotte Marines announced that Roki Sasaki has had another setback and is being deactivated.
Thursday’s games:
Tigers 5, Buffaloes 0: At Osaka UFO Dome, Yuki Nishi (3-3) shut out his former team on six hits and no walks while striking out four. It took Hanshin three scoring opportunities before the Tigers cashed in their first one against Daiki Tajima (3-3) in a four-run fourth. With one out and two on, a run scored on a grounder, with the batter safe at first on a fielder’s choice. Seiya Kinami doubled in one run and Shota Morishita doubled in two more.
Nishi retired 12 straight after a second-inning leadoff single, and then set down the next eight after a leadoff double in the sixth. The Buffaloes’ loss snapped a seven-game win streak.
BayStars 3, Marines 1: At Chiba Marine Stadium, DeNA’s Ryuki Watarai went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Yoshitomo Tsutsugo and Shugo Maki each hit solo homers off Lotte’s Yuji Nishino (4-5). Shinichi Onuki (3-7) left the bases loaded in a scoreless second but Katsuya Kakunaka‘s sacrifice fly in the third trimmed the visitors’ lead to 2-1 after the Marines loaded the bases for the second straight inning. Former BayStar Neftali Soto went 2-for-3 with a walk for the Marines, who got the tying runs in scoring position in the ninth against closer Kohei Morihara, who hung on to record his 15th save as DeNA won its fourth straight, and Lotte lost its fourth in a row.
Fighters 9, Dragons 4: At Kitahiroshima Taxpayers Burden Field, Shun Mizutani tied the game 4-4 with a two-run sixth-inning triple, and scored the go-ahead run on an Ariel Martinez sacrifice fly, as Nippon Ham came from behind to beat Chunichi.
Chunichi’s Shuhei Takahashi homered in his first at-bat since April 16 in the first inning off Ren Fukushima. Nippon Ham took the lead on a Kotaro Kiyomiya single, a Mizutani double and a Martinez single off Kodai Umetsu. Yutaro Itayama‘s two-run single restored the visitors’ lead in the third. With Fukushima out of the game, Orlando Calixte homered for the Dragons in the fifth.
The Fighters chased Umetsu in the sixth on a Yuya Gunji leadoff single and a Kiyomiya walk. Mizutani tripled off reliever Kento Fujishima. Gunji, a former Dragon, singled in a run in the seventh before Martinez, another former Dragon, drove in two more with a double.
Eagles 3, Giants 0: At Miyagi Stadium, lefty Masaru Fujii (5-1) allowed three hits and three walks over five innings but had three double plays turned behind him, one that got him out of a one-out bases-loaded pickle in the fourth, before Daichi Suzuki singled and scored on Maikel Franco‘s two-out RBI single off Haruto Inoue (2-4).
A one-out single, a walk and a dropped popup set up Ryosuke Tatsumi‘s seventh-inning RBI single before a two-out bases-loaded walk completed the scoring as four relievers completed the three-hit shutout with Takahiro Norimoto earning his 16th save and Yomiuri dropping six straight decisions for the first time in two years.
Carp 5, Lions 0: At the domed stadium formerly known as “Prince,” Allen Kuri (3-4) struck out six in a two-hitter. Masaya Yano‘s two-out bases-loaded single made it 2-0 Carp against Bo Takahashi (1-5) in the fourth inning. Hiroshima made it 5-0 in a three-run seventh on five hits against reliever Katsunori Hirai. Ryuhei Matsuyama doubled in two and Minoru Omori singled in another.
Hawks 6, Swallows 3: At Fukuoka “Your company’s name can go here” Dome, Yakult’s Keiji Takahashi (2-3) pitched into the fourth inning in a game where his poor command was compounded by poor luck.
It took four innings before SoftBank was able to transform its steady supply of base runners into a big inning. The Hawks took a 2-0 lead on bases-loaded walks from Keiji Takahashi in the first and second innings. Tetsuto Yamada tied it in the fourth, homering with Domingo Santana aboard against Tomohisa Ozeki (4-0), only for five straight Hawks base runners to reach with one out in the fourth.
Ryoya Kurihara, who walked his first two times up, singled in a run, Tatsuru Yanagimachi singled in another, and Naoki Sato hit a ball so far that portly Hotaka Yamakawa could trot home from third on the sacrifice fly.
Sasaki deactivated again
The Lotte Marines announced Thursday that pitcher Roki Sasaki has been deactivated due to the poor condition of his right arm after his start against the Hiroshima Carp on June 8. It is Sasaki’s second deactivation this season. He was dropped after he failed to recover from upper body fatigue following his May 24 start against SoftBank.
One-up one down for Buffaloes
Orix announced Thursday that slugging catcher Tomoya Mori and right-hander Shumpeita Yamashita, the PL’s 2023 Rookie of the Year, are now working out with the major league club. Mori was deactivated on June 1 with muscle damage in his right thigh that arose while running to first the day before. He has played in four rehab games with the Buffaloes’ Western League farm team.
The Buffaloes did not activate Yamashita on Thursday, although they did go with Mori, who was reactivated along with 36-year-old infielder Ryoichi Adachi. Adachi was exiled to the farm after he entered as a defensive replacement at second base with a two-run ninth-inning lead against Lotte and was charged with a PL-record three errors in one inning as Lotte scored five runs in a 6-3 win.
The Buffaloes, however, lost first-baseman/center fielder Keita Nakagawa, who hurt the femoris biceps muscle in his left thigh in Wednesday’s 4-0 win over the Hanshin Tigers. Nakagawa was deactivated on April 18 with an injury to the same muscle and was not recalled until May 8. The 21-year-old Yamashita was 0-2 with a 6.43 ERA in three April games. He previously worked out with the major league team at the end of May, but Orix passed on giving the right-hander a start. On Sunday, at the Buffaloes’ farm stadium, Yamashita struck out seven in three scoreless innings against SoftBank.
