We had a no-hitter, the Pacific League-leading Rakuten Eagles bet on a rookie to extend their winning streak to 12 consecutive decisions, and Nippon Ham’s players apparently took their skipper’s warning to heart, while Chunichi’s Ariel Martinez continued his love affair with Jingu Stadium, and Hanshin looked to end its seven-game winless skid against Hiroshima this season.
Shall we get started?
Hawks 2, Lions 0: At Fukuoka Dome, Nao Higashihama (4-1) threw the season’s second no-hitter, holding Seibu to a pair of walks but facing the minimum as he struck out six, got two double plays and threw 97 pitches.
Higashihama got 14 groundouts, one liner that was caught before it became a groundout, three other flyouts to his infielders and one flyout to center. He threw first-pitch strikes to 19 of the 27 batters he faced, and got to three balls on just three batters. He became the 84th pitcher to throw a no-hitter and the first from Okinawa.
“His stuff was just the best and he beat us,” said Lions cleanup hitter Hotaka Yamakawa.
HIgashihama thought he’d lost it when he failed to snag a comebacker, but second baseman Masaki Mimori snagged it and got the out at first to end the game.
The Hawks scored both their runs off rookie Chihiro Sumida (1-4) in the third. Richard Sunagawa drew a leadoff walk, was sacrificed to second. Sunagawa scored on a Kenta Imamiya single, and Yuki Yanagita doubled to complete the scoring.
Imamiya, who went 3-for-3 with a walk and a doubled, had tried to score from first in the first on a one-out Yanagita double but was tagged out at the plate.
Marines 3, Eagles 1: At Miyagi Stadium, rookie lefty Masaru Fujii (1-1) failed to go 2-0 in his two career games thanks to too many bad pitches in one inning, when the offensively challenged Marines put up three in the fourth inning. Hiromi Oka‘s one-out double broke the ice and Shuhei Fukuda followed with a two-run single.
The Eagles played for one run and it bit them in the ass, Tsuyoshi Yamasaki getting thrown out stealing to end the third, and a no-out sacrifice in the fifth when trailing by three followed by a botched squeeze.
Lotte right-hander Tokito Kawamura (2-0) was yanked after that fifth inning and the bullpen held the fort.
Fighters 5, Buffaloes 2: At Sapporo Dome, Nippon Ham responded with some offense a day after manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo ripped his players saying they weren’t acting like they wanted to remain with the major league club.
Jacob Waguespack (0-2) allowed five runs, four earned, on nine hits, two walks and a hit batsman. The right-hander walked Arismendy Alcántara with the bases loaded in the first before another run scored when Breyvic Valera failed to catch a short hop off the bat for an error.
Kotaro Kiyomiya doubled in two in the second and scored on Yuki James Nomura’s single.
Former Buffaloes ace Chihiro Kaneko (1-1) allowed a run over five innings for the win. The win as a starter was his first since September 2019, also against Orix.
Dragons 2, Swallows 0: At Jingu Stadium, Ariel Martinez hit his second home run in two days, the Dragons stranded nine runners, pulled their starter after five no-hit innings, and held on to their narrow lead before getting an insurance run in the ninth.
Right-hander Yuichiro Okano (1-1) struck out two and walked four, and earned the win after Yasutaka Shiomi was left at third following his one-out sixth-inning triple, the only hit the Swallows managed. Shiomi also drew two of the Swallows three walks.
Swallows starter Daiki Yoshida (0-1) helped the Dragons load the bases in the third and fifth, but none of those runners managed to score.
The loss dropped Yakult into second place behind the Hiroshima Carp.
Carp 3, Tigers 2: At Koshien Stadium, Kaito Kozono struck out to end the first inning with two runners on, and the Tigers took a 2-1 lead against Allen Kuri (2-1) in the home half on RBI singles by Teruaki Sato and Yoshio Itoi.
Tigers starter Takumi Akiyama left after four innings, but Hiroshima came from behind against their third pitcher, Yuta Watanabe (1-1) in the sixth on a Ryan McBroom leadoff singles and a Kozono triple, the second hit for each, and a Shota Suekane sac fly.
Kuri worked 6-2/3 innings, and four relievers held Hanshi to a pair of walks the rest of the way with Ryoji Kuribayashi working a 1-2-3 ninth against the top of the order for his seventh save.
The loss marked the first time in 34 years that Hanshin has dropped seven decisions in a row to Hiroshima.
Starting pitchers
Eagles vs Marines: Miyagi Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Takayuki Kishi (3-0, 2.81) vs Manabu Mima (0-4, 3.33)
Swallows vs Dragons: Jingu Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Hirotoshi Takanashi (2-2, 2.30) vs Kotaro Ueda (-)
BayStars vs Giants: Yokohama Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Shinichi Onuki (1-1, 3.54) vs Tomoyuki Sugano (3-3, 3.78)
Tigers vs Carp: Koshien Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Joe Gunkel (1-3, 3.81) vs Drew Anderson (1-0, 0.00)
Active roster moves 5/11/2022
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 5/21
Central League
Activated
| Swallows | P | 28 | Daiki Yoshida |
| Dragons | P | 36 | Yuichiro Okano |
| Dragons | OF | 49 | Kosuke Ito |
Dectivated
| Dragons | OF | 4 | Kosuke Ukai |
Pacific League
Activated
| Marines | P | 30 | Atsuya Hirohata |
| Eagles | P | 47 | Masaru Fujii |
| Fighters | IF | 31 | Yuto Takahama |
| Lions | OF | 72 | Seiji Kawagoe |
Dectivated
| Buffaloes | P | 48 | Koki Saito |
| Marines | P | 47 | Yasuhiro Tanaka |
| Fighters | OF | 67 | Shoto Kataoka |
| Lions | OF | 30 | Brian O’Grady |
