Tuesday was come-from-behind day in the Kanto, while Shota Imanaga threw a shutout in his second game of the season, while the Buffaloes got the same result by emptying the bullpen, Masahiro Tanaka had a tough time, and two pitchers from Okinawa put on a show in Naha.
I’m going to keep it short tonight, though, so let’s going.
Swallows 2, Tigers 1: At Jingu Stadium, Suguru Iwazaki (1-1) came within two outs of making Kento Itohara’s fifth-inning home run, his first of the season, stand up as the game winner, but Yakult happened and Hanshin suffered its fifth walk-off loss of the season.
Cy Sneed battled for seven innings to keep it close. He allowed one run on four hits and a walk, while Hanshin’s Yuki Nishi worked six.
Iwazaki, the Tigers’ fifth pitcher, issued a leadoff walk to Tetsuto Yamada. Yuhei Nakamura’s third single of the game put two on with one out. Norichika Aoki doubled to tie it and Jose Osuna ended it with a sac fly.
Up the road at Tokyo Dome, the Giants were doing the same.
Giants 3, Carp 2: At Tokyo Dome, Carp right-hander Atsushi Endo (2-3) stayed in to face the middle of the Giants order for the fourth time in the ninth after throwing 109 pitches.
With a two-run lead, Endo gave up back-to-back singles to Adam Walker and Naoki Yoshikawa, and walked Kazuma Okamoto to load the bases. Nik Turley allowed a Gregory Polanco RBI single and a game-winning two-run single to Hiroyuki Nakajima.
C.C. Mercedes allowed two runs on five hits and two walks over eight innings. Shota Suekane singled Shogo Sakakura and Kaito Kozono in the second.
BayStars 4, Dragons 0: At Nagoya Dome, Shota Imagawa (1-0) struck out 13 in a four-hitter to out-duel Shinnosuke Ogasawara (2-2), who allowed all four runs over eight innings on two walks and eight hits.
A Toshiro Miyazaki single and a Yamato Maeda double with one out set up the first run to score on a grounder from Hiroki Minei. Shugo Maki drove in a pair of insurance runs with a sixth-inning homer, his ninth, and an eighth-inning double, and scored on a Yamato Maeda single.
Marines 6, Eagles 3: At Chiba Marine Stadium, Masahiro Tanaka’s command came and went, he fell behind in counts and Lotte hitters made good contact and chased him in a five-run seventh inning.
With the Marines trailing 3-1, Hiromi Oka led off the Marines’ seventh with his third home run. Adeiny Hechavarria singled, and Akito Tabe singled with one out. A Shogo Nakamura flare tied it 3-3, and Toshiya Sato’s single put the Marines in front to end Tanaka’s night. His record fell to 4-2 in his first non-quality start of the season.
Ayumu Ishikawa started and went six for the Marines. He allowed three runs, two earned. Chihaya Sasaki (1-0) and Yuji Nishino worked 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth, and Naoya Masuda got his seventh save.
Buffaloes 3, Fighters 0: At Osaka Dome, six Orix pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout as starter Taisuke Yamaoka received an automatic ejection in the fourth for hitting Yuki James Nomura in the head, marking the third straight game in Osaka with an ejection.
Nippon Ham lefty Takayuki Kato (2-4) kept it scoreless until the seventh, when Yuma Tongu’s doubled and Keita Nakagawa’s triple opened the scoring. Nakagawa then scored on pinch-hitter Kodai Sano’s double.
With the lead in hand Jesse Biddle and Yoshihisa Hirano retired three hitters each with Hirano getting his 12th save.
Hawks 5, Lions 1: At Naha, Nao Higashihama, followed up last week’s no-hitter with seven scoreless innings in a duel with fellow Okinawa native Kaito Yoza, who threw eight scoreless innings
The Lions got a run when in the eighth on a Shuta Tonosaki RBI single of Yuki Tsumori (3-1) after Taisei Makihara lost track of a high two-out foul pop near third base.
Alfredo Despaigne, walked off Kaima Taira (1-2) to open the Hawks’ ninth in his season debut as a pinch-hitter. Taira hit Makihara, and Yuki Yanagita singled in the tying run. Yurisbel Gracial singled in the go-ahead run. A two-out walk to Tatsuru Yanagimatchi loaded the bases, and two scored on a throwing error by Tonosaki at second base.
The Lions loaded the bases against Livan Moinelo in the ninth before he closed it down.
Wednesday’s starting pitchers
Lions vs Hawks: Naha 6:30 pm, 5:30 am EDT
Chihiro Sumida (1-4, 2.70) vs Kazuki Sugiyama (1-1, 8.79)
Marines vs Eagles: Chiba Marine Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Kazuya Ojima (0-4, 3.20) vs Hideaki Wakui (3-1, 3.19)
Buffaloes vs Fighters: Kobe Green Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Jacob Waguespack (0-2, 3.45) vs Tsubasa Nabatame (0-1, 3.38)
Giants vs Carp: Tokyo Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Iori Yamasaki (1-1, 3.04) vs Hiroki Tokoda (4-1, 2.30)
Swallows vs Tigers: Jingu Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Keiji Takahashi (3-0, 2.48) vs Junya Nishi (1-0, 2.77)
Dragons vs BayStars: Nagoya Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Takahiro Matsuba (1-1, 0.89) vs Fernando Romero (3-3, 4.72)
Active roster moves 5/17/2022
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 5/27
Central League
Activated
| Swallows | P | 17 | Noboru Shimizu |
| Tigers | P | 69 | Daichi Ishii |
| Giants | P | 42 | C.C. Mercedes |
| Giants | IF | 2 | Naoki Yoshikawa |
| Carp | P | 53 | Tatsuto Kobayashi |
| Dragons | IF | 00 | Ryota Ishioka |
| BayStars | IF | 60 | Naoto Chino |
Dectivated
| Dragons | OF | 31 | Masaru Watanabe |
Pacific League
Activated
| Buffaloes | C | 2 | Kenya Wakatsuki |
| Buffaloes | IF | 36 | Tatsuya Yamaashi |
| Buffaloes | OF | 7 | Masataka Yoshida |
| Buffaloes | OF | 41 | Kodai Sano |
| Hawks | OF | 54 | Alfredo Despaigne |
| Lions | P | 15 | Tetsu Miyagawa |
