On Sunday in Japan, Yuya Yanagi put an end to the Hiroshima Carp’s huge offensive outputs, but Drew Anderson did him one better.
Dietrich Enns had it going for Seibu, while 41-year-old Tsuyoshi Wada had a good day for the SoftBank Hawks. Meanwhile, Tsuyoshi Shinjo took to social media and I’m the happier for it.
Sunday was also the final day of league play before three weeks of interleague, and former Lotte ace Tomohiro “Johnny” Kuroki wants you to know who he thinks will be on top, while I see it differently.
Shall we get started?
Carp 1, Dragons 0: At Hiroshima Citizens Stadium, Drew Anderson (2-0) allowed five hits and struck out five without issuing a walk over six innings. Shota Dobayashi batted for in the bottom of the inning, and got the Carp’s second hit off Yuya Yanagi (4-2) a leadoff home run and his third of the season.
Yanagi worked 7-1/3 innings and though Chunichi lost its fifth straight, at least the Dragons only coughed up a run after allowing 10-plus in each of the first two games in Hiroshima.
Ryoji Kuribayashi earned his eighth save, before turning center stage over to Anderson and Dobayashi’s bromance hero interview.
Hiroshima’s win moved them to within half a game of the second-place Giants.
Tigers 4, Giants 0: At Koshien Stadium, Masashi Ito (1-1) allowed eight hits but no walks in a 111-pitch shutout. He drew a one-out walk to load the bases in the second against lefty Yuki Takahashi (1-4), who then gave up two hits before Teruaki Sato‘s infield single off Natsuki Toda made it a four-run inning.
The Giants fell a full game back of the CL-leading Swallows.
Swallows 5, BayStars 3: At Yokohama Stadium, this was just one of those games, where both sides had lots of hits, but one team’s came at better times. DeNA stranded nine runners, Yakult six and that was the difference.
BayStars captain Keita Sano who missed two weeks before returning Saturday, went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs, and Scott McGough worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 13th save.
Hawks 3, Marines 2: At Fukuoka Dome, Tsuyoshi Wada (1-1) allowed a run over 5-2/3 innings, Yuki Yanagita hit the kind of home run that really only he hits, Tatsuru Yanagimachi singled in another and SoftBank held on to salvage the final game of the series.
Wada struck out five and allowed just a first-inning walk before Akito Takabe singled with two outs in the sixth and scored on a Shogo Nakamura double.
The Hawks’ runs came in the fourth. Kenta Imamiya singled to open the inning off Enny Romero (2-4) and Yanagita crushed a pitch for his seventh home run, driving it well back in the stands in left center. Yutaka Nakamura and Alfredo Despaigne singled with one out to set up the the third run.
Brandon Laird hammered a low pitch in the seventh for his sixth home run, the first allowed by reliever Yuki Tsumori this season, but Katsuki Matayoshi and Livan Moinelo, who struck out three in the ninth en route to his seventh save, closed it out.
Buffaloes 6, Eagles 1: At Miyagi Stadium, Keita Nakagawa was the Orix offense’s big guy for the second straight day, driving in the Buffaloes’ first three runs off Takahiro Norimoto (2-2). Yutaro Sugimoto, who homered on Saturday, singled in a run, and Yuma Tongu hit a two-run sixth-inning homer, his second. Leadof man Shuhei Fukuda went 4-for-5 and scored twice.
Hiroya Miyagi (3-2) allowed a run on five hits and a walk over six innings to get the win as Orix completed a sweep in Sendai.
Lions 3, Fighters 0: At Sapporo Dome, Dietrich Enns (3-2) allowed three singles and no walks over seven innings, Kaima Taira struck out the side in the eighth, and Tatsushi Masuda earned his 10th save as Seibu avoided being swept in Sapporo.
The Lions loaded the bases with one out against Chihiro Kaneko (1-2) in the first. Shuta Tonosaki singled in leadoff man Seiji Kawagoe and Natsuo Takizawa scored on a groundout. Takumi Kuriyama got his second RBI doubling in an eighth-inning insurance run.
Active roster moves 5/22/2022
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 6/1
Central League
Activated
| Swallows | P | 28 | Daiki Yoshida |
| Tigers | P | 27 | Masashi Itoh |
| BayStars | P | 67 | Yuki Ariyoshi |
Dectivated
| Swallows | P | 16 | Juri Hara |
| Dragons | P | 36 | Yuichiro Okano |
Pacific League
Activated
| Marines | OF | 3 | Katsuya Kakunaka |
| Eagles | P | 79 | Yuki Watanabe |
| Hawks | P | 21 | Tsuyoshi Wada |
| Fighters | P | 19 | Chihiro Kaneko |
Dectivated
| Marines | P | 15 | Manabu Mima |
| Eagles | P | 23 | Hayato Yuge |
| Eagles | P | 53 | Hosei Takata |
| Lions | P | 27 | Tetsuya Utsumi |
Active roster moves 5/22/2022
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 6/1
Central League
Activated
| Swallows | P | 28 | Daiki Yoshida |
| Tigers | P | 27 | Masashi Itoh |
| BayStars | P | 67 | Yuki Ariyoshi |
Dectivated
| Swallows | P | 16 | Juri Hara |
| Dragons | P | 36 | Yuichiro Okano |
Pacific League
Activated
| Marines | OF | 3 | Katsuya Kakunaka |
| Eagles | P | 79 | Yuki Watanabe |
| Hawks | P | 21 | Tsuyoshi Wada |
| Fighters | P | 19 | Chihiro Kaneko |
Dectivated
| Marines | P | 15 | Manabu Mima |
| Eagles | P | 23 | Hayato Yuge |
| Eagles | P | 53 | Hosei Takata |
| Lions | P | 27 | Tetsuya Utsumi |
