There were three 2-1 games in Japan on Wednesday, and in the one game that was way off that pattern, Tsuyoshi Wada had a terrific game that left Rakuten calling an emergency meeting in which the riot act was not read, while Seibu’s headaches continued and Yakult’s center field dilemma deepened.
Wednesday’s games:
Marines 2, Lions 1: At the domed stadium formerly known as “Prince,” Atsuki Taneichi (3-3) struck out eight while allowing an unearned run over the distance as Lotte remained undefeated in seven straight games, including two ties, while Seibu lost its seventh straight and its eighth in a row to Lotte. Taneichi’s complete game victory was his first in four years.
Lotte’s Gregory Polanco doubled and scored off Chihiro Sumida (2-4) in the second on a Toshiya Sato sacrifice fly. Two sixth-inning walks and a Shogo Nakamura single made it 2-0 before Seibu’s Shota Hiranuma singled in a run in the home half.
Tigers 2, Carp 1: At New Hiroshima Citizens Stadium, Kotaro Otake (4-2) threw seven shutout innings, Koji Chikamoto doubled to lead off Hanshin’s first and walked to lead off the third. Yusuke Oyama singled him in to open the scoring and made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly off Masato Morishita (3-2). Tigers closer Suguru Iwazaki allowed a ninth-inning run on two hits and two walks but left the bases loaded for his eighth save. The Carp’s loss snapped their four-game winning streak.
BayStars 2, Swallows 1: At Jingu “Tokyo’s sacrifice to corporate greed and political malfeasance” Stadium, Yakult returned to form after getting blown up 7-0 Tuesday, falling to 2-11 in one-run games this season. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo’s two-run homer opened the scoring against Reiji Kozawa (0-5) in the fourth, and Munetaka Murakami tripled and scored in the home half for the Swallows.
Andre Jackson (2-3) allowed a run over six innings, while three scoreless innings from the bullpen, with Kohei Morihara earning his 11th save, sent the Swallows to their fourth straight loss.
The Swallows, who have lost regular center fielder Yasutaka Shiomi for the foreseeable future due to surgery needed to repair the meniscus and ACL in his left knee, have gotten decent production from 24-year-old Kazuya Maruyama both with his glove in center and his .376 on-base-percentage in Shiomi’s leadoff spot. On Wednesday, Maruyama was taken from the field on a stretcher after slamming his head into the padded outfield wall.
Three days earlier, Maruyama had a run in with the outfield wall at Koshien, and suffered contusions on his upper body.
“Jingu’s wall is pretty hard, and with what happened at Koshien, I’m concerned,” Swallows skipper Shingo Takatsu said.
Dragons 4, Giants 2: At Tokyo Ugly Dome, Yoshihiro Maru opened the home half of the first with his third home run, off Shinnosuke Ogasawara (2-3). Maru’s third-inning single and a Hayato Sakamoto double set up Kazuma Okamoto‘s sacrifice fly. Sakamoto, who is second in career doubles behind Chunichi manager Kazuyoshi Tatsunami’s 487, now has 450, moving out of a tie with Hall of Famer Yutaka Fukumoto. Maru’s homer was the 11th first-inning leadoff shot of the two-time MVP’s career.
Kenshin Horita (3-1) helped Chunichi get back in the game with a pair of two-out sixth-inning walks ahead of a Seiya Hosokawa RBI single and a two-run Orlando Calixte double. Yuki Okabayashi tripled to open the Dragons’ seventh and scored to make it 4-2.
Raidel Martinez struck out two in a 12-pitch 1-2-3 ninth for his 13th save as Yomiuri failed to win for the fourth straight game.
Hawks 12, Eagles 0: At Osaka UFO Dome, SoftBank played with butt-kicking mode on for the second time in two days. After smashing the Eagles 21-0 Tuesday, Hotaka Yamakawa hit a three-run homer in the five-run first and a two-run homer in a four-run second. Rakuten starter Kosei Shoji (1-4) retired the leadoff man in the first but was pulled after the next six reached base.
Yamakawa had been tied with Munetaka Murakami of the Swallows for the NPB home run lead with 12.
Tsuyoshi Wada (2-0) allowed three singles, and with the help of two double plays, faced just one batter over the minimum while striking out four. The Hawks have won six straight, while the Eagles’ loss was their season-worst fourth straight.
The loss prompted first-year manager Toshiaki Imae to hold an emergency team meeting after the game, and if his retelling is accurate, he is definitely not old school enough for some traditionalists.
He said he told his players, “I don’t want you forget how hard you all grinded until now, and that it’s still May and there’s plenty of time for players who are not doing well to find their form, and that he would do his best to get the most from each player.”
Fighters 5, Buffaloes 4, 10 innings: At Kitahiroshima Taxpayers Burden Field, Yuki James Nomura’s 10th-inning leadoff triple set up the winning run to score on Yua Tamiya‘s sacrifice fly to lift Nippon Ham over Orix. Ariel Martinez doubled in Yuya Gunji in the third off Luis Castillo, and Tamiya’s leadoff homer in the fourth made it 2-0. Back-to-back seventh-inning RBI singles from Chusei Mannami and Go Matsumoto made it 4-0.
The Buffaloes tied it against the Fighters’ fourth pitcher, Mizuki Hori on Shuhei Fukuda‘s grand slam, but managed just one base runner the rest of the way.
