Inter-mission Day 1

OK, we’re now in the part of the season I like to call Inter-mission, the break of often glorious weather and no baseball between the end of interleague and the resumption of league play. Ok, there is baseball, three makeup games in Hiroshima, but it’s the most laid-back time of the year in Japanese baseball.

The Lions’ win on Monday leaves the CL leading interleague 48-47 with 11 ties. The PL is running away in terms of runs scored, again, 464-437.

Lions 3, Carp 2

At Hiroshima’s Mazda Stadium, Seibu broke a 2-2 sixth inning fly that makes me think NPB’s scorers have definitely been given some hard and fast rules on how to do things, and that scoring rules are different from how they used to be.

With one out and the bases loaded, Takeya Nakamura hit a high pop to shallow center, where rookie outfielder Ryutaro Hatsuki, with his on holding the runner at third, dropped the ball. The runner on third scored easily but the runner on first was forced easily at second.

Traditionally this would have been ruled a groundout to center, but for some reason, the official scoring went as a sacrifice fly — in which the batter was not retired, but the runner on first was forced at second.

What happened is not in question. I’m just curious why it was scored that way and not some other way.

The game came down to which team could walk the fewest batters in critical situations. The Lions went to a bullpen day so their pitchers wouldn’t have to bat, and Ken Sasaki, their second pitcher, issued four walks and two hits, including a two-run single by rookie Kota Hayashi, that made it 2-1.

Kazuki Yabuta, who got into hot water for not being able to throw strikes in the spring and was making his season debut, walked five in his 4-2/3 innings. Robert Corniel (0-1), who has been very solid for the Carp this year, took the mound and surrendered a Tomoya Mori single. Corniel stayed in the game in the sixth.

The first batter reached on a third-strike passed ball. A single and a walk loaded the bases before the “sacrifice fly” which garnered Nakamura an RBI.

Lions submariner Kaito Yoza threw three scoreless innings. Rookie Yutaro Watanabe struck out three of the batters he faced over two scoreless innings in another bright showing for a young Lions player. Kaima Taira finished with his 33rd consecutive scoreless game since the start of the season, which is a record I’m not certain why anyone cares about. It was also his seventh save.

Starting pitchers

Interleague

Carp vs Lions: Mazda Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Daichi Osera (2-2, 2.89) vs Wataru Matsumoto (5-3, 2.88)

Active roster moves 6/14/2021

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 6/24

Central League

Activated

Dectivated

Pacific League

Activated

None

Dectivated