Tag Archives: A.J. Cole

NPB news: June 8, 2022

We didn’t have another no-hitter on Wednesday, but only by the slimmest of margins on a night when the Central League won five of six to give it a fighting chance of finishing .500 in interleague this year.

Wednesday’s games

Hawks 1, Tigers 0: At Fukuoka Dome, Nao Higashihama (6-1) worked six scoreless innings, Koya Fujii worked a solid seventh, Katsuki Matayoshi survived an eighth-inning bases-loaded by striking out Yusuke Oyama and Kento Itohara, and Livan Moinelo secured his ninth save.

Akira Nakamura kept the Tigers off the scoreboard in the top of the fourth, his offline throw from right in time to nail Koji Chikamoto at the plate when he tried to score from second on Itohara’s two-out single, allowing the Hawks to open the scoring in their at-bat.

After no-out singles from Taisei Makihara and Yuki Yanagita, Junya Nishi (3-2) hit Yurisbel Gracial and a run came home on a ground out.

Continue reading NPB news: June 8, 2022

NPB news: May 15, 2022

Japan’s baseball week ended in a trio of blowouts, two won by last-place teams. There was one riveting tie, and another one that leaves us wondering what’s up with the umpires and the Lotte Marines when they play in Osaka.

Let’s get to them shall we?

Sunday’s games

Buffaloes 8, Marines 5: At Osaka Dome, the Lotte Marines may have thought they caught a break with the umpires when Roki Sasaki‘s nemesis, inflammable umpire Kazuyuki Shirai, was not behind the plate on Friday or Saturday in the first two games against Orix.

Continue reading NPB news: May 15, 2022