Tag Archives: Aaron Wilkerson

NPB news: July 19, 2022

We had baseball on Monday this week. I didn’t report on it but we had baseball. From those games, you should know: 1) the Yomiuri Giants became the first Japanese major league team to surrender grand slams in four consecutive games, 2) they still handed the Yakult Swallows their sixth straight loss and their eighth out of nine, 3) the Seibu Lions took over first place in the Pacific League, and 4) the Nippon Ham Fighters became the latest team to suffer a raft of infections, with manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo among those in quarantine.

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Tuesday, two days after Tokyo reported a coronavirus positivity rate of nearly 50 percent, I saw a line waiting to get into a free PCR testing site near the station next to mine. I’ve passed by there once or twice a week for the past four months, and this was the first time they didn’t have staff standing in front urging people to come in and get tested.

The big news Tuesday was not baseball, even Shohei Ohtani bowing out of pitching in the All-Star game, but the retirement of figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu. That had been looming since yesterday but after a hard Sunday, I kind of shutdown on Monday, so I’m just sort of restarting before my day job picks up again on Wednesday.

The pennant race projections are back for the first time in a while, so check it out, and if they hold up, people are going to have to check out the Pacific League’s tie-breaking format.

Tuesday’s games

Tigers 3, Carp 0: At Hiroshima Citizens Stadium, Aaron Wilkerson (5-4) pitched out of just one tough inning as he struck out seven over 5-2/3 innings. Fumiya Hojo drew a two-out walk in the second and scored the first run on a Ryutaro Umeno single off Carp starter Hiroki Tokoda (8-6).

Takamu Nakano singled to lead off the third and scored, before Hojo doubled in Teruaki Sato in the sixth. Suguru Iwazaki earned his 20th save as the Tigers edged past the Giants into fourth place.

The win was the Tigers’ second against the Carp this season, and their first in Hiroshima.

Continue reading NPB news: July 19, 2022

NPB news: July 12, 2022

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Baseball resumed in Japan on Tuesday, although not for the Yakult Swallows who were forced to swap out most of their first team after a rash of COVID infections only to have their game in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, against the Chunichi Dragons rained out.

The Swallows weren’t the only ones with coronavirus headaches, as Seibu saw two of its starters and its head coach fail to finish the game after learning they had tested positive.

Elsewhere, Gregory Polanco and Jacob Waguespack had big games for the Yomiuri Giants, and Orix Buffaloes, respectively.

Tuesday’s games

Buffaloes 4, Hawks 2: At Fukuoka Dome, Jacob Waguespack (2-4) struck out nine while allowing a run on three hits and a walk over six innings as Orix dealt SoftBank to a season-worst fifth straight loss.

Continue reading NPB news: July 12, 2022