Masato Morishita almost bid for the kind of no-hitter that Japanese baseball doesn’t count, but had to settle for being Hiroshima’s offensive sparkplug, Anderson Espinoza had an off-day and was still better than most. C.C. Mercedes and Neftali Soto led the Marines, the Seibu Lions extra-inning nightmare is finally over, and Seiya Hosokawa was outstripped by Munetaka Murakami for the CL home run lead but outslugged the Swallows’ big wheel to power a Chunichi comeback.
Saturday’s games
Buffaloes 3, Fighters 1: At Osaka UFO Dome, Anderson Espinoza (4-0) had an off day, but picked up the win after allowing a run on eight hits and a walk over six innings. His teammates turned two double plays behind him and scraped out three runs against Takayuki Kato (1-4) as Orix snapped its four-game losing streak and Espinoza’s ERA climbed to 0.55.
Continue reading NPB news: May 4, 2024