Tag Archives: Andrew Albers

NPB 2020 8-23 Games and news

Jones goes deep as young Buffaloes deliver

Adam Jones struck pay dirt for the third-straight game as the Orix Buffaloes cashed in on a 6-5 win over the Seibu Lions on Sunday at Osaka’s Kyocera Dome.

Jones broke a 3-3, eighth-inning tie with his ninth home run, a one-out solo shot off setup man Reed Garrett (3-1) and the Buffaloes added on two more runs in the inning. Acting skipper Satoshi Nakajima gave rookie Taisei Urushihara the ball for his top team debut. Urushihara, who saved 23 games last year for Nakajima in the Western League, allowed two runs but earned his first save.

Jones said he wasn’t looking to break the tie with a home run.

“I’m just trying to be aggressive. I’m not trying to hit the ball out of the park. I’m just trying to hit the ball hard and put a good swing on it and the last couple of days it’s been working so hopefully it can continue,” Jones said.

Two of his last four home runs had put the Buffaloes in front and another had tied a game.

“I like the pressure of tough situations. In the last couple of days, it’s been good to come through for the team. We’re just going to play the game hard and live with the results. The last couple of days they’ve been good.”

It looked like the Buffaloes had met their match in Lions right-hander Wataru Matsumoto, who retired Jones in the second on three-straight high fastballs. Matsumoto allowed a solo homer in the first to diminutive slugger Masataka Yoshida and left with a 3-1 lead.

The Lions got to lefty Andrew Albers in the fifth, when two scored on Hotaka Yamakawa’s two-out double. Takumi Kuriyama made it 3-1 in the sixth with his seventh homer. But Lions rookie Tetsu Miyagawa let the hosts back into it in the home half. Singles by Keita Nakagawa and Ryoichi Adachi set the table, and Yutaro Sugimoto, whom Nakajima brought up with him from the farm team singled both home.

“Keita and I had both been working hard on the farm, and it’s good that we could both produce up here,” Sugimoto said. “The farm games are played outside, and it’s really hot. We all bond under the shared hardship. I didn’t hit the ball well, but got lucky in where it went.”

“Urushihara gave his all on the farm alongside me, so it is only natural that he gets results up here.”

VerHagen, relievers shut out Eagles.

Drew VerHagen (5-1) worked six innings, and his teammates broke the ice with two outs in the sixth inning en route to an 11-0 Nippon Ham Fighters win over the Rakuten Eagles at Sapporo Dome.

VerHagen pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the sixth, scattered five hits and two walks while striking out eight. He set the tone for the game in the first inning, when he got four ground balls, including a single when he failed to properly cover first. The only ball the Eagles managed to elevate off him in six innings was a foul out to his catcher.

Eagles right-hander Yuya Fukui (0-3) had allowed three runners through five innings. He made his pitches in the sixth, but good swings by Go Matsumoto and Haruki Nishikawa produced a single and a double that put two in scoring position with one out. J.T. Chargois struck out Sho Nakata, who leads both leagues in home runs and RBIs, but allowed the tie-breaking run to score on an infield single and an RBI single by Kotaro Kiyomiya.

Kiyomiya added a three-run home run, his fourth, in the Fighters’ six-run seventh.

Yanagita, Ishikawa lead Hawks’ victory

Yuki Yanagita’s third home run in three games, a towering two-run shot, opened the scoring and Shuta Ishikawa (6-0) allowed an unearned run over six innings in the SoftBank Hawks’ 6-4 win over the Lotte Marines at Chiba’s Zozo Marine Stadium.

The win moved the Hawks one game ahead of the Marines at the top of the PL standings.

A day after he hit the bottom of the stadium’s big screen over 100 feet above the playing surface, Yanagita launched another towering shot off lefty Toshiya Nakamura (1-1). His 18th home run hit off the facade that towers above the ballpark’s right-field stands.

Nobuhiro Matsuda and Ryoya Kurihara each added a two-run shot for the three-time defending Japan Series champs.

Ono goes distance again with 1st shutout

Lefty Yudai Ono (4-3) threw a five-hitter for his first shutout and his fourth-straight complete-game victory as the Chunichi Dragons beat the DeNA BayStars 3-0 at Nagoya Dome.

Ono, who had struck out 10 in each of his three previous starts only notched seven, while scattering five hits and two walks. He also walked and scored a run.

Dragons leadoff hitter Yohei Oshima singled three times and scored twice. He reached with one out in the third, stole second, and scored on Zoilo Almonte’s two-out single. Oshima followed Ono’s fifth-inning one-out walk and scored on a double off the wall by Ryosuke Hirata. The Dragons veteran had been recalled that morning after rehabbing for a month with the farm team.

Sakaguchi pushes Swallows past Tigers

Tomotaka Sakaguchi homered and hit a tie-breaking RBI infield single to drive in two runs as the Yakult Swallows beat the Hanshin Tigers 4-2 at Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium.

A week after throwing his first no-hitter, Yasuhiro “Ryan” Ogawa (6-2) allowed two runs on five hits and a walk over seven innings. After Sakaguchi tied it 1-1 in the first with his fifth home run, Ogawa singled in the go-ahead run in the second. He earned the win after Noboru Shimizu and Taishi Ishiyama finished up with one scoreless inning each.

Tigers starter Takumi Akiyama allowed two runs over six innings and squeezed in the tying run in the fifth, but setup man Joe Gunkel (0-2) took the loss after allowing two singles and hitting a batter in the seventh.

Sakakura blast lifst Carp over Giants

Shogo Sakakura’s second home run in two games, an eighth-inning pinch-hit shot off former Carp Kan Otake (1-1) lifted the Hiroshima Carp to a 2-1 win over the Yomiuri Giants at Hiroshima’s Mazda Stadium.

Carp cleanup hitter Seiya Suzuki tied it 1-1 in the fourth with his 13th home run, while 21-year-old right-handed starter Atsushi Endo held the Giants to a run over seven innings.

Lefty Atsuya Horie worked a scoreless eighth. Closer Geronimo Franzua loaded the bases with a single and a pair of two-out walks but hung on to earn his sixth save. Zelous Wheeler lined a 3-2 pitch from Franzua to left, but left fielder Jose Pirela was able to make the catch.

Harimoto heaps praise on rookie Rodriguez

Hall of Famer Isao Harimoto, Japan’s favorite Sunday morning baseball curmudgeon, this week heaped praise on Chunichi Dragons rookie pitcher Yariel Rodriguez, the Daily Sports reports.

Speaking remotely in his usual spot on the TBS network’s “Sunday Morning,” Harimoto called the 23-year-old, who has made three impressive starts, “ominous.”

“He’s got good stuff. He’s 23. You can’t hit those pitches, they are heavy and move. If you aren’t really good, he’s awfully hard to hit. You get the sense, like you do with (Yomiuri Giants ace Tomoyuki) Sugano that if this guy is on the mound, the team feels like it’s going to win.”

Isao Harimoto, on TBS’ Sunday Morning, Aug. 23, 2020

Dragons rush Hirata up to replace Fukuda

The Chunichi Dragons on Sunday deactivated outfielder Nobumasa Fukuda and rushed veteran outfielder Ryosuke Hirata back from his rehab assignment to take his place according to the Hochi Shimbun.

Fukuda left Saturday’s game at Nagoya Dome against the DeNA BayStars in the fourth inning due to stiffness in his leg and was examined at a local hospital.

Hirata was deactivated on July 20

Active roster moves 8/23/2020

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 9/2

Central League

Activated

GiantsP35Toshiki Sakurai
GiantsP54Daisuke Naoe
DragonsOF6Ryosuke Hirata

Dectivated

GiantsP31Seishu Hatake
GiantsOF36Shingo Ishikawa
DragonsIF55Nobumasa Fukuda

Pacific League

Activated

MarinesIF23Ryo Miki
BuffaloesP28Ryoga Tomiyama
BuffaloesP65Taisei Urushihara

Dectivated

LionsP27Tetsuya Utsumi
MarinesIF68Kenji Nishimaki
BuffaloesP39Keisuke Kobayashi
BuffaloesP57Nobuyoshi Yamada

NPB 2020 8-9 games and news

Former Tiger VerHagen wins 3rd straight

Drew VerHagen struck out 10 over seven innings to win his third-straight start after Sho Nakata broke a 1-1 tie with a third-inning RBI single in the Nippon Ham Fighters’ 2-1 victory over the Seibu Lions at Sapporo Dome on Sunday.

With Ryo Watanabe on second after a leadoff double, Nakata singled on the second pitch he saw from Lions right-hander Keisuke Honda (0-4). It was the second run of the game for Watanabe, who singled with one out in the bottom of the first and scored the tying run after singles by Kensuke Kondo and Taishi Ota.

Shuta Tonosaki put the Lions in front in the first with a two-out solo homer in the first. The right-handed hitter barreled up a two-seamer on the inside edge and pulled it down the line for his second homer of the year.

After the Fighters tied it in the bottom of the first, center fielder Haruki Nishikawa helped ensure it stayed tied by robbing No. 9 hitter Shohei Suzuki of a leadoff double in the top of the third.

VerHagen (4-1) allowed five hits but did not issue a walk. Left-handed bullpen workhorse Naoki Miyanishi pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, and side-arm right-hander Ryo Akiyoshi did the same in the ninth to earn his 10th save.

Honda allowed two runs on six hits and a walk, while striking out one. Lions cleanup hitter Hotaka Yamakawa, hurt his right ankle when he stumbled out of an awkward swinging third strike to end the first inning. He was helped off the field and received treatment. He appeared to run without trouble in the field, but struck out in his next two at-bats and was pinch-hit for in the ninth.

Nakamura 3 relievers blank sluggish Buffaloes

Rookie lefty Toshiya Nakamura worked six scoreless innings to outduel Andrew Albers, who surrendered Leonys Martin’s third home run in three games in the Lotte Marines’ 4-0 win over the Orix Buffaloes at Osaka’s Kyocera Dome.

With Adam Jones out of the lineup for the first time this season due to discomfort in his right heal, Torai Fushimi took over the DH duties and went 0-4, ending three innings with one or more runners on.

Nakamura (1-0), the Marines’ fifth draft pick in 2018 scattered four walks and a hit, and faced only one serious challenge, when he got Fushimi to ground out to end the sixth with two men on.

Albers (2-4) looked sharp from the outset, but in the fourth inning, Martin launched a lazy 2-2 slider that missed over the plate and hit it over the center field wall for his 11th home run.

Yuki Karakawa worked a 1-2-3 seventh for the Marines, but Frank Herrmann tempted disaster in the eighth.

Kenya Wakatsuki put a perfect swing on a low first-pitch knuckle curve, looped it over short toward the gap in left and legged out a leadoff double. After failing to get a bunt down, Shuhei Fukuda avoided being rung out on a fastball that missed the outside edge by quite a bit – a location that has been a called strike on lots of batters this year – and walked on eight pitches.

Manager Norifumi Nishimura’s predictable sacrifice followed, but Lotte manager Tadahito Iguchi opted to fill the bases with one out by walking slugger Masataka Yoshida. It should have backfired, but third baseman Hisanori Yasuda made a good play to retire Takahiro Okada on a foul fly after he overran the ball. Herrmann fell behind 3-1 to Fushimi, who swung at two fastballs at the letters that umpire Tetsuya Shimada had been calling balls all day.

The Buffaloes tried the same intentional walk trick in the top of the ninth, walking Martin to load the bases with one out, but Yasuda, the Marines cleanup hitter, delivered a two-run double, and Ikuhiro Kiyota “singled” in another run on a pop fly over second that put the “blooper” in blooper reel.

Hawks bullpen finally holds off Eagles

A bullpen day is nothing to cheer for against the SoftBank Hawks, as the Rakuten Eagles found out in a 5-0 loss at Sendai’s Raktuen Seimei Park Miyagi as four pitchers combined on a three-hit shutout that left the two teams tied for the Pacific League lead.

Lefty Shunsuke Kasaya started and went three innings, while Yugo Bando (2-1) worked four innings to earn the win. Setup man Livan Moinelo and closer Yuito Mori finished up.

Eagles starter Yuya Fukui (0-1), the No. 1 draft pick of the Hiroshima Carp in 2010, took the tough loss after allowing a run on two hits and a walk over 5-2/3 innings while striking out six.

Hawks catcher Takuya Kai doubled in the in the sixth and scored on a wild pitch. Yuki Yanagita hit a fat pitch nearly as far as one can in the eighth to drive in an insurance run, and Kai hit a three-run home run in the ninth.

Giants comeback to salvage tie

On the back foot against first-team debutant Yariel Rodriguez and some good defensive plays by the Chunichi Dragons, the Yomiuri Giants tied it in a two-run seventh in their 2-2 10-inning tie at Nagoya Dome.

Toshiki Abe homered with one out and one on in the first off right-hander Ryosuke MIyaguni, who was making the start on a bullpen day. The Giants relievers, however, shut down the hosts for the rest of the game, allowing the hitters to finally score off Rodriguez.

Making good use of a good fastball and slider, the 23-year-old Cuban allowed three runs to reach through the first six innings, all on walks. He didn’t allow a hit until back-to-back one-out doubles by Takumi Oshiro and Zelous Wheeler. Lefty Toshiya Okada walked the only batter he faced.

Setup man Daisuke Sobue allowed Wheeler to score after a single loaded the bases and veteran left-handed hitter Yoshiyuki Kamei delivered a sacrifice fly on a pitch headed for the dirt.

Rodriguez allowed two hits and three walks while striking out eight over 6-1/3 innings.

The tie ended a run of three-straight losses by the Giants.

Kuramoto slam powers DeNA shutout

Toshihiko Kuramoto hit a first-inning grand slam, his first home run in two years, and Kentaro Taira (3-2) worked seven innings as the DeNA BayStars beat the Yakult Swallows 4-0 at Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium.

Kuramoto capped a first-inning rally off submarine right-hander Hirofumi Yamanaka (0-1), who lasted four innings.

Taira allowed four hits and a walk while striking out six. Spencer Patton and Edwin Escobar each supplied one perfect inning of relief to close it out.

Oyama, Akiyama lead Tigers over Carp

Cleanup hitter Yusuke Oyama doubled, tripled, homered, scored two runs and drove in two, while Takumi Aoyama (4-1) allowed a run over six innings in the Hanshin Tigers’ 5-1 win over the Hiroshima Carp at Hiroshima’s Mazda Stadium.

Oyama broke the ice in the second, when he doubled to open the inning against 21-year-old right-hander Atsushi Endo (2-2) and scored on a bases-loaded groundout.

After the Carp tied it, the Tigers took the lead for good in the third. Seiya Kinami doubled and Oyama tripled him home. Oyama homered in the eighth to make it 3-1.

Endo allowed two runs over five innings on three hits and four walks, while Akiyama gave up one hit and walked three.

The Carp loaded the bases in the ninth with one out against closer Robert Suarez, but could not score.

Buffs’ Jones out of lineup for 1st time

Adam Jones sat out the Orix Buffaloes’ game against the Lotte Marines on Sunday, marking the first time this season was not in the lineup. According to the Nikkan Sports, Jones came out of Saturday’s game after the fifth inning due to discomfort in his right heel.

He was not examined at a hospital and is expected to play against the Hawks in Fukuoka from Tuesday.

Active roster moves 8/9/2020

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 8/19

Central League

Activated

TigersP46Takumi Akiyama
DragonsP67Yariel Rodriguez
SwallowsP13Hikaru Nakao
SwallowsP69Ryuta Konno

Dectivated

SwallowsP61Takuma Kubo

Pacific League

Activated

BuffaloesP22Ryota Muranishi
BuffaloesP27Andrew Albers

Dectivated

FightersP27Nick Martinez
BuffaloesP30Kohei ”K” Suzuki

Starting pitchers for Monday, Aug. 10, 2020

Central League

BayStars vs Tigers: Yokohama Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Yuta Muto (0-0, 6.75) vs Yuta Iwasada (2-1, 3.41)

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

Allen Kuri (1-2, 4.91) vs Shinnosuke Ogasawara (-)