Tag Archives: Ariel Martinez

NPB news: July 17, 2024

On Wednesday in Japan, a young Lion threw his first shutout, Orix manager Satoshi Nakajima questioned his players’ attitude, Jake Scheiner decided a shutout, a castoff continues to have a happy time in Hokkaido, while another player celebrated having a new baby, and a player better known for his arm had a big day with the bat.

Wednesday’s games:

Lions 6, Buffaloes 0: At the domed stadium formerly known as “Prince,” 23-year-old Seibu right-hander Minato Aoyama (1-2) threw his first career complete game, a three-hit three-strikeout 106-pitch shutout.

“His weapon is changing speeds,” Lions GM and interim skipper Hisanobu Watanabe said. “He doesn’t have an amazing fastball, but he is able to jam hitters.”

Orix’s Hiroya Miyagi (3-5) allowed just one walk over the first 5-1/3 innings while striking out six, but surrendered four straight hits, a sacrifice fly and two more hits before he left the mound trailing 5-0. Lions rookie Takayoshi Yamamura homered to complete the scoring in the eighth.

In their last six games, all on the road, the Buffaloes have been shut out four times, and manager Satoshi Nakajima said it didn’t help that players were acting like everything is normal.

“It’s absolutely no good putting on a calm face and going about your business,” he said. “I think that’s our weakness right now.”

Continue reading NPB news: July 17, 2024

NPB news: June 13, 2024

A day after Japan had two Madduxes, there were three shutouts, two of which were complete games. Off the field, the Orix Buffaloes got some good news and bad news, while Seibu infielder Ryusei Sato is out with a left-wrist fracture, and the Lotte Marines announced that Roki Sasaki has had another setback and is being deactivated.

Thursday’s games:

Tigers 5, Buffaloes 0: At Osaka UFO Dome, Yuki Nishi (3-3) shut out his former team on six hits and no walks while striking out four. It took Hanshin three scoring opportunities before the Tigers cashed in their first one against Daiki Tajima (3-3) in a four-run fourth. With one out and two on, a run scored on a grounder, with the batter safe at first on a fielder’s choice. Seiya Kinami doubled in one run and Shota Morishita doubled in two more.

Nishi retired 12 straight after a second-inning leadoff single, and then set down the next eight after a leadoff double in the sixth. The Buffaloes’ loss snapped a seven-game win streak.

Continue reading NPB news: June 13, 2024