Happy birthday skipper
On what would have been late Hall of Fame manager Katsuya Nomura’s 86th birthday, the Hanshin Tigers hosted the Yakult Swallows, both teams managed by Nomura, at Koshien Stadium, where a moment of silence was held before the memorial contest.
The Swallows were the second club Nomura managed, and the one where he had the most success, improving a solid young talent base to win four pennants and three Japan Series. The Tigers were a bit of a dumpster fire when he took them over but he did much of the groundwork for the 2003, 2005 Hanshin championships.
Tigers 5, Swallows 3
At Koshien Stadium, Hanshin came from behind in a five-run second inning that comprised of seven hits but no walks, hit batsmen, errors or extra-base hits off lefty Kazuto Taguchi (4-5).
Koyo Aoyagi (7-2) allowed two runs over seven innings, while the Swallows’ two big boppers both hit solo homers. Munetaka Murakami hit his 23rd and Tetsuto Yamada his 20th.
Giants 11, Carp 8
At Tokyo Dome, Kazuma Okamoto reached base five times, scored four runs, drove in six and pulled into a tie with Yakult’s Munetaka Murakami for Japan’s home run lead with his 22nd, with one on in the first, and a tie-breaking three-run shot in the eighth.
Yomiuri won its eighth straight to remain 2-1/2 games back of the Tigers.
BayStars 3, Dragons 2, 6 innings rain
At Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium, Shugo Maki’s fifth-inning pinch-hit RBI triple tied it 2-2 off Yudai Ono (3-6), scored on a Masayuki Kuwahara double, and Kevin Shackelford pitched a scoreless sixth – earning his first save in Japan after the game was called in the bottom of the sixth.
We learned Dragons rookie Akira Neo can juggle–he was shown on TV trying to teach a teammate how to juggle three baseballs without great success.
Eagles 5, Fighters 5
At Sendai’s Rakuten Seimei Park, Nippon Ham gave Drew VerHagen a 5-0 lead against
Yoshinao Kamata, who was making his season debut for Rakuten, before VerHagen blew that advantage with Hiroaki Shimauchi’s two-run fifth-inning double capping a four-run inning to tie it.
After Rakuten’s first reliever, Yuya Fukui, surrendered back-to-back singles in the fifth, neither team managed any offense.
Buffaloes 5, Marines 5
At Osaka’s Kyocera Dome, Yutaro Sugimoto drove in three runs with a pair of homers, his 16th and 17th, and Orix tied it on four hits, including an Adam Jones pinch-hit RBI single, against Frank Herrmann in the seventh after Buffaloes reliever Kohei “K” Suzuki pitched out of a huge jam in the top of the seventh.
Jones’ RBI was his 1,000th of his career in top-flight baseball.
Starting pitchers
Pacific League
Eagles vs Fighters: Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Masahiro Tanaka (3-4, 3.18) vs Kazuaki Tateno (0-0, 4.66)
Buffaloes vs Marines: Kyocera Dome (Osaka) 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Daiki Tajima (4-4, 4.09) vs Shota Suzuki (1-3, 3.76)
Hawks vs Lions: Kitakyushu Municipal Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Nao Higashihama (1-0, 3.28) vs Katsunori Hirai (3-2, 4.84)
Central League
Giants vs Carp: Tokyo Dome 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT
Shun Yamaguchi (1-0, 1.59) vs Allen Kuri (5-5, 3.57)
BayStars vs Dragons: Jingu Stadium 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT
Shota Imanaga (1-2, 3.99) vs Koji Fukutani (4-6, 3.86)
Tigers vs Swallows: Koshien Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Raul Alcantara (2-1, 3.82) vs Hirotoshi Takanashi (2-1, 3.81)
Active roster moves 6/29/2021
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 7/9
Central League
Activated
| Tigers | OF | 97 | Dan Onodera |
| Dragons | IF | 1 | Yota Kyoda |
| Swallows | IF | 66 | Taisei Yoshida |
Dectivated
| Swallows | OF | 25 | Domingo Santana |
Pacific League
Activated
| Eagles | P | 41 | Yoshinao Kamata |
| Buffaloes | P | 61 | Tsubasa Sakakibara |
Dectivated
| Lions | IF | 99 | Ernesto Mejia |
| Buffaloes | P | 47 | Tomoyuki Kaida |
