On Wednesday, a former Lion is a former Lion again, a Dragons player is back home, Lotte is fed up with abusive social media, a person threatening a Giants player has been arrested, and one of NPB’s minor leagues has a hitter of the month who doesn’t play for an NPB team.
On the field, Tyler Austin continues to mash, and Ariel Martinez had the big blow for Nippon Ham.
Wednesday’s games:
Carp vs Giants: At New Hiroshima Citizens Stadium, rained out.
BayStars 3, Dragons 0: At Yokohama Stadium, Tyler Austin homered for the third time in four games, and Katsuki Azuma (8-0) struck out eight in a seven-hit 124-pitch shutout, while Yuta Matsukihira (0-1) struck out five over seven innings in his major league debut for Chunichi.
Tigers 4, Swallows 1: At Koshien Stadium, Kotaro Otake (6-4) allowed a run over six innings, and Yasunobu Okugawa (2-1) worked five innings but couldn’t hold his 1-0 first-inning lead as the Swallows lost their sixth straight. The Tigers won four straight for the first time since April.
Buffaloes 4, Hawks 3: At Osaka UFO Dome, SoftBank lost this one with their unrepentant domestic abuser closer deactivated. The visitors came from behind against Hiroya Miyagi to tie it on Hotaka Yamakawa‘s 14th homer in the fourth and a Ryoya Kurihara RBI singled in the fifth. Kurihara’s eighth home run off rookie Seiryu Kotajima put the Hawks up in the eighth, but Yuki Matsumoto (2-1) allowed three straight singles to open the ninth, hit Yuma Mune to tie it and then gave up a sacrifice fly to Yuma Tongu as Tomoya Mori, whose RBI single opened the scoring in the first, chugged home as fast as he could to score the winning run.
Fighters 6, Lions 1: At the domed stadium formerly known as “Prince,” Shoma Kanemura (3-4) allowed a first-inning run. Franmil Reyes singled to set up the Fighters’ tying run in the seventh and Ariel Martinez gave Kanemura the lead with a three-run eighth-inning homer.
Marines 18, Eagles 5: At Chiba Marine Stadium, Rakuten starter Tomotaka Matsui (1-1) allowed eight runs without retiring a batter. Lotte had a season-high 21 hits, Ayumu Ishikawa (2-0) allowed two runs over six innings, and Atsuya Hirohata recorded a three-inning save. The loss was the Eagles’ second worst of the season.
Police arrest woman who threatened Giants player
A former Nippon Life Insurance company employee has been arrested for making death threats against a Yomiuri Giants player and disrupting the team’s business.
According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, former Nippon Life Insurance company employee Amano Satomi is suspected of posting photos with personal information of a Giants player on an internet bulletin board between April and June of this year, along with messages such as “We will brutally murder him and execute him,” causing the team to take measures such as strengthening security, thereby disrupting their business.
Subsequent interviews with investigators revealed that Amano had also made death threats against the same player several years ago.
MacKinnon on his way out of Samsung Lions
David MacKinnon, who plays for KBO’s Samsung Lions is expected to leave the club shortly, according to multiple local media reports that said the club is expected to put MacKinnon, who had a .327 OBP and a .401 slugging average last year for NPB’s Seibu Lions, on waivers.
He has a .294 average with 4 home runs, and 36 RBIs in 72 games and was a game MVP in this year’s KBO All-Star game, after which he was said to have been promptly fired.
MacKinnon updated his Instagram account on Tuesday, writing, “I’m grateful to my colleagues and Samsung fans for making my short time in Korea an unforgettable memory.”
Carp recall Scheiner
Jake Scheiner, who started at first base in the game against DeNA on March 30, but was injured attempting a diving catch and diagnosed with an avulsion fracture of his right-middle finger. In 34 Western League games, Scheiner is batting .171 in 2015 at-bats.
Oisix outfielder Chinen EL batter of the month
Taisei Chinen, a 24-year-outfielder for Oisix Niigata Albirex, one of two non-NPB teams admitted to NPB’s minor leagues this season, was named the Eastern League’s batter of the month for June on Wednesday after batting .364 for the month with two homers and eight RBIs.
Through Tuesday, Oisix and the Western League’s Kufu Hayate, who do not have access to the NPB draft, unlike the teams they play are both in last place.
Dragons’ Felize departs for child-birth leave
Chunichi Dragons pitcher Michael Felize was deactivated Wednesday, having left Japan to be with his wife when she gives birth. He is scheduled to return to Japan in about a week. The Dragons also dropped infielder Ryuku Tsuchida who was feeling sick under NPB’s infectious disease protocol.
Lotte warns social media abusers
The Lotte Marines posted a notice on their official website and social media titled “Regarding slanderous messages to players,” in which the team said players were complaining about being targeted in abusive social media messages.
“If insults or threats go too far, we will consider reporting to the police and taking legal action. Please understand the feelings of the person receiving the messages and refrain from such behavior in the future.”
