On Thursday, we had three pitching duels, including one mind-blowing experience in Nagoya, and a pair of knock-down drag-outs.
Thursday’s games
Buffaloes 3, Tigers 2: At Koshien Stadium, Yuma Tongu hit a game-tying ninth-inning homer and 2021 PL home champ Yutaro Sugimoto completed the comeback with a mammoth shot, his 10th, off Atsuki Yuasa (0-2).
Tongu singled in the game’s first run off Tigers starter Masashi Ito in the fourth, only for Orix’s Taisuke Yamaoka to allow a run on no-out singles to Yusuke Oyama and Ukyo Maegawa and an error by center fielder Keita Nakagawa. Ito then singled in the go-ahead run and kept the Buffaloes off the scoreboard until he left after seven.