Tag Archives: Jose Osuna

NPB wrap 9-9-21

After merely ticking for much of the spring and summer and again during the Olympics, Hiroshima’s Seiya Suzuki has become the time bomb that goes off on a daily basis. On Thursday, the Carp outfielder, who will likely move to the majors after this season via the posting system, went deep twice.

By homering in his sixth consecutive game, Suzuki is one game shy of the Japan record set by Hall of Famer Sadaharu Oh with the Yomiuri Giants in 1972 and equaled by Hanshin Tigers first baseman Randy Bass in 1986.

In two of the three games featuring pennant contenders, two closers blew leads in the top of the ninth and then watched as their teams wasted scoring opportunities in the bottom of the ninth.

On top of that, we had two wild plays, a runner tagged out at first after beating out an infield single, and a 3-2-5 double play, so all in all, it was a pretty good evening’s worth of baseball.

And if that didn’t whet your appetite, Nick Martinez, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Masahiro Tanaka, Yudai Ono and rookie rocket Roki Sasaki are all set to star for the teams in the weekend series openers.

Buffaloes 2, Marines 2

At Hotto Motto Field, the game between two teams separated at the top of the Pacific League standings by a few winning percentage points, couldn’t have been tighter. After a tremendous pitchers’ duel between Orix lefty Daiki Tajima and returning Lotte right-hander Ayumu Ishikawa, the Marines trailed by two but came back on home runs by Tetsuya Kokubo in the seventh and Takashi Ogino in the ninth.

Ishikawa, in his first game back since having shoulder cleaning surgery in June, was razor-sharp. A couple of good swings resulted in a fifth-inning Orix run. Masahiro Nishino singled off a two-seamer that got up a little too much, and Ishikawa threw one too many of his good changeup-sinkers to Shuhei Fukuda, who lined the fourth straight one he saw into center field for a two-out RBI single. Yutaro Sugimoto belted his 24th homer to lead off the fifth when Ishikawa tried to get a strike with a 3-0 fastball up and away.

Tajima allowed three hits and two walks but was extremely loose and sharp as he struck out 10 over eight innings. He threw a decent 1-1 inside fastball to Kokubo, and the former Carp pinch-hitting specialist, who’d been toiling in independent ball until Lotte signed him last week, hammered it for his first home run in two years.

Orix closer Yoshihisa Hirano, going for his 18th save, threw an 0-1 forkball low and in that Ogino upper-cut just over the fence in left for his eighth home run. In the bottom of the ninth, Lotte closer Naoya Masuda allowed two to reach with no outs and missed taking the loss by a few inches. Rookie Kotaro Kurebayashi hammered a low 1-2 slider toward the left-field corner, but Ryo Miki, an eighth-inning defensive replacement at third, jumped up to make the game-ending catch.

Eagles 4, Fighters 0

At Sapporo Dome, Drew VerHagen (3-7, 4.91) saw his string of solid outings snapped as he allowed four runs over six innings and Rakuten’s Takahiro Norimoto (9-5, 3.49) threw a three-hit shutout in which he struck out 11 and walked one.

Hiroaki Shimauchi’s two-run bases-loaded double opened the scoring in the third. The Eagles manufactured a run in the fifth after a leadoff walk, and Takero Okajima led off the sixth with his eighth home run.

When things go bad, sometimes they go so bad that one is forced to learn a rule to understand how it could possibly get worse.

One of the Fighters’ three singles, a leadoff infield single in the seventh, resulted in the inning’s first out. Yuki James Nomura beat out a grounder to second only to be tagged out. When the throw got past first baseman Daichi Suzuki, Nomura, in foul territory after over-running the bag, glanced at the ball and took a half step toward second before giving up and walking back to first. Before he could get back, Suzuki tagged him out and umpire Atsushi Fukaya ruled Nomura showed his intent to advance to the next base and was eligible to be put out.

BayStars 5, Giants 5

At Yokohama Stadium, Yomiuri rallied for three runs in the ninth off DeNA closer Kazuki Mishima, and then held on to secure the tie without closer Thyago Vieiara, who was deactivated earlier in the day for undisclosed reasons.

Yoshiyuki Kamei led off the top of the ninth with a pinch-hit double, but there were two down before Naoki Yoshikawa hit the first of four straight singles. Yoshihiro Maru’s tied it 3-3 before Mishima avoided blowing the lead.

Masayuki Kuwahara doubled to leadoff DeNA’s ninth but the BayStars couldn’t bring him home.

Tyler Austin and Toshiro Miyazaki homered back-to-back in the first inning off Shosei Togo. Austin’s two-run homer was his 23rd and Miyazaki’s his 12th. The Giants made it 3-2 in the fourth on an error, a Zelous Wheeler single, a groundout and an RBI single by rookie reserve catcher Yukinori Kishida.

The Giants loaded the bases with one out in the sixth against reliever Kevin Shackelford, but DeNA held onto the lead. Reliever Yoshiki Sunada served up a smash to first but got out of the inning on a slick play by Neftali Soto, who short-hopped the ball and fired home instead of touching the bag, and poor base running by the Giants allowed Tobashira to complete the 3-2-5 double play.

Tobashira doubled in two runs in the eighth to make it a 5-2 game, with starter Yuya Sakamoto set up to earn the win after allowing two unearned runs over five innings.

Swallows 13, Tigers 3

At Koshien Stadium, Munetaka Murakami had a two-run single, and Domingo Santana a two-run double as Yakult gave Haruto Takahashi (0-1, 11.25) a five-run first-inning baptism of fire in his season debut. The Tigers loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first, but failed to score, and Norichika Aoki singled and scored his second run in the second on a Jose Osuna sac fly.

With two on and two out in the fourth, rookie Dan Onodera batted for the pitcher and singled in a run and Koji Chikamoto added a two-run double against Swallows starter Keiji Takahashi (3-1, 2.79). The lefty allowed three runs over six innings while striking out six to earnhis first pro win at Koshien, where seven years earlier he pitched Kyoto’s Ryukoku University Heian High School to the spring invitational championship.

Osuna singled in two runs in the sixth, and Santana capped a five-run seventh by drawing a bases-loaded walk. The win moved Yakult within a half-game of Yomiuri and 2-1/2 of the Tigers.

Carp 12, Dragons 5

At Mazda Stadium, Ryoma Nishikawa hit a two-run first-inning home run, his ninth, and Seiya Suzuki, the gift that keeps on giving, followed with his 26th. Nishikawa singled to open the Carp third, and Suzuki walked before a bases-loaded groundout made it 4-0.

The Dragons tied it in the fourth when four straight batters reached with one out. Journeyman reserve catcher Iori Katsura tripled in two runs, pinch-hitter Ariel Martinez walked and two more runs scored on a groundout and an error.

Nishikawa walked with two outs in the fourth off lefty Toshiya Okada, and Suzuki belted his 27th home run. The Dragons made it a 6-5 game in the fifth. Dayan Viciedo doubled and Shuhei Takahashi, whose single started the fourth-inning rally, singled him home.

The Carp came back for seconds against Okada in the fifth, with rookie Kota Hayashi singling in two with no outs before Nishikawa and Suzuki reached to open the Carp’s three-run sixth.

Atsuya Horie (4-3) preserved the Carp’s 5-4 lead by getting out of the fifth with a double play on one pitch. Horie was credited with the win by Japan rules that give it to the pitcher who inherits the lead before five innings provided no other pitcher works at least one inning more. He became the 21st CL pitcher to earn a win with one pitch.

I’ll leave you tonight with this catch by 44-year-old Kosuke Fukudome. And if one more person refers to him as an “old guy” this 61-year-old old guy will have some words for them.

Friday’s starting pitchers

Fighters vs Hawks: Sapporo Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Ryusei Kawano (2-3, 2.43) vs Nick Martinez (7-3, 2.03)

Lions vs Buffaloes: MetLife Dome 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT

Wataru Matsumoto (7-6, 3.42) vs Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-5, 1.61)

Marines vs Eagles: Zozo Marine Stadium 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT

Roki Sasaki (2-2, 3.22) vs Masahiro Tanaka (4-5, 2.86)

Giants vs Dragons: Tokyo Dome 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT

Yuki Takahashi (10-3, 2.72) vs Yudai Ono (5-8, 3.10)

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

Daichi Osera (6-4, 3.18) vs Yuki Nishi (4-9, 3.55)

Active roster moves 9/9/2021

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 9/19

Central League

Activated

TigersP29Haruto Takahashi
DragonsP41Akiyoshi Katsuno
CarpOF49Yuya Shozui

Dectivated

GiantsP49Thyago Vieira
CarpIF7Shota Dobayashi

Pacific League

Activated

MarinesP12Ayumu Ishikawa
MarinesIF36Tetsuya Kokubo
MarinesOF38Akito Takabe
FightersP20Kenta Uehara
BuffaloesOF55Takahiro Okada

Dectivated

MarinesP60Rikuto Yokoyama
MarinesC32Toshiya Sato
LionsP54Zach Neal
BuffaloesP48Koki Saito

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NPB wrap 7-13-21

Eagles smack Hawks

Just when the SoftBank Hawks were beginning to look like the team we expected to see from the start of the season, they ran into the Rakuten Eagles and Masahiro Tanaka on a day when everything that could possibly go wrong for him didn’t.

The Hawks’ loss dropped them four off the pace with the Eagles and Lotte Marines are 2-1/2 back of the Orix Buffaloes.

In the Central League, the third-place Yakult Swallows laid a rare seven-homer smackdown on the Yomiuri Giants, while the Tigers lost their fourth straight to the DeNA BayStars and are two ahead of the Giants and 3-1/2 ahead of the Swallows.

Eagles 6, Hawks 2

At Fukuoka’s PayPay Dome, Rakuten’s vs Masahiro Tanaka (4-5) delivered yet another solid performance, but this time had run support and did not suffer from inordinately bad luck. He struck out eight, walked, one, and allowed four hits, including a first-inning home run to Yuki Yanagita, his PL-best 22nd.

In the Eagles’ second inning, however, snapped a 15-inning scoreless streak while Tanaka was on the mound by tying it against Shuta Ishikawa (3-8). Takero Okajima doubled and scored on an Eigoro Mogi single. Daichi Suzuki homered in the third with a man on, his sixth. Mogi opened the fourth with his 11th home run. The Eagles tacked on two more runs through Okajima and Eigoro in the sixth and Hideto Asamura’s 10th home run in the seventh.

Buffaloes 5, Fighters 0

At Kushiro Stadium, 18-year-old outfielder Ryoto Kita, Orix’s third pick last autumn, who had one home run in 258 Western League plate appearances, capped a five-run first with a two-run homer in his first at-bat with the big club. Hirotoshi Masui (3-5) allowed three hits and three walks over six innings to get the win over his former team.

Nippon Ham starter Takahide Ikeda (3-9) allowed five runs, four earned, in one inning. Robbie Erlin threw four scoreless innings in relief, but with the help of some outstanding defense, the Fighters couldn’t secure a beachhead on the scoreboard.

Marines 7, Lions 6

At MetLife Dome, Leonys Martin’s 21st home run, a second-inning grand slam was the big blow against Seibu starter Wataru Matsumoto (7-4), who surrendered seven runs over four innings. Lotte starter Daiki Iwashita (8-4), however, gave most of that back.

Takeya Nakamura’s three-run home run, his eighth, made it a 7-5 game in the fifth. Marines closer Naoya Masuda surrendered a leadoff homer in the ninth, rookie Junichiro Kishi’s fifth, but struck out Nakamura with two outs and the tying run on base to secure his 22nd save.

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Swallows 14, Giants 6

At Tokyo Dome, as if the Yakult Swallows took the talk of their not beating the Giants seriously with seven home runs, two shy of the NPB record for home runs by a team in one game. Munetaka Murakami tied the Giants’ Kazuma Okamoto with his 25th and 26th, Domingo Santana hit his seventh and eighth, Tetsuto Yamada hit his 24th, Jose Osuna his eighth, and Taisei Yoshida his first.

Yakult rookie Yasunobu Okugawa (4-2) allowed three runs on six hits over six innings while striking out seven. Yomiuri’s Angel Sanchez (5-5) allowed four runs over two innings before things really got bad.

BayStars 8, Tigers 2

At Koshien Stadium, DeNA’s Yuya Sakamoto (3-2) allowed a run over seven innings, and his teammates opened the game with three runs on five first-inning singles off Raul Alcantara (2-2), who allowed another run in the third on Tyler Austin’s 19th home run. The BayStars added four runs in the eighth. Jerry Sands got a run back in the ninth with his 17th home run.

Carp 8, Dragons 3

At Hiroshima’s Mazda Stadium, Hiroshima’s Shogo Sakakura hit a three-run home run, his fourth, off Koji Fukutani (4-9) in the third, and singled in a run and scored in a three-run fifth, while Allen Kuri (7-5) allowed three runs over seven innings.

Starting pitchers

Pacific League

Fighters vs Buffaloes: Obihiro no Mori Stadium 1 pm, 12 midnight EDT

Takayuki Kato (3-5, 3.72) vs Daiki Tajima (5-4, 3.38)

Lions vs Marines: MetLife Dome 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT

Kona Takahashi (7-4, 3.22) vs Kazuya Ojima (5-2, 4.40)

Hawks vs Eagles: PayPay Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Nao Higashihama (2-1, 3.44) vs Takayuki Kishi (3-6, 3.70)

Central League

Giants vs Swallows: Tokyo Dome 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT

Shun Yamaguchi (2-1, 1.33) vs Kazuto Taguchi (4-6, 3.64)

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

Joe Gunkel (6-0, 2.24) vs Shota Imanaga (2-2, 4.02)

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

Masato Morishita (5-4, 2.51) vs Yuya Yanagi (7-4, 2.50)

Active roster moves 7/13/2021

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 7/23

Central League

Activated

TigersP44Raul Alcantara
SwallowsP11Yasunobu Okugawa

Dectivated

TigersOF24Mel Rojas Jr.
BayStarsP16Shinichi Onuki
CarpP14Daichi Osera

Pacific League

Activated

BuffaloesP17Hirotoshi Masui
BuffaloesOF38Ryoto Kita

Dectivated

HawksP26Colin Rea
BuffaloesP30Kohei Suzuki