Taiwan infielder Wu Nien-ting gave some oomph to his team’s “Taiwan Day” promotion, we have a new Pacific League leader, and Yakult escaped last place thanks to Jose Osuna and an amazing catch in left field by a backup catcher.
I went heavy on the video yesterday, but after it kept me up until 3 am ahead of going to Seibu for a day game today, I’m fairly wiped out, so I’m going light tonight. Sorry for that.
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Sunday’s games
Fighters 6, Buffaloes 3: At Kitahiroshima Taxpayers Burden Field, Koki Kitayama (5-3) worked 6-2/3 innings, leaving with one out and one on in the seventh and a 5-3 lead after Marwin Gonzalez’s RBI infield single. He was charged with three runs.
Orix, who entered with a three-game win streak and a half-game lead over SoftBank, took the early lead on Kotaro Kurebayashi’s first-inning solo homer. Nippon Ham wiped that out in a four-run third when Daiki Asama doubled in two, and new Fighter Yuya Gunji singled in two more.
Kotaro Kiyomiya reached base four times with two walks and an eighth-inning solo homer, while Go Matsumoto singled twice and scored twice, to prime Fighters’ offense against Taisuke Yamaoka (1-1), who was chased by Chusei Mannami’s two-out fourth-inning single that left a mark on third baseman Yuma Mune.
Continue reading NPB news: July 2, 2023
