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NPB news: Sept. 5, 2024

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Dallas Keuchel won his first game in Japan, and if we can have a game called a Maddux, why can’t we have a Weaver, after the late Orioles manager Earl Weaver‘s “secret to success?” Hiroshima and DeNA played a see-saw game that ended in a walk-off walk.

Thursday’s games

Giants 3, Swallows 0: At Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium, Yomiuri won a Weaver as Shosei Togo (10-7), Kyle Keller and Taisei Ota combined on a one-hit shutout, and Kazuma Okamoto hit a three-run fifth-inning homer, his 22nd off lefty Taichi Yamano (1-3). Togo struck out seven, walked one and hit one while both of the relievers worked 1-2-3 innings, and Ota earned his 24th save.

Marines 3, Eagles 1: At Chiba Marine Stadium, Dallas Keuchel (1-1) allowed a run over five innings, Tatsuhiro Tamura doubled off Masaru Fujii (8-5) in the second inning and scored on an Atsuki Tomosugi single. Kyota Fujiwara singled in the third and scored on Neftali Soto‘s 15th home run.

The Eagles loaded the bases in the top of the third with one out, but a diving stop by second baseman Yudai Fujioka with one out helped Keuchel limit the damage to a run. Four relievers, including Yuki Kuniyoshi, who set a franchise record with his 22nd scoreless appearance, held the Eagles off the board the rest of the way with Naoya Masuda recording his 21st save.

Tigers 2, Dragons 1: At Koshien Stadium, Kotaro Otake (9-7) allowed a run over five innings to outduel Yudai Ono (2-6) as third-place Hanshin kept pace in the CL pennant race, three games back of the Giants. Shota Morishita broke the ice in Hanshin’s two-run third, plating Koji Chikamoto with a one-out single. Teruaki Sato‘s drive to right into the wind off Osaka Bay was caught short of the warning track for a bases-loaded sacrifice fly.

Hiroki Fukunaga doubled in Yuki Okabayashi to halve Hanshin’s lead in the fifth.

Shugo Maki, who walked and scored in the second, had his first hit of the game in the 11th, a game-tying RBI double. With no outs, the Carp walked the bases loaded, but Hikaru Ito’s two-out walk ended it, knocking the Carp out of first place.BayStars 4, Carp 3, 11 innings: At Yokohama Stadium, Kaito Kozono helped bring Hiroshima back from a 2-0 deficit with a seventh-inning RBI single, and doubled in the go-ahead run in the 11th only for DeNA to come from behind in the bottom of the inning

Baseball, Free, News

NPB news: Aug. 22, 2024

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The Lions swept a series, the Lions swept a series. The Fighters did the same getting their second straight win in a game started by Roki Sasaki, while two CL teams avoided being swept and Hiroshima ended its drama-packed top-of-the-table clash with Yomiuri in dramatic fashion.

Thursday’s games

Carp 2, Giants 1, 10 innings: At Tokyo Ugly Dome, Masaya Yano said after the game he’d never hit a 154-kph fastball in his life before, but Kyle Keller (0-2) gave him five whacks at heaters at the top of the zone or above and after two swings and misses and two fouls, Yano lined the fifth one for a two-out 10th-inning RBI single that put Hiroshima ahead after the Carp spoiled Shosei Togo‘s shutout bid in the ninth inning.

Shogo Asano drove in Yomiuri’s first run for the second straight game, breaking a scoreless tie with the Giants’ third straight one-out sixth-inning single off Makoto Aduwa. Kaito Kozono tied it in the ninth and chased Togo with Hiroshima’s fifth hit of the game, a one-out RBI single that plated a pinch-runner after Takayoshi Noma led off with a single. Taisei Ota stranded two runners, and the Giants left two on in the bottom of the inning.

Ryosuke Kikuchi drew a one-out walk in the 10th and after a pinch-hit double from Shogo Akiyama to set the table for Yano, who drove in the go-ahead run with two outs.

Carp closer Ryoji Kuribayashi gave us a taste of his typical danger in the bottom of the inning, when Takumi Oshiro hit a rope toward the corner to open the inning. Although a fairly limited outfielder, Shota Suekane tracked it down and made a leaping catch to rob Oshiro of a double. A lineout and a strikeout ended it as Kuribayashi recorded his 33rd save.

Continue reading NPB news: Aug. 22, 2024 →