In the past week, it’s begun looking like NPB has now retired the remaining substandard baseballs that had been produced for the 2024 season and has been replacing them with balls originally intended to be put in play next year. Mind you, that’s not a data-based conclusion but an observation, so it might be wrong.

Nevertheless, the Pacific League saw three complete-game victories Tuesday, two of them shutouts, while two DeNA pitchers combined for another in Hiroshima.

In other news, the Giants’ Elier Hernandez is out, and I’ll get to that after today’s games. On Monday, Akinori Iwamura announced that this would be his last year as manager of the independent BC League’s Fukushima Red Hopes to take responsibility for the club’s poor results. Iwamura founded the club along with a women’s team, and has served as its chairman.  

Tuesday’s games

Hawks 6, Lions 1: At the domed stadium formerly known as “Prince,” Seibu scored first, but Livan Moinelo put a stop to that nonsense while Kensuke Kondo went 3-for-3 with two homers, two walks, three runs and three RBIs. Moinelo allowed two hits and a walk over the distance while striking out six.

Seibu scratched out a first-inning run on a leadoff walk, a Sosuke Genda single and a Takayoshi Yamamura sacrifice fly. Moinelo, however, retired 20 straight hitters after Genda’s single. The loss was Seibu’s eighth straight. Former Lion Hotaka Yamakawa went 2-for-5 but failed to homer for the fifth straight game.