Tuesday was a day for pitchers in Japan, 4.7 strikeouts per walk, a daily WHIP of 1.00 and 2.51 runs scored per nine innings.

The Fighters, currently based at city-owned Sapporo Dome, will open their 2023 season at their new team-owned retractable-roof facility in neighboring Kitahiroshima, on March 30 against an opponent to be named later, one day before 10 other teams open their season.

Tuesday also brought the talk of Japan’s first batting triple crown since 2004 into the realm of reality, and it’s Roki Eve, to boot, since he’s scheduled to duke it out against Nao Higashihama in a battle of two of this year’s four no-hit pitchers, so let’s get started.

Tuesday’s games

Fighters 5, Lions 3: At Sapporo Dome, there was a wild finish to a see-saw game.

Rookie Fighters catcher opened the scoring off Kona Takahashi with a second-inning RBI single. Takeya Nakamura hit a two-run fifth-inning home run, his seventh, off Fighters starter Hiromi Ito.

All-star Fighters third baseman Yuki James Nomura returned from a bout with COVID, and in in his first game in three weeks, scored in the eighth to tie it after his second leadoff double of the game.

Hotaka Yamakawa put the Lions up 3-2 with an RBI single off Ito in the ninth, but Bryan Rodriguez (1-1) got the final out in the inning, and Lions closer Tatsushi Masuda (2-2) surrendered back-to-back singles before Kensuke Kondo won it with his fourth home run of the season.

Continue reading NPB news: Aug. 9, 2022 →