There were six games in Japan on Wednesday, as the country went back to work in the middle of the “Golden Week” holidays that started last Friday. On a night when a closer was going for his 250th save in Japan, a ninth-inning defensive replacement playing behind him had an inning to forget. And is it just me or does it seem like the Carp are tying at least one game a week?

We also had non-news that I’m guessing is actual news concerning the Yomiuri Giants and whether they will still be playing at Tokyo Dome in 2032.

Wednesday’s games

Swallows 4, Giants 0: At Tokyo Ugly Dome, Jose Osuna put Yakult in front with a three-run first-inning homer off Yuji Akahoshi (0-3), and Munetaka Murakami added a solo shot in the third. It kept them one behind Chunichi’s Seiya Hosokawa, who hit his seventh.

Kojiro Yoshimura (2-2) struck out six while walking one and two relievers combined to complete the seven-hit shutout and Yakult’s first three-game win streak and mark the first time the Giants have been swept in three this year.