Carter Stewart Jr. had his best game as a pro, Atsuki Taneichi threw a 96-pitch complete game, Nippon Ham’s ace got hit, but the Fighters came back against tough rookie Natsuki Takeuchi, while in Nagoya, a veteran pitching-dual made Nagoya Dome party like it was 2020, minus the COVID…
Sunday’s games:
Hawks 5, Eagles 2: At Fukuoka “Your company’s name can go here” Dome, Carter Stewart Jr. (7-2) won his sixth straight decision, striking out eight while walking two and allowing two singles over seven scoreless innings. Hotaka Yamakawa hit his 22nd home run, his third in three games, a two-run shot off Ryota Takinaka (1-4) in the fourth inning. Yamakawa doubled in the Hawks’ two-run sixth, too.
For the first time since June, Wednesday was Roki Eve for those who celebrate. The Marines right-hander will be making his first start since June 8, which was two weeks after his eighth start of the season. In Wednesday’s game, the Marines’ big bats continued to torment the Seibu Lions as all six home teams won.
In other news, the Lotte Marines on Tuesday announced they had signed former Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel, while the SoftBank Hawks acquired 26-year-old infielder Jeter Downs.
Wednesday’s games:
Eagles 3, Hawks 2: At Miyagi Stadium, Hideto Asamura led off Rakuten’s second with his 10th home run, and catcher Hikaru Ota tripled in Daichi Suzuki and Kazuki Murabayashi off SoftBank’s Ryosuke Otsu (6-5). Rakuten rookie Tatsuki Koja (3-4) held the Hawks scoreless until Kenta Imamiya singled to open the fourth, Ukyo Shuto was hit by a pitch, and both scored on a Kensuke Kondo double. Koja retired the last seven batters he faced and three relievers added 1-2-3 innings with Takahiro Norimoto getting his 22nd save to complete the two-hitter.
