On Thursday, we had three pitching duels, including one mind-blowing experience in Nagoya, and a pair of knock-down drag-outs.
Thursday’s games
Buffaloes 3, Tigers 2: At Koshien Stadium, Yuma Tongu hit a game-tying ninth-inning homer and 2021 PL home champ Yutaro Sugimoto completed the comeback with a mammoth shot, his 10th, off Atsuki Yuasa (0-2).
Tongu singled in the game’s first run off Tigers starter Masashi Ito in the fourth, only for Orix’s Taisuke Yamaoka to allow a run on no-out singles to Yusuke Oyama and Ukyo Maegawa and an error by center fielder Keita Nakagawa. Ito then singled in the go-ahead run and kept the Buffaloes off the scoreboard until he left after seven.
Kohei Arihara returned to the mound in Fukuoka on Tuesday when Japan’s two leagues split their six interleague games, and after a rough start, last year’s league champs moved to the top two spots in the interleague standings.
Tuesday’s games
Dragons 2, Lions 1: At the stadium where Babe Ruth once played in lovely Omiya Park, Seibu submariner Kaito Yoza (0-2) threw one of his better games as a pro, striking out six while allowing two runs over seven innings. He couldn’t, however, pitch out of trouble in the fifth, surrendering a pair of two-out hits as Yuki Okabayashi singled in the game’s first run and scored on a Seiya Hosokawa double. Raidel Martinez recorded his CL-leading 14th save for the Dragons.
