Tag Archives: Robbie Erlin

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NPB wrap 5-23-21

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Saturday’s news

Kiyota dishonorably discharged

The Pacific League’s Lotte Marines announced Sunday that they have voided the contract of outfielder Ikuhiro Kiyota, Nikkan Sports reported. The married outfielder was reinstated on May 1 from an indefinite suspension after a weekly magazine outed him for breaking coronavirus protocols while dining out with another woman in Sapporo last year immediately before the team suffered a coronavirus outbreak.

On Friday, however, another report emerged, alleging further infidelities and that proved to be the last straw for the club.

“We made up our minds and have notified the player,” said the team’s director of communications, Noriaki Kajiwara. “We apologize to our supporters for the betrayal.”

Kuri next Carp player to test positive

The Hiroshima Carp, whose Central League games have been postponed since Friday following a slew of infections within the first team, added pitcher Allen Kuri to the infected list.

Buffaloes warn players over female hotel visitors

The Pacific League’s Orix Buffaloes issued “strict warnings” to three players on Sunday, for inviting women to their hotel rooms in violation of coronavirus protocols while the team was in Tokyo on May 10 to play the Nippon Ham Fighters, Nikkan Sports reported.

The players who were outfielders Yutaro Sugimoto and Yuya Oda, and infielder Koji Oshiro. Sugimoto started Sunday’s games against the Hawks, while the other two, both reserves, started on the bench.

Hawks 7, Buffaloes 2

At Fukoka’s PayPay Dome, former Cub Tsuyoshi Wada (3-2) bounced back from three lousy starts to allow a run in 6-1/3 innings, while SoftBank built a 3-0 lead over four innings against Sachiya Yamasaki (1-5).

The Hawks’ Taisei Makihara reached base three times, scored the opening run in the first on a Yuya Yangita single and doubled in two runs in the four-run seventh before scoring again. Yuma Mune had two of Orix’s five hits, with a pair of doubles. He led off the seventh and scored on a Steven Moya sacrifice fly after Wada left the mound.

Fighters 10, Lions 3

At MetLife Dome, Nippon Ham’s Robbie Erlin (1-0) cut his ERA in half from 7.20 to 3.60 with five scoreless innings to earn his first win in Japan after the Fighters capitalized on both their scoring chances against Katsunori Hirai (3-2) who cruised through four of his first five innings, surrendering three runs in the third and two more in the sixth.

Erlin walked one, struck out six and surrendered five singles, while Haruki Nishikawa did most of the damage with a two-run third-inning double and a two-run eighth-inning single.

Eagles 6, Marines 5

At Chiba’s Zozo Marine Stadium, Rakuten broke the game open in a five-run sixth, with two runs scoring on an Eigoro Mogi double and three more on Brandon Dixon’s second homer. Rookie lefty Takahisa Hayakawa (6-2) allowed five runs over 6-2/3 innings to take the Japan lead in wins.

Leonys Martin tied the game 1-1 in the third with an RBI single, and hit his Japan-best 14th homer, a monstrous two-run shot in the seventh. Tomohhiro Anraku, Sung Chia-hao and Yuki Matsui finished up with Matsui earning his 13th save.

Marines starter Kazuya Ojima (1-2) allowed five runs in 5-1/3 innings to take the loss.

Swallows 10, BayStars 5

At Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium, Yakult’s Albert Suarez (2-2) allowed two runs, one earned, in six innings, while the Swallows gave DeNA ace Shota Imanaga (0-1) a trial by fire in his return from surgery last autumn to clean out his left shoulder. The southpaw surrendered six runs over 4-2/3 innings.

New import Jose Osuma homered, doubled, singled and scored three runs, while Yuhei “Get that good-hitting catcher out of the No. 2 spot” Nakamura tied it 1-1 in the Swallows’ three-run first with an RBI double.

Domingo Santa capped the rally with an RBI double and drew a pair of walks, while Munetaka Murakama hit his Central League-leading 13th home run for the Swallows.

Tyler Austin singled, walked twice and scored a run for the last-place BayStars.

Dragons 4, Giants 1

At Nagoya’s Vantelin Dome, Chunichi’s Opening Day starter Koji Fukutani (2-4) held Yomiuri to a run over six innings while striking out eight and singling in a run. Dayan Viciedo homered, singled, doubled and drove in two runs for the Dragons, who hung three runs on Giants lefty Nobutaka Imamura (2-2) in one-plus innings in what became a bullpen game for the visitors.

Raidel Martinez pitched the ninth for Chunichi to record his 13th save.

Active roster moves 5/23/2021

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 6/2

Central League

Activated

DragonsP59Takumi Yamamoto
SwallowsP43Albert Suarez

Dectivated

TigersOF63Yutaro Itayama
DragonsP67Yariel Rodriguez
CarpP18Masato Morishita
CarpP34Koya Takahashi

Pacific League

Activated

HawksP21Tsuyoshi Wada
MarinesP43Kazuya Ojima
BuffaloesOF69Stefen Romero

Dectivated

None

Baseball, Free, News

NPB wrap 5-9-21

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Okamoto goes boom

Giants 7, Swallows 5

At Tokyo Dome, Kazuma Okamoto, the Central League’s 2020 home run and RBI leader, made up for helping to kill a couple of early Yomiuri rallies by homering in the eighth to make it a one-run game and ending it with a three-run walk-off shot against Yakult closer Taichi Ishiyama (0-2).

New Swallows import Cy Sneed allowed three runs in four-plus innings in his Japan debut, while Giants lefty Nobutaka Imamura allowed a run in 5-2/3 innings.

Zelous Wheeler had two hits for the Giants, while Domingo Santana singled in a run in the eighth, when the Swallows scored four to take Sneed off the hook.

Giants-Swallows highlights

Tigers 3, BayStars 2

At Yokohama Stadium, 39-year-old former Japan international Yoshio Itoi got his second start of the season for Hanshin and did what he did in his first start on Friday, homer. His two-run shot capped a three-run Tigers fifth off Michael Peoples (1-1), who had retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced.

Rookie wunderkind Teruaki Sato opened the fifth with a walk, scored the tying run on a Jerry Sands double, and Itoi put the CL leaders in front. Joe Gunkel started for the Tigers and allowed a run in three innings, but after having runners on second and third with no outs in the BayStars’ scoreless third – following a leadoff double by Peoples,  the right-hander left the game.

Gunkel is set to be deactivated on Monday with what appears to be stiffness in his right shoulder.

Hanshin’s bullpen, allowed one run over the final five innings, a homer from leadoff man Masayuki Kuwahara, who doubled and scored the game’s opening run in the first, but that was it. Robert Suarez recorded his ninth save.

Neftali Soto doubled twice for DeNA but was stranded both times.

Dragons 2, Carp 0

At Nagoya’s Vantelin Dome, Chunichi’s Yuya Yanagi (3-1) allowed two hits and a walk – all with two outs in the third inning, but struck out 11. Dayan Viciedo broke up the scoreless game with his fifth home run, a two-run shot in the fourth, and Raidel Martinez pitched around a pair of one-out ninth-inning singles to record his fifth save.

Yanagi’s 1.72 ERA is .01 back of the league leader, Yuki Takahashi of the Giants, while the Dragons right-hander leads the CL in innings, 47, strikeouts, 58, and WHIP, 0.77.

Hawks 3, Lions 1

At Fukuoka’s PayPay Dome, Yuki Yanagita doubled and scored SoftBank’s first run in 21 innings to tie it in the sixth off Seibu’s Katsunori Hirai, and then singled in the go-ahead run in the seventh. SoftBank starter Yuki Matsumoto allowed the first two runners to reach in each of the first two innings but retired the next nine hitters and his bullpen colleagues maintained that pace with Livan Moinelo getting his third save.

Eagles 6, Fighters 3

At Sapporo Dome, Ryosuke Tatsumi hit a game-tying fifth-inning home run off former teammate Takahide Ikeda (2-4), and kick started Rakuten’s three-run sixth with a one-out infield single as Eagles’ rookie Takahisa Hayakawa (4-2) earned the win after allowing two runs over five innings.

Four walks lost it for Ikeda, traded to Nippon Ham in March, allowed three runs, two earned, in 4-2/3 innings. Fighters lefty Ryusei Kawano struck out Brandon Dixon to leave the bases loaded in the fifth, but first-year import Robbie Erlin let the game get away with three runs over two innings.

Taiwan’s Wang Po-jung doubled, singled and walked in the No. 3 spot for the Fighters, making the third straight game he’s looked like the guy they expected to see in 2019 after they signed him via the posting system.

Rakuten lefty Yuki Matsui worked a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his ninth save, making him the 16th player with 150 career saves.

Marines 7, Buffaloes 4

At Chiba’s Zozo Marine Stadium, Leonys Martin spearheaded the Lotte Marines counterattack after Kazuya Ojima (1-1) allowed three runs in the first. Ojima went five innings, and the Marines bullpen allowed a run over the final four, with closer Naoya Masuda notching his eighth save.

Orix starter Hirotoshi Masui (1-4) gave up five runs, four earned, in 3-2/3 innings. Back-to-back first-inning doubles by Takashi Ogino and Martin made it 3-1, and Brandon Laird’s two-out single plated Martin. Lotte tied it in the second on reserve catcher Tomoya Kakinuma’s first home run and scored with the help of an error in the third to take the lead.

Active roster moves 5/9/2021

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 5/19

Central League

Activated

CarpC40Yoshitaka Isomura
SwallowsP28Daiki Yoshida
SwallowsP54Cy Sneed

Dectivated

DragonsP22Yudai Ono
CarpC22Shosei Nakamura

Pacific League

Activated

None

Dectivated

HawksIF27Yurisbel Gracial