Tag Archives: Scott McGough

NPB news: July 19, 2022

We had baseball on Monday this week. I didn’t report on it but we had baseball. From those games, you should know: 1) the Yomiuri Giants became the first Japanese major league team to surrender grand slams in four consecutive games, 2) they still handed the Yakult Swallows their sixth straight loss and their eighth out of nine, 3) the Seibu Lions took over first place in the Pacific League, and 4) the Nippon Ham Fighters became the latest team to suffer a raft of infections, with manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo among those in quarantine.

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Tuesday, two days after Tokyo reported a coronavirus positivity rate of nearly 50 percent, I saw a line waiting to get into a free PCR testing site near the station next to mine. I’ve passed by there once or twice a week for the past four months, and this was the first time they didn’t have staff standing in front urging people to come in and get tested.

The big news Tuesday was not baseball, even Shohei Ohtani bowing out of pitching in the All-Star game, but the retirement of figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu. That had been looming since yesterday but after a hard Sunday, I kind of shutdown on Monday, so I’m just sort of restarting before my day job picks up again on Wednesday.

The pennant race projections are back for the first time in a while, so check it out, and if they hold up, people are going to have to check out the Pacific League’s tie-breaking format.

Tuesday’s games

Tigers 3, Carp 0: At Hiroshima Citizens Stadium, Aaron Wilkerson (5-4) pitched out of just one tough inning as he struck out seven over 5-2/3 innings. Fumiya Hojo drew a two-out walk in the second and scored the first run on a Ryutaro Umeno single off Carp starter Hiroki Tokoda (8-6).

Takamu Nakano singled to lead off the third and scored, before Hojo doubled in Teruaki Sato in the sixth. Suguru Iwazaki earned his 20th save as the Tigers edged past the Giants into fourth place.

The win was the Tigers’ second against the Carp this season, and their first in Hiroshima.

Continue reading NPB news: July 19, 2022

NPB news: June 28, 2022

It’s Tuesday and Japan, and though we had a game on Monday, one of those annual parties SoftBank Hawks owner throws for his employees at Tokyo Dome by holding a Hawks game there, this was the real start of the baseball week.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any showdown series like last week, but every game the Hawks or Eagles play has a chance to impact who is leading the Pacific League. The Hiroshima Carp, meanwhile, will see if they can snap Yakult’s streak of 12 straight series wins, while Adam Walker made a different kind of statement with his arm than he’s been making so far.

Another player tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, and I’ll tag my pennant race projections at the bottom of the post. So let’s get to it.

Kai, Despaigne join Hawks COVID caravan

The SoftBank Hawks have postponed Wednesday’s game in Fukuoka against the Lotte Marines after five more positive tests. The cancellation is NPB’s 10th this year, surpassing the nine scratched last season.

Designated hitter Alfredo Despaigne and starting catcher Takuya Kai became the latest Hawks players to test positive for COVID-19, after the club sidelined pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada, outfielder Yurisbel Gracial, pitcher Shinya Kayama and infielder Isami Nomura over the weekend as well as two other pitchers who were classified as close contacts.

The original group also included one coach and a member of the major league staff. Tuesday’s haul included coach Arihito Muramatsu and two more staffers.

Tuesday’s games

Eagles 4, Buffaloes 2: At Kobe Green Stadium, I don’t hold with that “Orix going to Orix” stuff, like they’re doomed to make low-percentage moves on the ballfield, but man did the Buffaloes run into a pair of easy outs at the plate tonight.

Trailing 2-0 in the fifth, Kenya Wakatsuki singled with two on and two out, and right fielder Takero Okajima was so shallow that he had time to make a slightly awkward catch, double clutch and still throw out Keita Nakagawa by six feet.

Continue reading NPB news: June 28, 2022