On Friday in Japan, another pitcher came within spitting distance of a no-hitter until home runs left him a two-hit complete-game loser, Tyler Austin went off at Jingu Stadium, Seiya Hosokawa and Hiroto Takahashi stopped Yomiuri, and Carter Stewart Jr. continued to roll, and at a park that has really given him trouble, although it should be illegal to call Seibu’s summer sweat box a “park.”

Far from the field, we had some huge news, largely because of how Japan handled it.

Friday’s games:

Fighters 2, Marines 1: At Chiba Marine Stadium, Takuya Kato (4-6) struck out six without a walk over 7-1/3 innings to outduel fellow lefty Kazuya Ojima (7-7), who went the distance in a two-hitter complete-game loss.

Kazunari Ishii broke up the scoreless game, and Ojima’s no-hit bid, by leading off Nippon Ham’s eighth inning by drilling his third home run well back into the right-field stands. Yuya Gunji made it 2-0 off the Marines lefty in the ninth with his eighth home run before the Marines got a run in the ninth off Fighters closer Seigi Tanaka, who earned his 15th save.

Continue reading NPB news-plus: July 19, 2024 →