Tag Archives: Yudai Ono

NPB wrap 5-28-21

Interleague Day 4 — Sato makes it rain

The Pacific League teams returned home after going 5-9-2 during the week at the Central League parks, and though the PL won the three blowouts, the CL escaped with three wins on Friday, thanks to the heroics of rookie Teruaki Sato.

In Japan, a teru teru bozu, is a kind of talisman, made of cloth or paper in the shape of a Halloween ghost figure that kids hang from windows in hopes of bringing good weather.

In this case, Tigers fans must have been crossing an awful lot of fingers, because the rookie rained home runs, pulled into a tie for the CL home run lead with 13 and became the first CL rookie to hit three in a game since Hall of Famer Shigeo Nagashima in 1958.

Fighters 10, Dragons 1

At Sapporo Dome, the big matchup appeared to be Nippon Ham rookie Hiromi Ito (2-4, 3.67) against Chunichi’s Sawamura Award-winning lefty Yudai Ono (2-3), but that pitchers’ duel turned one-sided in a hurry as the Fighters outhit the Dragons 16-5.

Ono struck out two walked one and allowed 11 hits over four innings as he surrendered six runs. Only two Fighters starters didn’t score, and those two, Kensuke Kondo and Ryo Watanabe, combined to drive in seven runs.

Dayan Viciedo had three hits, including a double, that set up Chunichi’s only run.

BayStars 7, Eagles 6

At Sendai’s Rakuten Seimei Park, Yamato Maeda chased Hideaki Wakui (5-3), who allowed two two-out sixth-inning singles before Maeda’s second home run made it a 5-4 game.

DeNA rookie Shugo Maki scored twice, and his eighth-inning solo homer, his ninth, turned out big after closer Kazuki Mishima surrendered a run in the ninth and ended the game with the go-ahead run on base to record his seventh save.

Lions 10, Tigers 7

At MetLife Dome, Sato crashed this party with his three homer night to send the Tigers to their third interleague win, Jerry Sands also homered for Hanshin, while Jefry Marte and Yusuke Oyama each had one-out RBI singles in the ninth that made it a 7-7 game against Reed Garrett (0-2), who served up Sato’s third.

Robert Suarez struck out the side in the ninth for his Japan-best 15th save.

Wu Nien-ting had three hits. His RBI double tied it 2-2 it 4-4 in the sixth. After the Tigers moved ahead in the seventh on an Oyama RBI single, Takeya Nakamura two-run homer was the big blow in Seibu’s three-run seventh.

Carp 10, Marines 8

At Chiba’s Zozo Marine Stadium, it was open season on pitchers as Lotte scored four runs with the help of five walks off Takuya Yasaki, and Hiroshima did the same against rookie Shota Suzuki (1-3), who allowed nine hits in his four innings.

Alejandro Mejia had four hits and scored twice for the Carp, who got four RBIs from Ryuhei Matsuyma. Brandon Laird led Lotte’s offense with a two-run first-inning homer and an RBI on a flyout to second, with Leonys Martin walking and scoring both times.

Carp rookie Ryoji Kuribayashi worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 10th save and remained unscored upon in 19 games.

Buffaloes 9, Swallows 2

At Osaka’s Kyocera Dome, Masataka Yoshida hit his 11th homer, a two-run shot in the first off Rick van den Hurk (0-1), while Orix ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto (4-5) had the kind of game we associate with him, two runs on three walks, five hits and nine strikeouts over seven innings. Kotaro Kurebayashi and Stefen Romero also homered for the Buffaloes.

Hawks 9, Giants 3

At Fukuoka’s PayPay Dome, Wladimir Balentien hit two of the SoftBank Hawks’ four home runs as the defending Pacific League champs crushed the Central League’s Yomiuri Giants 9-3 in interleague play on Friday.

Balentien’s first home run of the season, a solo shot off Seishu Hatake (2-3) broke a 2-2 tie in the second. His two-run shot in the fourth capped four-run rally and iced the game at Fukuoka’s PayPay Dome.

“From the first home run, I felt, I was able to get good swings and hit them both on the button,” Balentien said.

The Giants opened the scoring on a two-run error in the first before Ryoya Kurihara tied it in the home half of the inning with a two-run homer, his fifth. Yuki Yanagita’s 11th home run, a third-inning, two-run shot made it 5-2.

SoftBank right-hander Shuta Ishikawa (3-3)  gave up three runs over six innings. He walked four, hit one and allowed five hits while striking out eight.

The Hawks and Giants have played the last two Japan Series, with the Hawks winning all eight games. The win was SoftBank’s 10th straight against Yomiuri, having won their final interleague game in 2019 and with no interleague last season.

Starting pitchers

Interleague

Fighters vs Dragons: Sapporo Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Drew VerHagen (1-4, 6.38) vs Kodai Umetsu (0-1, 0.00)

Eagles vs BayStars: Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Masahiro Tanaka (2-3, 2.84) vs Haruhiro Hamaguchi (2-4, 3.29)

Lions vs Tigers: MetLife Dome 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT

Tatsuya Imai (2-2, 2.62) vs Masashi Itoh (3-1, 2.57)

Marines vs Carp: Zozo Marine Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Manabu Mima (2-2, 3.51) vs Shogo Tamamura (0-2, 5.40)

Buffaloes vs Swallows: Kyocera Dome (Osaka) 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Daiki Tajima (2-2, 3.69) vs Yasuhiro Ogawa (4-1, 3.47)

Hawks vs Giants: PayPay Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Nick Martinez (3-1, 1.44) vs Angel Sanchez (4-2, 3.96)

Active roster moves 5/28/2021

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 6/7

Central League

Activated

DragonsIF63Naomichi Donoue
BayStarsP20Yuya Sakamoto
BayStarsP49Kevin Shackelford
BayStarsOF37Taishi Kusumoto
BayStarsOF52Seiya Hosokawa
CarpP41Takuya Yasaki

Dectivated

DragonsIF1Yota Kyoda
BayStarsP42Fernando Romero
BayStarsIF0Daisuke Nakai
BayStarsOF33Tomo Otosaka
SwallowsP11Yasunobu Okugawa

Pacific League

Activated

HawksP39Shuto Ogata
HawksP42Tomohisa Ozeki
LionsC78Masato Saito
LionsIF31Ryusei Sato
LionsIF63Ryusei Tsunashima
LionsIF99Ernesto Mejia
LionsOF68Junichiro Kishi
LionsOF72Seiji Kawagoe
BuffaloesP52Tyler Higgins

Dectivated

HawksP67Shunsuke Kasaya
MarinesP17Roki Sasaki
LionsP34Yasuo Sano
LionsP54Zach Neal
LionsC37Sena Tsuge
LionsIF6Sosuke Genda
LionsOF7Yuji Kaneko
LionsOF9Fumikazu Kimura
LionsOF53Aito Takeda
LionsOF58Masato Kumashiro
BuffaloesP98Chang Yi

NPB Wrap 5-21-21

Carp schedule gutted by COVID-19

The Hiroshima Carp’s three-game series at Hiroshima’s Mazda Stadium starting Friday has been postponed due to the effects of the coronavirus, NPB announced.

The Central League team announced Friday night that five new players, including regular veterans Hisayoshi Chono and Seiya Suzuki, had tested positive as well as one coach and one other member of the team’s staff. Three players tested positive Sunday and did not travel with the club to Tokyo for the two-game series against the Yomiuri Giants.

Eagles 11, Marines 6

At Chiba’s Zozo Marine Stadium, the Pacific League-leading Rakuten Eagles blew open a close game with a five-run fifth inning, capped by Hiroaki Shimauchi’s sixth home run, a three-run shot off Lotte starter Ayumu Ishikawa (2-2), who gave up six runs over five innings.

With a six-run lead to work with, former Marine Hideaki Wakui (5-2) allowed four runs in the sixth, three coming on Brandon Laird’s ninth home run. Laird walked but also contributed to the Eagles’ fifth-inning rally.

With the leadoff man on and a 1-0 lead, the Eagles sacrificed to play for the next run, but Laird failed to charge on the bunt, turning it into an infield single and help power the big inning.

Takero Okajima opened the scoring in the fourth, when he tripled home Hideto Asamura in the wind and rain. Asamura singled in the first two runs in the fifth, while Okajima singled in the first of two runs in the seventh after Lotte made it a 6-4 game.

Former Marines captain Daichi Suzuki reached base five times, scored three runs and put an exclamation point on the win with a two-run homer, his first of the season.

Lions 7, Fighters 1

At MetLife Dome, Seibu’s Kona Takahashi (5-0) scattered six hits and three walks to allow one run over seven innings, and the Lions broke a 1-1 tie with a five-run fifth, when they chased rookie lefty Hiromi Ito (1-4), who got the kind of run support he’s become accustomed to.

Takeya Nakamura doubled in two runs to break the tie, while Wu Nien-ting singled in one more and Cory Spangenberg doubled in another. Hotaka Yamakawa hit his fourth home run for the Lions.

Two of the games’ big plays occurred in left field, where, according to one analyst, both Cory Spangenberg and Haruki Nishikawa, didn’t know where to play. — This article is paid content. If you are unable to see it, please consider subscribing to unlock more insight, news and all the other content on the site.

BayStars 5, Swallows 3

At Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium, DeNA’s Taiki Sekine, who as expected has been relegated to dish-washing or some other glorious duties but remains one of my favorite BayStars due to his superb track record on the farm, sparked a ninth-inning rally with a two-out pinch-hit single off Yakult closer Taichi Ishiyama (0-3).

Masayuki Kuwahara singled and both scored on a Yamato Maeda double. Former closer Yasuaki Yamasaki (3-1) earned the win after allowing the Swallows to tie it in the eighth, while incumbent closer Kazuki Mishima retired the meat of Yakult’s order in the ninth to earn his sixth save.

Rick van den Hurk made his Central League debut and had his first hit in Japan, while allowing three runs in four innings. New DeNA import Fernando Romero also had a rough go of it, allowing two runs, one earned, in three innings. Tyler Austin doubled twice, scoring DeNA’s first run and driving in the second, and Edwin Escobar pitched a scoreless seventh against the middle of the order to protect a 3-2 lead.

Dragons 1, Giants 1

At Nagoya‘s Vantelin Dome, Chunichi banged out eight hits and drew five walks but stranded 11 runners, twice leaving the bases loaded and allowing Yomiuri to walk away with a tie.

With captain Hayato Sakamoto out with a broken hand, Taishi Hirooka slid into his spot to start at shortstop – although not head-first one supposes. The infielder, acquired in the preseason trade from the Yakult Swallows that sent underappreciated lefty Kazuto Taguchi to Jingu Stadium, homered off Yudai Ono in the fifth. Seishu Hatake went 6-1/3 innings for Yomiuri, leaving after Akira Neo doubled and scored on a Yohei Oshima triple.

Carp vs Tigers, postponed, coronavirus

Starting pitchers

Pacific League

Lions vs Fighters: MetLife Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Wataru Matsumoto (3-3, 2.63) vs Drew VerHagen (1-3, 5.59)

Marines vs Eagles: Zozo Marine Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Manabu Mima (2-2, 3.86) vs Masahiro Tanaka (2-3, 3.19)

Hawks vs Buffaloes: PayPay Dome 1 pm, 12 midnight EDT

Nick Martinez (2-1, 2.00) vs Daiki Tajima (2-1, 2.61)

Central League

Swallows vs BayStars: Jingu Stadium 5:30 pm, 4:30 am EDT

Yasuhiro Ogawa (3-1, 4.19) vs Haruhiro Hamaguchi (2-3, 3.60)

Dragons vs Giants: Vantelin Dome (Nagoya) 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Yariel Rodriguez (0-0, 1.35) vs Angel Sanchez (3-2, 4.26)

Active roster moves 5/21/2021

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 5/31

Central League

Activated

GiantsP12Rubby De La Rosa
GiantsP35Toshiki Sakurai
GiantsP92Shohei Numata
DragonsP22Yudai Ono
SwallowsP15Rick van den Hurk
SwallowsOF49Daiki Watanabe

Dectivated

DragonsP46Hiroshi Suzuki
CarpIF69Ryutaro Hatsuki
CarpOF1Seiya Suzuki
CarpOF5Hisayoshi Chono
SwallowsC33Soma Uchiyama

Pacific League

Activated

FightersC60Takuya Kori

Dectivated

None