Justin time
Justin Bour hit a game-tying home run and then drove in the go-ahead run as the Hanshin Tigers came from behind to beat the DeNA BayStars 5-3 at Koshien Stadium on Monday.
Tigers starter Minoru Iwata got out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning with a perfect pitch to produce a double play, but bad pitches cost him his early lead.
Yoshito Itoi doubled and scored when DeNA Starter Masaya Kyoyama made a mistake to Jerry Sands and he drilled it for a first-inning single.
Tyler Austin’s seventh home run tied it in the fourth and more followed in the BayStars’ two-run fifth, but Itoi and Bour were too locked in for Kyoyama to keep the Tigers off the scoreboard. Itoi singled in a run in the bottom of the fifth and Bour tied it with his 14th homer in the sixth.
The left-handed hitter hammered a fastball high and away over the fence in center. BayStars reliever Yuki Kuniyoshi made a mistake in the eighth to Yusuke Oyama. A single and a passed ball put the runner on second, and some good base running allowed Oyama to score when Bour followed with a single.
Robert Suarez struck out two in the ninth en route to his 16th save. Jon Edwards, pitching on the top team for the first time since Opening Day, worked a scoreless sixth, the first of four Tigers relievers.
Giants blow up Kuri
Hiroshima Carp starter Allen Kuri (4-5) allowed six runs, five earned, over four innings to squander a two-run first-inning lead in a 10-3 loss to the Yomiuri Giants at Tokyo Dome.
Giants leadoff man Naoki Yoshikawa reached base three times, scored three runs and drove in one to lead the way, while Hayato Sakamoto had three hits and a pair of RBI doubles.
Swallows blow lead in loss for 20th time
Zoilo Almonte overturned a one-run deficit with his seventh home run, a third-inning, two-run shot off submarine right-hander Hirofumi Yamanaka (1-2) in the Chunichi Dragons’ 9-3 win over the Yakult Swallows at Nagoya Dome.
The Swallows opened the scoring off Akiyoshi Katsuno (2-3) in the second when Munetaka Murakami homered for the second straight game with his 16th of the season. But Toshiki Abe and Ryosuke Hirata also drove in two runs apiece to pace the Dragons’ attack.
It was the 20th time this season the Swallows have led a game only to lose, the most in the Central League.
Marines acquire former Marlin, Oriole Chen
Taiwan lefty Chen Wei-yin has signed with the Lotte Marines, the Pacific League club announced Monday. The 35-year-old has won 59 games in the majors and prior to that 36 for the Central League’s Chunichi Dragons.
The Marines on Monday are second in the PL pennant race, 1-1/2 games back of the three-time defending Japan Series champion SoftBank Hawks.
“I am very happy to join Marines,” he said in a statement released by the club. “I will do my best to be the best in Japan.”
“I have a strong impression of the Marines from 2010 when we lost the Japan Series to them. I remember how amazingly unique their supporters are.”
“My impression of Zozo Marine Stadium is that it is very windy, and I want to learn how to use that to my advantage on the mound. There are many players I am looking forward to facing but if I have to name one it would be Yuki Yanagita of the Hawks.”
Eagles acquire Carp reliever Johnson
The Pacific League’s Rakuten Eagles acquired 31-year-old reliever DJ Johnson D.J. Johnson on Monday from the Central League’s Hiroshima Carp for cash considerations.
Johnson, who signed this season with the Carp, has appeared in 14 games with one hold. In 13-2/3 innings, he has struck out 13, walked eight and allowed no home runs. He has a 4.61 ERA.
In 12 Western League games, he has allowed three runs in 12 innings, while striking out 13, walking six and hitting two. He has not allowed a home run in either the CL or WL.
Also on Monday, the Eagles added 31-year-old right-handed pitcher Hiroyuki Fukuyama to their 70-man roster, signing him from their developmental roster. Fukuyama was the Yokohama BayStars’ sixth pick in the 2010 draft, and pitched in the PL for the Eagles from 2013 to 2019.
Elsewhere, the Yomiuri Giants last week signed 21-year-old infielder Estamy Urena from their developmental roster. In 218 Eastern League plate appearances, Urena has posted a .358 on-base percentage and a .497 slugging average. In the minors this season, he’s played primarily at third base and in the outfield.
Eagles’ Chargois fined for verbal abuse
Former Los Angles Dodgers pitcher J.T. Chargois was fined 50,000 yen ($475) by Nippon Professional Baseball on Monday after the 29-year-old first-year Rakuten Eagles player was ejected from an Eastern League farm game on Sunday for abusive language toward an umpire.
Chargois, who also received a “severe warning,” is 0-3 in 29 Pacific League relief appearances for the Eagles with one save and a 6.29 ERA.
Active roster moves 9/21/2020
Deactivated players can be re-activated from 10/1
Central League
Activated
| Giants | P | 54 | Daisuke Naoe |
| Giants | OF | 36 | Shingo Ishikawa |
| BayStars | P | 48 | Masaya Kyoyama |
| Tigers | P | 21 | Minoru Iwata |
| Tigers | P | 42 | Jon Edwards |
| Carp | P | 16 | Takeru Imamura |
| Carp | P | 64 | Kyohei Nakamura |
| Dragons | P | 41 | Akiyoshi Katsuno |
| Swallows | P | 68 | Hirofumi Yamanaka |
Dectivated
| Giants | P | 42 | Cristopher Mercedes |
| Giants | P | 45 | Nobutaka Imamura |
| BayStars | P | 58 | Yuta Muto |
| Tigers | P | 20 | Kenichi Nakata |
| Tigers | P | 36 | Masumi Hamachi |
| Carp | P | 13 | Takuya Yasaki |
| Carp | P | 46 | Mikiya Takahashi |
| Swallows | IF | 0 | Ryota Fujii |
Pacific League
Activated
None
Dectivated
| Lions | OF | 73 | Wataru Takagi |
| Hawks | P | 29 | Shuta Ishikawa |
| Hawks | P | 61 | Masato Okumura |
| Eagles | P | 11 | Takayuki Kishi |
| Eagles | P | 43 | Sung Chia-hao |
Starting pitchers for Sept. 22, 2020
Pacific League
Eagles vs Marines: Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi 1 pm, 12 midnight EDT
Wataru Karashima (0-3, 5.56) vs Ayumu Ishikawa (6-2, 3.81)
Lions vs Fighters: MetLife Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Kona Takahashi (5-6, 4.13) vs Naoyuki Uwasawa (6-3, 2.33)
Hawks vs Buffaloes: PayPay Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Kodai Senga (6-4, 3.39) vs Yoshinobu Yamamoto (5-3, 2.84)
Central League
Giants vs Carp: Tokyo Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Tomoyuki Sugano (11-0, 1.64) vs Atsushi Endo (2-3, 4.04)
Dragons vs Swallows: Nagoya Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Yudai Ono (5-5, 2.59) vs Masanori Ishikawa (0-4, 5.12)
Tigers vs BayStars: Koshien Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT
Haruto Takahashi (2-3, 2.03) vs Yuya Sakamoto (2-0, 5.51)
