Tag Archives: Zelous Wheeler

Baseball, News, Paid Content

NPB 2020 8-1 GAMES AND NEWS

Leave a comment

Ishikawa mows down Lions

Shuta Ishikawa struck out a career-high 13 in a one-hit shutout, and Ryoya Kurihara hit a three-run home run in the first inning as the SoftBank Hawks ran over the Seibu Lions 4-0 on Saturday at Fukuoka’s PayPay Dome.

Ishikawa (3-0) had some trouble locating but stayed around the strike zone with a live fastball that sat at 90.7 mph, a good slider, curve and split. The right-hander struck out five of the first seven batters he faced, and was fortunate that most of his mistakes were either miss-hit or slammed straight to one of his fielders.

Keizo Kawashima, batting in the Hawks’ second spot, sparked a three-run first inning with a one-out double when he pulled a hanging 1-0 slider form Keisuke Honda down the line in left.

Yuki Yanagita just missed a hanging first-pitch curve, driving it to the warning track in dead center, and Akira Nakamura worked a seven-pitch walk thanks to a favorable call on a close 2-2 fastball that might have ended the inning.

Honda got ahead of Kurihara 0-2 but his 1-2 fastball missed up and over the plate. The left-handed-hitting Kurihara got it off the end of the bat but still got enough of it to drive it into the “home run terrace” in left for his seventh home run.

Kawashima led off the third with a double. One pitch after he thought he had drawn a walk, he drilled a low 3-2 fastball to the wall in left center. He scored when Yanagita grounded a low strike up the middle for a single.

VerHagen outduels Tajima in Fighters’ win

Drew VerHagen (3-1) threw seven scoreless innings to outduel tough Orix Buffaloes lefty Daiki Tajima in a 3-1 win for the Nippon Ham Fighters at their Sapporo Dome home.

VerHagen allowed four hits and a walk, while striking out four. The only leadoff runner he allowed, Adam Jones on a single in the second, was followed by a double play.

Buffaloes slugger Masataka Yoshida was trouble, squaring VerHagen up twice and walking. But one drive was caught at the warning track, the fourth-inning leadoff walk was followed by back-to-back strikeouts of Adam Jones and Steven Moya. VerHagen followed Yoshida’s two-out sixth-inning double by striking out Jones on a slider away.

Tajima (1-2) allowed two runs on five hits, three walks and a hit batsman over six innings. He struck out four. The lefty cruised through five innings but his third trip through the Fighters lineup proved fatal.

Yuji Takahama’s soft liner over the infield got the Fighters a one-out runner, and Buffaloes center fielder Hayato Nishiura’s attempt to make a shoestring catch resulted in an error on Kensuke Kondo’s single.

With two outs and the bases loaded, Tajima hoped for a low strike with a fastball, but Ryo Watanabe stroked it into left for an RBI single. The lefty then hit Toshitake Yoko to make it 2-0.

VerHagen worked a 1-2-3 seventh. Lefty Naoki Miyanishi allowed a run in the eighth before closer Ryo Akiyoshi nailed down his eighth save in the ninth.

Uchida, Shiomi haze Marines

Lefty Takahiro Shiomi (2-3) worked seven innings, and Yasuhito Uchida hit his second grand slam of the season for the Rakuten Eagles who put the Lotte Marines through an 8-0 recruit hazing of at Chiba’s Zozo Marine Stadium.

Marines starter Atsuki Taneichi (3-2) had been effective this season, but a week after his first career shutout, couldn’t locate his pitches. He missed up and in the zone a lot and the Eagles hit enough of them to run away with it in a five-run first.

Former Marines captain Daichi Suzuki pulled a first-pitch fastball that missed in the heart of the plate into the right field corner for a one-out double. Eigoro Mogi smashed the second hanging splitter he saw for a ground single.

Taneichi survived a mistake to Hideto Asamura, who flied out, but then missed up in the heart of the zone with a 1-1 fastball, and Hiroaki Shimauchi lashed a hard single to center. Trailing now by a run, the right-hander brushed Stefen Romero with his first pitch to load them up with two outs.

After a good first-pitch slider, Taneichi missed up with another and Uchida launched it over the fence in center.

Asamura put the game completely out of reach in the seventh with a three-run double.

Shiomi allowed three hits and four walks, but the Marines obliged him by hitting into three double plays. Taneichi surrendered all eight runs on 12 hits, three walks and a hit batsman over 5-2/3 innings.

Oshima makes winner of Katsuno

Rookie right-hander Akiyoshi Katsuno won a pitchers’ duel with Yasuhiro “Ryan” Ogawa after Yohei Oshima delivered a tie-breaking two-run eighth-inning single in a 3-1 win over the Yakult Swallows at Nagoya Dome.

Katsuno (1-2), the Dragons third pick in the 2018 draft, allowed a run on four hits and no walks while striking out six over eight innings. He was coming off six scoreless innings in his previous start.

Singles by Masataka Iryo and Oshima set the table for a run to score on a two-out throwing error. Ogawa, however, only allowed two more runners to reach through seven innings.

The Swallows got even in the fifth on a pair of good swings. Takeshi Miyamoto doubled with one out and scored on Munetaka Murakami’s two-out single.

Katsuno didn’t allow a leadoff man to reach in the entire game thanks to some sparkling defense from second baseman Toshiki Abe in the seventh and shortstop Yota Kyoda in the eighth.

Miyamoto doubled with one out in the sixth, but with two outs struck out Murakami swinging at a high fastball and retired the next six batters to keep it 1-1 going into the bottom of the eighth.

Nobumasa Fukuda smoked a first-pitch forkball low in the zone for a Dragons leadoff double. Ogawa fumbled the ensuing sacrifice bunt, putting runners at the corners with no outs, and then walked Iryo to load the bases for Oshima.

Ogawa made an 0-2 pitch on the inside edge, but Oshima turned on it and drove it right for a two-run single. Iryo was thrown out trying to go to third, and surprising Swallows lefty Hiroki Hasegawa got out of the inning.

Raidel Martinez closed it out in a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save.

Ogawa (4-1) was charged with one earned run on five hits and two walks over 7-1/3 innings. He struck out six.

BayStars reach for the seats to back Imanaga

Lefty Shota Imanaga (4-2) allowed two runs over seven innings and the DeNA BayStars hit five home runs in a 7-3 win over the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien Stadium.

The BayStars built a 2-0 lead against Yuki Nishi on solo homers by Neftali Soto in the first and former Tiger Yamato Maeda in the fourth only for Tigers catcher Ryutaro Umeno to cancel them out with a two-run single in the bottom of the fourth.

Koji Chikamoto opened with his second hit of the night against Imanaga. With one out, the lefty walked both Yusuke Oyama and Justin Bour to load them for Umeno, who had cracked a three-run homer in Friday’s 3-3 tie.

A one-out hit batsman in the fifth and cleanup hitter Keita Sano’s fifth home run made it 4-2. Toshiro Miyazaki homered to lead off the sixth, and Takayuki Kajitani did the same in the seventh.

Nishi (2-3) gave up five runs on seven hits. He struck out six and hit two.

Giants clobber Carp

Yomiuri Giants lefty Kazuto Taguchi, pitching on the first team for the first time in nearly a month, allowed two runs over seven innings in an 11-3 win over the Hiroshima Carp at Tokyo Dome.

Taguchi (2-0) surrendered the lead on back-to-back two-out first-inning doubles by former Giants Hisayoshi Chono and Seiya Suzuki, but was able to pitch out of the little trouble he faced until Jose Pirela’s pinch-hit leadoff homer in the seventh.

Giants cleanup hitter Kazuma Okamoto doubled to lead off the second against lefty Hiroki Tokoda (1-4) and scored the tying run on Zelous Wheeler’s single.

Yoshiyuki Kamei doubled and scored on first baseman Ryuhei Matsuyama’s throwing error when former Carp Yoshihiro Maru bunted for a base hit with two on and no outs.

With one out and runners on second and third, Wheeler delivered a sacrifice fly, and Hiroyuki Nakajima followed with an RBI double.

Wheeler finished with two runs, two RBIs and three hits, while Okamaoto blew the game open with his Central League-leading 14th home run, a sixth-inning grand slam.


Active roster moves 8/1/2020

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 8/11

Central League

Activated

GiantsP28Kazuto Taguchi

Dectivated

GiantsOF36Shingo Ishikawa
SwallowsP38Yugo Umeno

Pacific League

Activated

None

Dectivated

None

Starting pitchers for Aug. 2

Pacific League

Marines vs Eagles: Zozo Marine Stadium 5 pm, 4 am EDT

Toshiya Nakamura (0-0, 4.97) vs Yuya Fukui (-)

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

Akira Niho (3-2, 4.91) vs Kona Takahashi (2-3, 5.34)

Central League

Giants vs Carp: Tokyo Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Toshiki Sakurai (2-1, 3.73) vs Atsushi Endo (1-1, 5.48)

Dragons vs Swallows: Nagoya Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Kodai Umetsu (2-3, 4.86) vs Hirofumi Yamanaka (-)

Tigers vs BayStars: Koshien Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Yuta Iwasada (2-1, 3.66) vs Kentaro Taira (2-1, 1.88)

Baseball, News, Paid Content

NPB 2020 7-29 GAMES AND NEWS

Leave a comment

Mishima earns 1st save for BayStars

Veteran right-hander Kazuki Mishima worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his first career save in place of battered closer Yasuaki Yamasaki on Wednesday as the DeNA BayStars held on to a 3-2 win over the Yomiuri Giants at Tokyo Dome.

BayStars lefty Haruhiro Hamaguchi (2-1) was effectively wild at the start, walking four and hitting one threw four hitless and scoreless innings thanks to a pair of inning-ending 4-6-3 double plays. Hamaguchi allowed two runs on three hits over 5-2/3 innings while striking out seven.

Takayuki Kajitani homered with two outs in the third off Giants right-hander Shosei Togo to record the visitors’ first hit, while catcher Shuto Takajo added a two-run homer for the visitors in the fifth.

Togo (3-2) allowed three runs on four hits and a walk while striking out seven over five innings.

The Giants got their first hit in the fifth, Yang Dai-kang’s leadoff single, and their first run in the seventh, when Yoshihiro Maru opened the inning with his eighth home run. With two outs, mid-season acquisition Zelous Wheeler pulled the Giants within one with his fourth home run to drive Hamaguchi from the mound.

With the BayStars leading by a run in the seventh, manager Alex Ramirez called on Yamasaki to see if his struggling closer might regain his stuff in a middle relief role. The right-hander allowed a one-out infield single to speedy pinch-hitter Shinnosuke Shigenobu. A stolen base on a strikeout, and a wild pitch put the tying run on third with two outs, but Giants captain Hayato Sakamoto flied out to end the inning.

Spencer Patton worked the eighth and walked Wheeler with one out. Wheeler was replaced by Daiki Masuda, the flagship of manager Tatsunori Hara’s pinch-running fleet. Patton, however, struck out the next two batters to get the game to Mishima.

The 30-year-old right-hander, who had not allowed a hit or a walk since he was lit up for three runs on July 16, got tough left-handed hitter Takumi Oshiro swinging at a 1-2 splitter out of the zone. Veteran left-handed-hitting grinder Yasuyuki Kamei flied out before Shigenobu went down swinging to end it.

Nothing to do with the game story, but couldn’t resist.

Swallows kiddy corps beats Tigers

Twenty-year-old Munetaka Murakami brought the Yakult Swallows from behind with a two-run fourth-inning home run and 21-year-old lefty Hiroki Hasegawa saved the day out of the bullpen in a 3-1 win over the Hanshin Tigers at Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium.

After allowing the visitors on the scoreboard in the first, Yakult right-hander Juri Hara (2-0) got out of a one-out bases-loaded jam in the first inning with a pair of strikeouts. Hara worked five innings, allowing three hits and five walks while striking out six.

Tigers lefty Onelki Garcia cruised through the first three innings before surrendering a leadoff double to Norichika Aoki in the fourth. Murakami followed with his fifth home run.

Yugo Umeno, a 21-year-old right-hander, followed Hara in the sixth and walked the first batter he faced. He left with one out the bases loaded. Hasegawa, however, popped up leadoff hitter Koji and struck out veteran Yoshio Itoi.

Yakult’s Yasutaka Shiomi, who homered when he returned to action on Tuesday, a month after being injured by a pitch, homered off veteran lefty Atsushi Nomi to open the bottom of the sixth.

Scott McGough pitched a 1-2-3 seventh for the hosts, while impressive 23-year-old rookie Noboru Shimizu worked around a pair of walks in the eighth when he caught Chikamoto looking at Strike 3. Taishi Ishiyama worked the ninth for his sixth save.

The Tigers opened the scoring through Chikamoto. He doubled to open the game when his drive popped out of center fielder Kotaro Yamasaki’s glove, stole third and came home on a Yusuke Oyama infield single. Garcia gave up four hits and a walk, while striking out five.

Carp’s Suzuki decides pitchers’ duel

Seiya Suzuki broke open a scoreless game in the sixth inning, when he homered for the ninth time this year with a two-run shot off lefty Takahiro Matsuba in a 2-0 Hiroshima Carp win over the Chunichi Dragons at Hiroshima’s Mazda Stadium.

Making his second start of the season, veteran Carp right-hander Yusuke Nomura (1-0) was perfect through five innings. He allowed four hits and no walks over eight innings while striking out two.

Geronimo Franzua struck out the side in the ninth to earn his first save.

Matsuba (2-1) allowed five hits and two walks while striking out five and hitting a batter. He surrendered Jose Pirela’s second hit of the game with one out in the sixth, and with two outs, Suzuki took him deep.

39-year-old Wada shuts down Lions

Veteran southpaw Tsuyoshi Wada (3-0) turned back the clock as he combined his usual guts and finesse with good movement on his fastball to strike out nine over six-plus innings for the SoftBank Hawks in a 4-2 win over the Seibu Lions at Fukuoka’s PayPayDome.

The 39-year-old Wada, who said afterward he wanted to come out with guns blazing after not getting out of the fifth inning in his last start, came out getting swings and misses with his fastball and struck out two batters in a 1-2-3.

Hawks speedster Ukyo Shuto opened the scoring for the Hawks in the bottom of the first, when he tripled and scored on Kenta Imamiya’s sacrifice fly. Three-straight one-out singles made it 2-0 as Ryoya Kurihara drove in Yuki Yanagita.

The Lions got their first runners of the game on in the top of the second, but Wada stranded two, and the Hawks added a third run in the bottom of the inning. Nobuhiro Matsuda singled, took second on a throwing error by the pitcher, went to third on a groundout and scored on a Shuto sac fly.

Seibu’s Fumikazu Kimura, who struck out to end the Lions’ second with two in scoring position, hit a solo home run in the fifth, but Yanagita answered that with his 10th home run, a one-out solo shot in the home half.

Wada gave up a run in the seventh on a leadoff double to Takeya Nakamura and a Takumi Kuriyama RBI single. Lefty Shinya Kayama, however, worked around a one-out single to strand two runners. Another lefty, Livan Moinelo, worked the eighth, while closer Yuito Mori pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his eighth save.

Matsumoto (1-3) gave up all four runs on seven hits and two walks over five innings.

Martinez, Kondo get Fighters past Buffs

Nick Martinez allowed a run over six innings and Kensuke Kondo drove in four runs for the Nippon Ham Fighters in their 6-2 win over the Orix Buffaloes at Sapporo Dome.

Orix right-hander Yu Suzuki struggled but stranded six runners as he held the Fighters to a run over four innings. Taishi Ota drew a leadoff walk in the second and opened the scoring on Kotaro Kiyomiya’s bases-loaded sac fly.

The Buffaloes repeatedly threatened to blow the game open, but Martinez prevailed through tough pitching and some good luck.

Masato Matsui got the Buffaloes’ first hit off Martinez when first baseman Kiyomiya fielded a ball Martinez couldn’t reach, and then neglected to see the pitcher covering first and waiting for his throw that never came.

Orix skipper Norifumi Nishimura’s customary sacrifice when trailing on the road and a Ryo Nishimura single put runners on the corners with one out. A stolen base and a comebacker opened first base with two outs, and after Martinez fell behind Masataka Yoshida 3-0, Fighters manager Hideki Kuriyama ordered the left-handed slugger walked. Martinez then won a 10-pitch duel with Adam Jones by getting a routine fly out to center.

The Buffaloes tied it in the fifth after a walk and two singles, one an infield dribbler, and a Yoshida sac fly.

Once more, Jones came up with a chance to some damage with two outs, but home plate umpire Atsushi Fukuya called him out on a 2-2 pitch that missed badly inside. Martinez tried to hide the disbelief at his good luck behind his glove as he walked off the mound. Jones could do little but express his own disbelief with Fukuya’s perception of the strike zone.

With Suzuki out of the game after 85 pitches, Buffaloes right-hander Kazumasa Yoshida allowed the Fighters to retake the lead. He promptly gave up a Kenshi Sugiya leadoff double. A sacrifice bunt and a Kondo sac fly put the Fighters back in front. That, too, was short-lived.

With Martinez gone, the Buffaloes tied it in the seventh when Aderlin Rodriguez was struck near the wrist with the bases loaded. But that was it for Orix. Sugiya drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning, was sacrificed to second on Takuya Nakashima’s second sac bunt of the game and the 230th of his career. Kondo singled to bring in the go-ahead run and scored on a two-out Ota double.

Fighters lefty Naoki Miyanishi worked the eighth inning and became the 16th pitcher in Japanese pro baseball history to appear in 700 games. The active leader is Ryota Igarashi of the Swallows (822).

Wakui continues remarkable turnaround

After going 3-0 in his first three starts and looking truly mediocre, Hideaki Wakui has been rock solid since and continued that on Tuesday when he allowed a run in seven innings as the Rakuten Eagles beat the Lotte Marines 5-1 at Chiba’s Zozo Marine Stadium.

Wakui (5-0) has allowed three runs, two earned, over his last 20-1/3 innings after giving up tons of hits in his early games. Against the team that sold him in December, the 34-year-old right-hander went to the mound with a two-run lead thanks to Hideto Asamura’s 12th homer of the season.

Leonys Martin touched Wakui for a first-inning home run, but that was about it for the Marines offense as the right-hander continued to spin the ball away from opposing bats and mix his pitches.

Stefen Romero, who hit a pinch-hit grand slam the night before, took lefty Kazuya Odajima (2-3) out to dead center to open the fifth, and then tripled and scored in the seventh.

“I’ve been able to keep leadoff hitters off base, and that was what I was trying to keep up tonight,” said Wakui, who joined the Marines as a free agent from the Seibu Lions in 2014. “It did feel kind of strange tonight since I hadn’t been a visiting player her for so long. I’m just glad I didn’t go back to the wrong dugout.”

Active roster moves 7/29/2020

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 8/8

Central League

Activated

BayStarsP35Tomoya Mikami
SwallowsP15Yuma Oshita

Dectivated

BayStarsOF1Masayuki Kuwahara
TigersP46Takumi Akiyama
SwallowsP25Gabriel Ynoa
SwallowsP26Koshiro Sakamoto

Pacific League

Activated

LionsP17Wataru Matsumoto
EaglesP91Yuya Kubo
MarinesP19Yuki Karakawa
MarinesP33Masaki Minami
MarinesP62Shoji Nagano

Dectivated

EaglesP13Kohei Morihara
MarinesP20Taiki Tojo
MarinesP27Daiki Yamamoto
MarinesP30Tsuyoshi Ishizaki
FightersP31Toru Murata
BuffaloesP27Andrew Albers

Pacific League

Fighters vs Buffaloes: Sapporo Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Toshihiro Sugiura (2-1, 2.66) vs Sachiya Yamasaki (1-0, 3.80)

Marines vs Eagles: Zozo Marine Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Daiki Iwashita (3-1, 2.91) vs Hayato Yuge (2-1, 2.79)

Hawks vs Lions: PayPay Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Yugo Bando (0-0, 0.93) vs Kaito Yoza (1-2, 4.94)

Central League

Giants vs BayStars: Tokyo Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Cristopher Mercedes (2-2, 3.18) vs Shinichi Onuki (2-2, 2.70)

Swallows vs Tigers: Jingu Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Keiji Takahashi (0-1, 3.45) vs Shintaro Fujinami (0-1, 6.00)

Carp vs Dragons: Mazda Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Kris Johnson (0-3, 5.73) vs Yuichiro Okano (2-1, 4.13)