We’re back, and thankful to bring you the news on this, Canadian Thanksgiving Day! Instead of taking you through different games on different days, let’s look at how the playoff teams have done in the past week. Now that the SoftBank Hawks have fallen out of the picture, it should more or less leave us with three teams in each league who will play beyond Game 143 this year.
Pacific League
Orix Buffaloes: While they did not have an outstanding record on the week, they beat the Nippon-Ham Fighters in two of three home games, and then split a pair in Fukuoka against the Hawks. Yoshinobu Yamamoto continued his brilliant season, going eight innings and allowing just a pair on Saturday, but then Kodai Senga of the Hawks returned the favor on Sunday, but giving up only a single run in eight innings. The Buffs received bad news, though, as two of their young talents, Masataka Yoshida and Kotaro Kurebayashi, could miss significant time moving forward due to being hit by pitches. The Buffaloes are 2.5 games ahead of the second place…
Chiba Lotte Marines: They won two of three at home to the Eagles, which temporarily extended their lead in the standings, but then faltered later in the week against the Fighters, going 0-2-1 on the road. They currently find themselves just two games ahead of the…
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles: Thanks to a 3-1-1 week (against three different opponents!), they are practically a lock for the playoffs, and even have an outside chance at moving up in the standings. Their shutout win over the Hawks on Wednesday and narrow victory over the Marines on Thursday showed that they are worthy of the playoffs. They are 5.5 games up on the Hawks for third.
Central League
Yakult Swallows: This week was supposed to finally challenge, maybe even slow down the red-hot birds. Instead, they swept through the Yomiuri Giants in the first half of the week, allowing just two runs in those three games, and then taking two of three against the Tigers. The first of those games earned them a magic number of 11, and the finale saw them outlast the Tigers in a 4+-hour 6-4 win which featured 25 stranded runners between the two teams. They are 3 games up on the…
Hanshin Tigers: After starting the week strongly with two wins against the Baystars in Yokohama, they faltered late, suffering a stunning, late-inning loss on Thursday in Yokohama, and then two demoralizing defeats at the hands of the Swallows in Tokyo. Their prized rookie, Teruaki Sato, has just one hit in his last 70 plate appearances, and slugging import Jerry Sands has been deactivated due to a prolonged slump. Still, they are looking good with a 7.5-game lead over the…
Yomiuri Giants: What to say about the two-time defending CL champs? An 0-6 week in October might not have hurt them last year, when they had a nicely padded lead in the standings, but this year, combined with an 0-5 stretch to end September, has them all-but-eliminated from a three-peat. In fact, their six-game lead over the Hiroshima Carp does not look safe anymore, though there are just a dozen games left on the Carp’s schedule.
Good week: Carp (5-1), Swallows (5-1), Eagles (3-1-1)
Bad week: Dragons (2-4), Hawks (1-4-1), Giants (0-6)
