This week in Nippon Professional Baseball, the Hanshin Tigers pulled off a sweep of their rival Yomiuri Giants on the road thanks to a monumental series by star duo Shota Morishita and Teruaki Sato to take back control of the Central League pennant, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows turned their fortunes around and regained sole possession of a postseason spot, reigning Pacific League MVP Livan Moinelo returned from injury and made his much-anticipated season debut for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, veteran Kenta Maeda collected his 100th career NPB win, and much more!
Meanwhile, the High School Summer Koshien is down to the Elite 8. The quarterfinal matchups are as follows:
Game 1: Tenri (Nara) vs. Mie (Mie)
Game 2: Sendai Ikuei (Miyagi) vs. Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama)
Game 3: Hanamaki Higashi (Iwate) vs. Yokohama (Kanagawa)
Game 4: Kendai Takasaki (Gunma) vs. Ariake (Kumamoto)
Check out Yokohama High School’s Shoki Oda setting a new Koshien record for the fastest pitch at 156 kmh (97 mph)! The right-hander has been dominating in front of both NPB and MLB scouts on the big stage this month and is arguably the No. 1 prospect in this year’s NPB Draft.
Interested in watching the rest of the tournament? Koshien streams for free on SportsBull.
Tuesday (8/11)
- Kaima Taira (Lions) fired 7 shutout innings to outduel Hiromi Itoh in a 1-0 win over the Fighters
- Shota Morishita (Tigers) smashed 2 home runs in a 9-1 win over the Giants. Teruaki Sato hit a 480 ft bomb.
- Livan Moinelo (Hawks) returned from injury and pitched 6 shutout innings in his season debut, contributing to a 16-2 rout of the Marines.
Wednesday (8/12)
- Kenta Maeda (Eagles) recorded his 100th career NPB win.
- Teruaki Sato (Tigers) hit his 25th and 26th homers of the season in a 5-1 victory against the Giants (including the 150th of his career). Shota Morishita also hit his 28th dinger.
- Shugo Maki and Jerar Encarnacion (BayStars) each homered twice in a 6-3 win over the Dragons.
- Taiga Kojima (Lions) hit a go-ahead 3-run shot to beat the Fighters, 5-2.
- Trey Wingenter (Lions) extended his scoreless appearance streak to 20 games.
- The Swallows posted 18 hits in a 12-0 blowout against the Carp.
Thursday (8/13)
- Yoshitomo Tsutsugo (BayStars) crushed 2 homers in a 5-1 win versus the Dragons.
- Kaito Shimomura (Tigers) earned his first NPB win in a sweep of the Giants.
- Teruaki Sato (Tigers) went deep for the third consecutive game.
Friday (8/14)
- Yuma Mune (Buffaloes) hit 2 home runs in a 6-2 win against the Fighters.
- Hideki Nagaoka (Swallows) went 2 for 4 with a grand slam in a 7-2 win over the BayStars.
Saturday (8/15)
- Miguel Sano (Dragons) homered twice in an 11-2 thrashing of the Giants.
- Carson McCusker (Eagles) smacked his 17th homer in a 6-4 victory versus the Hawks.
- Taito Murakami (Hawks) struck out the side in his NPB debut.
Sunday (8/16)
- Teruaki Sato (Tigers) crushed his 28th homer in an 8-1 win over the Carp.
- Franmil Reyes (Fighters) hit his 25th homer in a 13-7 victory against the Buffaloes.
- Ryoto Kita (Buffaloes) homered twice in a loss.
- The Swallows completed a sweep of the BayStars to take back sole possession of third place in the CL.
- The Giants blew past the Dragons with a 10-run 8th inning.
