24.2KShota Morishita homered in four straight games and leads the CL with a .333 AVG (Photo: Chunichi Shimbun)
The Hanshin Tigers seize the Central League pennant as the Yomiuri Giants suffer a major blow with superstar Kazuma Okamoto going down for three months with an elbow injury. Meanwhile, the Nippon-Ham Fighters take first place in the Pacific League with the Orix Buffaloes and Seibu Lions only a game behind.
Also, JapanBall’s annual NPB tour is underway! Please check out the Extra Innings Travel Instagram page for updates.
Monday (May 5)
Teruaki Sato’s 11th home run
Top prospect Yumeto Kanemaru (Dragons) made his NPB debut, allowing two runs across six innings with eight strikeouts.
Teruaki Sato hit his 11th home run of the season as the Tigers trounced the Giants, 10-1.
Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) became the first NPB hitter to hit a home run using a torpedo bat.
Wednesday (May 7)
Shota Morishita’s sixth home run
Shota Morishita (Tigers) homered for the fourth straight game. He ended Iori Yamasaki’s (Giants) streak of 39.1 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.
Two solo homers in the ninth inning propelled the Carp past the Swallows, 5-3.
Friday (May 9)
Takuma Hayashi’s walk-off double
Takuma Hayashi (BayStars) walked off the Carp in extras. The JapanBall tour was in attendance!
Shoma Kanemura threw a complete game as the Fighters edged the Eagles, 2-1.
Saturday (May 10)
Itsuki Murabayashi, Chusei Mannami, and Tyler Nevin’s grand slams
Shoki Murakami threw a Maddux for his second shutout of the season as the Tigers took down the Dragons, 2-0.
Tatsuya Imai (Lions) lowered his ERA to 0.51 with seven more scoreless innings and ten strikeouts.
