21KYakult Swallows veteran Tetsuto Yamada hit his 300th career NPB long ball on Saturday
Masahiro Tanaka inches closer to the 200-win club, Yoshihisa Hirano notches his 250th career save, Tetsuto Yamada belts his 300th career home run, and a wave of foreign pitchers make grand NPB debuts. All that and more in this week’s recap.
Tuesday (April 1)
Livan Moinelo’s seven strong innings
2024 Pacific League MVP Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) was sidelined with a back injury and elected to undergo surgery immediately, likely ruling him out for at least three months, delivering a big blow to the defending PL champions.
Livan Moinelo tossed seven innings of one-run ball as the Hawks spoiled the Fighters’ home opener.
Andre Jackson (BayStars) averaged over 95 mph on his fastball and dominated the Tigers with nine strikeouts across seven innings in a 7-1 win.
Kyle Muller (Dragons) struck out nine Giants hitters over five impressive innings in his NPB debut.
Wednesday (April 2)
Kazuya Maruyama’s walk-off hit
Iori Yamasaki threw eight scoreless innings and Raidel Martinez got the save against his former team as the Giants shut out the Dragons, 2-0.
The Swallows came back from a late 4-1 deficit to take down the Carp in extras. Kazuya Maruyama delivered the walk-off knock to get Yakult their first win of 2025.
Thursday (April 3)
Masahiro Tanaka’s 198th career win between NPB and MLB
Masahiro Tanaka made his Yomiuri Giants debut with five innings of one-run ball en route to his first NPB win since August 2023.
Yasuhiro Ogawa twirled a two-hit Maddux as the Swallows shut out the Carp, 3-0.
Former MLB reliever Yoshihisa Hirano (Buffaloes) recorded his 250th career NPB save.
Jon Duplantier (Tigers) had an excellent NPB debut, allowing just one run over six innings with eight punchouts. However, his opponent Anthony Kay (BayStars) one-upped him with seven shutout frames and eight strikeouts.
Friday (April 4)
Tatsuya Imai’s ten strikeouts
Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) got back on track after a rough opening day, allowing just three hits with no earned runs in eight innings against the Swallows.
Tatsuya Imai pitched seven shutout innings with ten strikeouts against the Hawks as the Lions won their first game of 2025.
Hiroya Miyagi was tagged with two home runs but struck out nine batters over eight strong innings as the Buffaloes edged the Fighters, 4-3.
Shugo Maki (BayStars) hit his 100th career home run in an 8-2 loss against the Carp.
Saturday (April 5)
The DeNA BayStars took the lead with a five-run ninth, but the Hiroshima Carp prevailed
Tetsuto Yamada (Swallows) smashed his 300th career home run, becoming the 46th player in NPB history to reach the milestone. The 32-year-old former MVP also has a chance to finish his career with 2,000 hits (434 shy), 1,000 runs batted in (118 shy), and 200 stolen bases (five shy).
Peter Lambert (Swallows) fired six scoreless innings in his NPB debut against the Dragons.
Teruaki Sato hit two home runs as the Tigers clinched a series win over their rival Giants.
Shunsuke Tamura (Carp) hit his first career NPB home run in the 11th inning, a walk-off shot to seal a wild 8-7 win over the BayStars.
Sunday (April 6)
Tatsuki Koja’s three-hitter
Tatsuki Koja (Eagles) tossed a three-hit complete game shutout against the Marines.
The Tigers, Carp, and Buffaloes all completed a series sweep.
Reigning NPB home run champ Hotaka Yamakawa hit his first long ball of the year as the Hawks stomped the Lions, 11-1, to avoid a sweep.
