It’s September, which means playoff races are in full swing as the regular season is winding down. Get ready for a photo finish in the Central League, as the Yomiuri Giants now hold first place over the Hiroshima Carp by one game. But here come the Hanshin Tigers and DeNA BayStars! After a strong week, they’re only 2.5 and 4.5 games out, respectively. Anything can still happen.
I (Yuri) also have a personal announcement. I just launched my own website, YakyuCosmo.com, for advanced Japanese baseball stats in English (for free). The data only goes back to 2020, but it has NPB, the Farm, and various international tournaments. You can sort through player/team leaders, filter by specific criteria, follow up-to-date standings, and more. It’s still a work in progress but I hope this site will become a valuable resource for people looking to keep up with NPB.
Also, congratulations to former BayStar Shota Imanaga on his huge contribution to the Chicago Cubs’ combined no-hitter this week!
Tuesday
In Fukuoka, the JapanBall Tour saw Chusei Mannami (Fighters) hit a leadoff homer off Livan Moinelo (Hawks)! Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) threw his 32nd consecutive quality start, the longest streak since Kris Johnson in 2015. Hanshin Tigers southpaw Haruto Takahashi out-dueled Chunichi Dragons ace Hiroto Takahashi in a battle of the Takahashis. After maintaining a sub-one ERA all season long, (Hiroto) Takahashi finally saw that number creep up to 1.14.
Wednesday
Former Padres/Guardians/Cubs/Royals DH Franmil Reyes set a new Fighters franchise record with a 25-game hitting streak, and he did it on his 18th home run of the campaign. Kojiro Yoshimura (Swallows) shut out the Giants on 125 pitches. Meanwhile, the JapanBall tour saw reigning PL Rookie of the Year Shunpeita Yamashita (Buffaloes) fire seven scoreless frames with nine punchouts at Hotto Motto Field. He’s rebounding after a rough first half of the year.
Thursday
JapanBall’s main tour group saw the Hanshin Tigers take down the Chunichi Dragons, 2-1. Hanshin pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts. The Tokyo tour group saw the DeNA BayStars walk off the Hiroshima Carp in extras on a bases loaded walk.
Friday
There was yet another walk-off walk as Ariel Martinez (Fighters) took ball four with the bases full against Andres Machado (Buffaloes). Rakuten Eagles southpaw Takahisa Hayakawa just missed out on a CGSO, going 8.2 strong against the Marines. Hanshin Tigers slugger Teruaki Sato hit a grand slam against the Swallows, and our Tokyo group was there to see it! “The Franimal” had his hit streak end at 25 games.
Saturday
The Hiroshima Carp took care of business against the Chunichi Dragons. The DeNA BayStars were up on the Yomiuri Giants with two outs in the 9th, but Yomiuri tied it on an error and single. Then, down to their last out in the 12th, Louis Okoye hit a pinch-hit walk-off bomb to help the Giants hold onto first place with a miracle victory.
Sunday
Roki Sasaki pitched five innings for the Lotte Marines, allowing seven hits, four walks, and three runs. He did strike out seven batters, though. His good friend on the Orix Buffaloes, Hiroya Miyagi, shined with 11 Ks over seven and two-thirds frames of one-run ball. Seiya Hosokawa swatted his fourth homer in his last seven games to edge the Dragons over the Carp. He’s now firmly placed himself in the CL home run title race.
This Week’s Team Records
Hanshin Tigers (5-1)
DeNA BayStars (4-1)
Nippon-Ham Fighters (4-1)
Rakuten Eagles (3-2)
Orix Buffaloes (3-3)
Yakult Swallows (3-3)
Lotte Marines (2-2)
Yomiuri Giants (2-3)
Seibu Lions (2-3)
Chunichi Dragons (2-4)
SoftBank Hawks (1-4)
Hiroshima Carp (1-5)
- NPB Standings
- Central League Hitting Leaders
- Central League Pitching Leaders
- Pacific League Hitting Leaders
- Pacific League Pitching Leaders
- Yuri’s NPB Pitcher Rankings
