It’s a tale of two leagues. The Pacific League looks ready to start the playoffs tomorrow, with spots in the standings remaining mostly unchanged in recent weeks… while in the Central, the gap between first and last is small enough to be filled in just over a week of action. Here’s the best action of the past week.
Tuesday: Masato Morishita is proving week in and week out that he is back to being the pitcher that he was when he won Rookie of the Year in 2020. The 26-year-old righty threw a complete-game shutout in fewer than 100 pitches, while racking up three hits at the plate, in a Hiroshima Carp 3-0 victory over the Yakult Swallows. It was Morishita’s second three-hit game of the year, making him the first Japanese pitcher in 39 seasons to accomplish the feat.
Wednesday: Gregory Polanco hit two 2-run home runs to lead the Chiba Lotte Marines to a 4-1 victory over the Rakuten Eagles. One was pulled into the right-field stands, while the other went the opposite way. His power display helped 22-year-old rookie Shunsuke Nakamori earn his first victory of the campaign.
Thursday: It was walk-off night in the Central, as two games ended with the home team getting a hit on the final pitch of the game. In Yokohama, Toshiro Miyazaki hit a walk-off home run for the Baystars against Kyle Keller of the Yomiuri Giants to give his team a 5-4 win. In Hiroshima, Shogo Sakakura smacked a walk-off double to turn a 2-3 deficit into a 4-3 W for his Carp, as they swept the slumping Swallows.
Friday: The Carp got walked off by a different Tokyo team one day after doing it to another. Yomiuri Giants outfielder Yoshihiro Maru had a scorching week, and perhaps his most clutch hit was the 10th-inning home run he smacked off Carp closer Ryoji Kuribayashi at Tokyo Dome. His blast gave the Giants a 3-2 win and probably stung a little extra for the Carp fans out there, as Maru once wore red and white, winning two MVP awards with the team last decade.
Saturday: For the first time in forever, the Saitama Seibu Lions and their fans have something to celebrate! June was not an easy month for them, but a 4-2 win over the Eagles on this day gave them a “perfect” 3-0-1 record on the week to this point. (They would drop their Sunday matchup, though.) This win was the first of the week in which the team allowed runs, too – they had won 1-0 on Tuesday and 4-0 on Friday. Still, this day’s starter, Chihiro Sumida, did just fine: 8 innings pitched and just two runs against.
Sunday: Let’s end the week with a big comeback, shall we? The Hanshin Tigers held a 5-1 lead against the Swallows at Jingu Stadium, having allowed just four hits in the first seven innings. But in the bottom of the eighth, all the wheels fell off for the Tigers. The Swallows hitters rallied for five hits while also collecting two walks, and coming all the way back to take a 6-5 lead. The game ended in a walk-off of sorts, as the Tigers hit a two-out ninth-inning double, and attempted to tie the game by sending the first-base runner home… but he got gunned down to preserve the W.
Good Week: Hawks (5-1), Marines (4-1), Lions (3-1-1)
Rough Week: Fighters (0-4-1), Eagles (1-4), Tigers (1-3-1)
- NPB Standings
- Central League Hitting Leaders
- Central League Pitching Leaders
- Pacific League Hitting Leaders
- Pacific League Pitching Leaders
