These three weeks went by too quickly, did they not? Interleague is basically done, and the Pacific League is back on top! They eked past the Central, 53-51-3 with one rain-out to be made up on Tuesday night. Congratulations to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, who went 13-5 against the Central. Here are some of the key moments of the past week.
Tuesday: It’s apt that we start this recap with the Eagles. Hosting the Yomiuri Giants, they had their backs to the wall heading into the eighth inning down 6-2. But they scored two in the bottom of that frame, and then, down to their final two outs and a runner on first, they earned three straight walks to pull to within a run. Down to their final strike, outfielder Yuya Ogoh hit a double over a drawn-in outfield for the walk-off.
Wednesday: Yakult Swallows’ rookie catcher Kyo Suzuki not only became the first 18-year-old starting catcher in the club’s last 70 years, he also got the go-ahead hit in his first-ever professional baseball game. No Swallows player had done that since Atsunori Inaba in 1995. The Swallows trounced the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 9-3 thanks also to home runs from their three mashers, Munetaka Murakami, Domingo Santana, and Jose Osuna.
Thursday: Last week, the Swallows played in their 10,000th game. This week, the Hiroshima Carp reached the mark. They have an overall winning percentage of .484 (4653-4965-381), and are the eleventh team to hit five-digits. The only active team that has played fewer are the Eagles, who are in their 20th season as an organization. On this day, the Carp blanked the Saitama Seibu Lions 5-0 on the power of righty Aren Kuri’s 130-pitch shutout.
Friday: With a solo home run in the top of the second inning against the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters at Es-Con Field Hokkaido, Giants’ infielder Hayato Sakamoto now has round-trippers at 25 different stadiums as a pro. The 35-year-old will never catch the record holder, though – Kazuhiro Yamauchi homered in 39 different parks, a product of playing in a generation when countryside games were far more common, frequent, and in diverse locations. The Giants defeated the Fighters 7-2 on this day.
Saturday: Streaks extended and snapped defined this day’s action. Yokohama DeNA Baystars lefty Katsuki Azuma has wins in five straight decisions since Opening Day, which is a new club record. Lions’ pitcher Kona Takahashi has losses in seven straight decisions since Opening Day, tying his club’s record. Hanshin Tigers outfielder Koji Chikamoto has 10+ stolen bases in six straight years, while Hawks outfielder Ukyo Shuto has 20+ in each of the last six campaigns. His teammate Kensuke Kondoh hit a home run on this day against the Tigers, giving him home runs against all twelve NPB teams. Orix Buffaloes reliever Seiryu Kotajima has had 21 straight mounds without giving up a run, good for third-best stretch from his debut in NPB history. Finally, Fighters outfielder Shun Mizutani had his bid to become the first player to collect at least one hit in every interleague game snapped, as he went 0-4 against the Giants.
Sunday: As mentioned earlier, the Rakuten Eagles won the interleague crown with a 13-5 record. It was their first such crown, leaving just the Lions, Tigers, Carp, and Dragons without such titles. Manager Toshiaki Imae became the youngest skipper to win it, and the second person to win one as a player and as a manager. (The other is Buffaloes’ manager Satoshi Nakajima.) Despite their dominant stretch, the Eagles are just a .500 team at present, and find themselves in fourth place. For a full look at the standings, click on the link below.
Good Week: Baystars (6-0)
Rough Week: Lions (1-5)
- NPB Standings
- Central League Hitting Leaders
- Central League Pitching Leaders
- Pacific League Hitting Leaders
- Pacific League Pitching Leaders
