As I think about the upcoming JapanBall tour coming out this way for the first time in four years, it dawned on me that it might potentially be a trip for the ages. At the tail end of the Main Tour, the tour will be at Koshien Stadium, and the next day, at Kyocera Dome Osaka. Both the Hanshin Tigers and Orix Buffaloes have magic numbers in the mid-teens right now, and if things go perfectly (for us), both teams could clinch with JapanBall in the house! Let’s look at how the past week of action unfolded.
Tuesday: It was a day for the pitchers. Starters Carter Stewart Jr. (Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks), Kazuya Ojima (Chiba Lotte Marines), Shota Imanaga (Yokohama DeNA Baystars), Yuki Nishi (Hanshin Tigers), and Hideaki Wakui (Chunichi Dragons) all put up zeroes for their teams. The Hawks downed the Buffaloes 7-0, the Marines beat the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 6-0, and the Dragons blanked the Tokyo Yakult Swallows by a 3-0 score. The Baystars and Tigers game came down to the bullpens, as the Tigers scored two in the bottom of the eighth, only to see their closer (Suguru Iwazaki) surrender his first two home runs of the year in the top of the ninth. The Tigers lost their return to Koshien (following the high school tournament) 3-2.
Wednesday: The Baystars won against the Tigers 4-2, but it came at a price. Starter Trevor Bauer, who had performed extremely well in the previous two months, injured his hip after fielding a soft grounder and rotating his body awkwardly while trying to make the throw to first base. He had only thrown three innings when the injury happened. It is feared he might miss the rest of the regular season.
Thursday: In a match that featured a 22-year-old lefty (Hiroya Miyagi, Buffaloes) squaring off with a 42-year-old lefty (Tsuyoshi Wada, Hawks), both pitched seven innings of shutout ball. The game came down to the Hawks putting up two hits against 39-year-old Buffaloes closer Yoshihisa Hirano to walk the game off, 1-0.
Friday: Another great day for pitchers to open the weekend series. Shoki Murakami (Tigers), Naoyuki Uwasawa (Fighters), Kaima Taira (Saitama Seibu Lions), and Manabu Mima (Marines) gave their teams at least seven shutout innings each as their teams beat the Swallows 4-2, Buffaloes 3-0, Hawks 6-0, and Eagles 5-0, respectively. Uwasawa’s was a complete game, in fact.
Saturday: Yoshinobu Yamamoto avenged his team’s shutout from the day before, blanking the Fighters for seven and letting the bullpen take care of the rest. His opponent, Hiromi Itoh, threw a complete game and was a tough-luck loser (1-0) in a valiant effort that saw him strike out 11 Buffaloes. In the Central, the Giants were losing so badly to the Baystars that they sent a position player (infielder Takumi Kitamura) to the mound for the final inning of a 13-4 loss. After Sunday’s action, they are three games out of the playoff picture.
Sunday: The Tigers completed a three-game sweep at Jingu Stadium against the Swallows, winning 7-1 on starter Masashi Itoh’s 90-pitch complete game effort. He was denied the “Maddux” when a pinch hitter clouted a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth. The Tigers sit 7.5 games ahead of the Carp and have a magic number of 15. In the PL, the Buffaloes also got a solid effort from their starter, 23-year-old Kohei Azuma (6 1/3 innings, one unearned run), as they beat the Fighters. Coupled with the Marines’ loss, the Buffaloes reduced their magic number to 16 and hold a 10.5-game lead.
For standings and leaderboards, check these links:
- NPB Standings
- Central League Hitting Leaders
- Central League Pitching Leaders
- Pacific League Hitting Leaders
- Pacific League Pitching Leaders
