A pair of must-watch pitching matchups took place on Sunday, matchups that can only happen during Interleague play and even then the timing has to be perfect for such meetings to occure. The Belluna Dome in Nagoya was the scene of one of those encounters, with WBC teammates Hiroya Miyagi of the Orix Buffaloes and Hiroto Takahashi of the Chunichi Dragons going head-to-head. The southpaw Miyagi won out in the end with a complete game shutout performance in the Buffaloes 5-0 win over the Dragons. The 2021 Pacific League Rookie of the Year recorded his second shutout of the year allowing just two batters to reach base throughout the afternoon. Singles by Hiroki Fukunaga in the fifth inning and Yūki Okabayashi an inning later was all Chunichi could muster as Miyagi dominated the Dragons with 10 strikeouts to lower his ERA to 1.68. But victory was far from assured as Takahashi was nearly as stellar, allowing five hits and a walk with a career high 13 strikeouts over seven shutout innings. But at 118 pitches he failed to appear for the eighth and Miyagi finally received the run support he richly deserved as Tomoya Mori blasted a three-run home run to kick start a five -run frame en route to the victory.
While Miyagi was having the best outing of the day, Roki Sasaki and Hiroto Saiki squared off at Koshien where the pitching was just as impressive, resulting in a low scoring affair between the Lotte Marines and Hanshin Tigers. Despite allowing four walks, Sasaki held the Tigers without a hit until the sixth inning when Takumu Nakano drew a walk and stole second to start the proceedings. A wild pitch on a 2-2 count allowed Nakano to end up on third, and he scored on Yusuke Ohyama's single to right-center, breaking up both the no-hit bid and shutout and halting Sasaki's action for the day. He finished with 10 strikeouts. Ryutaro Umeno hit a two-run bomb off reliever Akira Yagi in the seventh to give Saiki some breathing room the rest of the evening. Saiki ended up with a complete game shutout victory, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out 12. The Seibu Lions broke open a scoreless game by scoring four runs in thew sixth inning, but the Yokohama BayStars hit back with five runs in the eighth to produce an incredible 5-4 come-from-behind win.
David MacKinnon went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored as the Seibu Lions defeated the Yokohama BayStars 6-4 on Monday to salvage a game following two defeats in their weekend series. Wataru Matsumoto struck out five batters in five innings to pick up his third win of the season. The Chiba Lotte Marines and Hanshin Tigers tied 7-7 after 12 innings in a makeup game that drew 36,780 in a rare Monday night contest. Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) and Koki Yamaguchi (Marines) each hit three-run homers in the game that lasted 5 hours and 7 minutes.
BATTING Average .390 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .347 - Shogo Akiyama (Carp) .343 - Taiki Sekine (BayStars) .330 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .327 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) On-Base Percentage .464 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .426 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) .409 - Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) .396 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .394 - Shogo Akiyama (Carp) OPS 1.126 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .973 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .934 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) .905 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .894 - Shogo Akiyama (Carp) Home Runs 13 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 10 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) 10 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) 10 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) 9 - Jose Osuna (Swallows) RBIs 36 - Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) 36 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) 34 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) 31 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 31 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) AVG with RISP .455 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) .429 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .421 - Shogo Akiyama (Carp) .395 - Taiki Sekine (BayStars) .364 - Yohei Ohshima (Dragons) Stolen Bases 8 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 6 - Ryoma Nishikawa (Carp) 6 - Takumu Nakano (Tigers) 6 - Yūki Okabayashi (Dragons) 5 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) PITCHING ERA 2.03 - Aren Kuri (Carp) 2.06 - Hiroki Tokoda (Carp) 2.35 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 2.52 - Foster Griffin (Giants) 2.59 - Shinnosuke Ogasawara (Dragons) 11 WHIP 1.01 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 1.016 - Aren Kuri (Carp) 1.019 - Yasuhiro Ogawa (Swallows) 1.04 - Foster Griffin (Giants) 1.06 - Shosei Togo (Giants) Innings pitched 64.0 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 62.0 - Aren Kuri (Carp) 60.2 - Foster Griffin (Giants) 59.0 - Shinnosuke Ogasawara (Dragons) 55.0 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) Strikeouts 61 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 61 - Shinnosuke Ogasawara (Dragons) 59 - Foster Griffin (Giants) 56 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 54 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) Wins 6 - Kotaro Ohtake (Tigers) 6 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 5 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) 5 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 4 - 7 players tied Holds 18 - Noboru Shimizu (Swallows) 13 - Hiromu Ise (BayStars) 13 - Nik Turley (Carp) 11 - Taichi Ishiyama (Swallows) 10 - Daisuke Sobue (Dragons) Saves 13 - Raidel Martínez (Dragons) 13 - Yasuaki Yamasaki (BayStars) 12 - Kazuto Taguchi (Swallows) 11 - Taisei Ota (Giants) 9 - Suguru Iwazaki (Tigers)
BATTING Average .338 - Yuma Tongu (Buffaloes) .316 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .307 - Akira Nakamura (Hawks) .288 - Tomoya Mori (Buffaloes) .285 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) On-Base Percentage .429 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .408 - Yuma Tongu (Buffaloes) .378 - Tomoya Mori (Buffaloes) .370 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .369 - Akira Nakamura (Hawks) OPS .954 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .912 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) .881 - Tomoya Mori (Buffaloes) .832 - Yuma Tongu (Buffaloes) .804 - Shuta Tonosaki (Lions) Home Runs 11 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) 10 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) 9 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) 9 - Yutaro Sugimoto (Buffaloes) 8 - 2 players tied RBIs 32 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) 32 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) 29 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) 26 - 3 players tied AVG with RISP .395 - Tomoya Mori (Buffaloes) .388 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .344 - Hisanori Yasuda (Marines) .333 - Keita Nakagawa (Buffaloes) .325 - Yuma Tongu (Buffaloes) Stolen Bases 15 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) 12 - Shuta Tonosaki (Lions) 11 - Hiroto Kobukata (Eagles) 11 - Tsuyoshi Yamasaki (Eagles) 10 - Ryota Isobata (Fighters) PITCHING ERA 1.68 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 1.93 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 2.21 - Tomohisa Ohzeki (Hawks) 2.25 - Takayuki Kato (Fighters) 2.50 - Kazuya Ojima (Marines) WHIP 0.82 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 0.99 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 1.01 - Takayuki Kato (Fighters) 1.03 - Tomohisa Ohzeki (Hawks) 1.04 - Kazuya Ojima (Marines) Innings pitched 72.0 - Takayuki Kato (Fighters) 70.0 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 61.0 - Tomohisa Ohzeki (Hawks) 61.0 - Naoyuki Uwasawa (Fighters) 57.2 - Kazuya Ojima (Marines) Strikeouts 69 - Roki Sasaki (Marines) 65 - Atsuki Taneichi (Marines) 61 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 51 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 49 - 3 players tied Wins 6 - Yuji Nishino (Marines) 5 - 6 players tied Holds 19 - Luis Perdomo (Marines) 13 - Yuki Tsumori (Hawks) 11 - Naoki Miyanishi (Fighters) 11 - Soichiro Yamazaki (Buffaloes) 10 - 3 players tied Saves 14 - Naoya Masuda (Marines) 11 - Roberto Osuna (Hawks) 8 - 4 players tied
BATTING Average .524 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) .500 - Gakuto Wakabayashi (Lions) .500 - Norichika Aoki (Swallows) .478 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .476 - Gosuke Katoh (Fighters) .429 - Yūki Okabayashi (Dragons) .421 - Hiroki Fukunaga (Dragons) .417 - Akira Nakamura (Hawks) .417 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .417 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) On-Base Percentage .615 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) .563 - Norichika Aoki (Swallows) .538 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .522 - Gosuke Katoh (Fighters) .517 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) .500 - Gakuto Wakabayashi (Lions) .500 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .481 - Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) .480 - Yuma Tongu (Buffaloes) .458 - Ryoma Nishikawa (Carp) OPS 1.669 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 1.665 - Gosuke Katoh (Fighters) 1.520 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) 1.348 - Norichika Aoki (Swallows) 1.243 - Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) 1.163 - Yūki Okabayashi (Dragons) 1.126 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 1.100 - Gakuto Wakabayashi (Lions) 1.066 - Hiroki Fukunaga (Dragons) 1.048 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) Home Runs 4 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 4 - Gosuke Katoh (Fighters) 2 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) 2 - Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) 2 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) 2 - Koki Yamaguchi (Marines) RBIs 8 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 8 - Tokumasa Chano (Buffaloes) 7 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) 7 - Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) 6 - Gosuke Katoh (Fighters) 6 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) 6 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) 6 - Koki Yamaguchi (Marines) 5 - 3 players tied AVG with RISP 1.000 - Yuhei Nakamura (Swallows) 1.000 - Shogo Sakakura (Carp) 1.000 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) .800 - Tokumasa Chano (Buffaloes) .667 - Takuya Kinoshita (Dragons) .667 - Ryoma Nishikawa (Carp) .571 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .571 - Gakuto Wakabayashi (Lions) .556 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .500 - 10 players tied Stolen Bases 3 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 2 - Gakuto Wakabayashi (Lions) 2 - Ryoma Nishikawa (Carp) 2 - Hiromi Oka (Marines) 2 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) 2 - Kento Watanabe (Lions) 2 - Shuta Tonosaki (Lions) PITCHING ERA - listed in order of # innings pitched 0.00 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) - 9.0 0.00 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) - 9.0 0.00 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) - 8.0 0.00 - Cy Sneed (Swallows) - 7.0 0.00 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) - 7.0 0.00 - Masato Morishita (Carp) - 7.0 0.00 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) - 7.0 0.00 - Kaima Taira (Lions) - 7.0 0.00 - 3 player tied - 6.0 innings WHIP 0.22 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 0.25 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 0.44 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 0.50 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) 0.57 - Cy Sneed (Swallows) 0.57 - Masato Morishita (Carp) 0.57 - Hideaki Wakui (Dragons) 0.67 - Shota Imanaga (BayStars) 0.71 - 6 players tied Innings pitched 9.0 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 9.0 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 9.0 - Shota Imanaga (BayStars) 8.0 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 8.0 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) 8.0 - Trevor Bauer (BayStars) 8.0 - Naoyuki Uwasawa (Fighters) 8.0 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 7.0 - 17 players tied Strikeouts 13 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 12 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 10 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 10 - Roki Sasaki (Marines) 10 - Trevor Bauer (BayStars) 9 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) 9 - Hideaki Wakui (Dragons) 9 - Shota Imanaga (BayStars) 8 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 7 - 8 players tied Wins 1 - 35 players tied Holds 2 - 12 players tied Saves 2- Taisei Ota (Giants) 1 - 12 players tied
Yoshinobu Yamamoto tossed a four-hit gem on Tuesday as the Orix Buffaloes defeated the Yomiuri Giants 2-1 in Osaka. Yamamoto allowed one run with no walks while striking out six over eight innings. The lone run came in the fourth inning when Sho Nakata doubled home Hayato Sakamoto from second with two outs. That cut the Giants deficit to 2-1. The Buffaloes had scored twice in the third inning on Tomoya Mori's two-run bases loaded double off Yuki Takahashi, which turned out to be Takahashi's final pitch of the game. Orix leads the Pacific League, two games ahead of the Lotte Marines.
The SoftBank Hawks also sit two games behind the Buffaloes as they went into the ninth inning of their game against the Yokohama BayStars tied 1-1 and produced a memorable ninth frame. Reliever Liván Moinelo took down the BayStars with an immaculate inning, striking out all three batters he faced on nine total pitches. Taisei Makihara then ended the contest with a two-out double in the last of the ninth scoring Ukyo Shuto from second with the sayonara run. Yokohama ace Shota Imanaga took a tough eight inning no decision after allowing one run on just one hit and two walks on 114 pitches. The lone hit was a home run by Kenta Imamiya in the fourth inning. 【試合速報📣】H-De 9回裏#福岡ソフトバンク「#牧原大成 選手」この試合チーム3本目のヒットは牧原選手のプロ初となるサヨナラタイムリーヒット👏#プロ野球#sbhawks👇LIVE配信はコチラ⚡ ⚾https://t.co/H2HxgVVGL0#楽天TV #RakutenTV pic.twitter.com/gNthyZ1Mwf— パ・リーグ Special【RakutenTV公式】 (@Rakuten_Pacific) June 6, 2023 A rare instance of an Interleague game taking place at a 'countryside' ballpark occurred at Omiya Park in Saitama where the Chunichi Dragons picked up a 2-1 win over the hometown Seibu Lions.
Adam Walker went 5-for-5 including a solo home run to lead the Yomiuri Giants to a 10-0 destruction of the Pacific League-leading Orix Buffaloes. Walker's night began with a triple into the right-centerfield gap in the second inning and he would eventually cross the plate for the first of his three runs he scored. Takumi Ohshiro also drove in three runs with his eighth home run of the year. Yomiuri starter Shosei Togo struck out five batters over seven shutout innings to become the first pitcher in 2023 to reach seven wins. The game was quite a learning experience for Ryuhei Sotani, the southpaw rookie who can throw into the mid 90s and was drafted in the first round by the Buffaloes last October. After six starts on the farm and three relief appearances with the first team, the 22 year old made his NPB starting debut on Wednesday and went 4-2/3 innings allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits and one walk. He also registered three strikeouts.
均衡を破る先制打❗️#坂倉将吾 逆方向に運んだソロホームラン🔥【限定価格】今なら月額550円でパ主催の交流戦も見放題。https://t.co/jbKrqpGpKR#carp #セ・パ交流戦 #ベースボールLIVE #パリーグ pic.twitter.com/E5qQCfgWKV— ベースボールLIVE (@baseballlive_JP) June 7, 2023 Shogo Sakakura hit a solo home run in the fifth inning to open the scoring in the game between the Hiroshima Carp and Nippon-Ham Fighters. It would turn out to be the only run of a game that saw stellar outings from both starting pitchers. Hiroshima's Aren Kuri continued his brilliant season with seven shutout innings to lower his ERA to a Central League-leading 1.83, allowing just two hits and two walks while recording seven strikeouts. The Fighters' Takayuki Katoh had just as strong a performance allowing only three hits and one walk over eight innings. But the costly bomb from Sakakura would dampen his night and evened his record for the year at 4-4. The night's schedule literally saw pinch hitter Shinya Hasegawa end the night with a ninth inning Sayonara home run to give the Seibu Lions a 2-1 win over the Chunichi Dragons at the Bulluna Dome in Saitama. 幕切れは劇的に！#長谷川信哉 サヨナラホームラン🔥🔥🔥【限定価格】今なら月額550円でパ主催の交流戦も見放題。https://t.co/jbKrqpGpKR#seibulions #セ・パ交流戦 #ベースボールLIVE #パリーグ pic.twitter.com/UXG7zkG35o— ベースボールLIVE (@baseballlive_JP) June 7, 2023
A two-out three-run home run by Hiroto Kobukata in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Rakuten Golden Eagles a thrilling 6-4 Sayonara victory over the Hanshin Tigers Thursday night in Sendai. Kobukata's game winner off Hanshin closer Atsuki Yuasa brought tears of relief to right fielder Yuya Ogoh, whose dropped fly error in the eighth inning led to a three-run rally which put the Tigers up 4-3. Although he failed to pick up the win, 32 year old southpaw veteran Wataru Karashima had a quality start in his first appearance of 2023 allowing one unearned run and fanning seven batters over 6-2/3 innings.
A throwing error by third baseman Munetaka Murakami off a sacrifice bunt allowed Raito Ikeda to score what would ultimately be the game-winning run in the Lotte Marines 3-2 win over the Yakult Swallows. Murakami would slug a two-run homer in the ninth to cut the deficit to one, but the Swallows struggled to get runners into scoring position throughout the night. Dominican Luis Castillo, making his first NPB start following three relief appearances, picked up his first win of the year striking out seven batters in six-plus innings of work. Yomiuri Giants outfielder Yoshihiro Maru did not start against the Orix Buffaloes on Thursday but made the biggest impact on the night, connecting on a pinch-hit grand slam in the tenth inning to break open a scoreless game en route to a 6-0 win for the Kyojin at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka. オリックス #本田仁海 投手が巨人 #丸佳浩 選手にバックスクリーン直撃の満塁ホームランを許してしまう…#Bs2023 #giants 👇ライブ配信はこちらhttps://t.co/aNRJI3v7fM pic.twitter.com/XDbsX8B1lR— パ・リーグ.com / パーソル パ・リーグTV【公式】 (@PacificleagueTV) June 8, 2023
Since the Pacific League is hosting all Interleague games this weekend, all 6 broadcasts will be available to watch LIVE on FTF Sports via Dingo TV. (U.S. only) https://watchdingo.com/watch/meta/dingo-tv-baseball-game-5_120331 Streams have no commentary (only stadium sounds). First pitch is scheduled for 18:00 Japan Friday morning, 5:00am Eastern / 2:00am Pacific What makes this matchup particularly interesting apart from it being a 20-year-old up-and-coming superstar against a YouTuber (I mean former Cy Young Winner) is that they both have a fairly similar pitching styles but have had vastly different results this season. pic.twitter.com/p0LfM2kCsO— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) June 8, 2023 Both pitchers go against traditional NPB pitching wisdom by pounding the top of the zone a lot but while Yamashita has only allowed one home run all year, Bauer is yet to have a homer-free start.— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) June 8, 2023