The Orix Buffaloes scored six runs in the seventh inning to defeat the Lotte Marines 6-2 to cement the Pacific League pennant for the third consecutive year. The Buffaloes' three-peat is the first one in NPB since the Seibu Lions collected 5 straight Pacific League crowns from 1990-1994. After taking over the team in 2021, Satoshi Nakajima became the second manager to win 3 consecutive pennants in his first three seasons as manager. (Masaaki Mori, Seibu Lions 1986-1988) Marines reliever Rikuto Yokoyama began the seventh by retiring the first two batters he faced before Orix went on the rampage: A hit batsman (and stolen base), an RBI single (and stolen base), a walk, two RBI singles, a two-RBI triple, and an RBI single flipped a 2-0 deficit into a four run lead that led to victory. During the post-game celebrations, current Boston Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida sent a message of congratulations to his former team. Boston Red Sox 吉田正尚選手より、リーグ3連覇のお祝いメッセージ動画が届きました！#全員で優勝 #全員にありがとう #吉田正尚 #Bs2023 #プロ野球 #NPB #ORIX pic.twitter.com/lKZ4qjdxzt— オリックス・バファローズ (@Orix_Buffaloes) September 20, 2023
The Rakuten Eagles pulled to within half-a-game of the third place SoftBank Hawks following their 6-1 victory to sweep the two game series. In the Central League, quite a battle for second place has emerged after the Yokohama BayStars defeated the Hiroshima Carp 3-1 to close the gap to just one game.
The SoftBank Hawks shook off their disastrous trip to Sendai and returned home to beat the Chiba Lotte Marines 4-2 as the fight for the final two spots for the Pacific League post-season heats up. Gregory Polanco gave Lotte the early lead with a solo home run in the first inning, his 25th of the year. But the Hawks stormed back to produce four runs in the bottom of the first punctuated by Kensuke Kondoh's mammoth three-run shot high into the right field bleachers for his 23rd homer of the year. The Marines scored a second run in the third inning on Yudai Fujioka's double to centerfield that scored Takashi Ogino from second base but the visitors could get no closer to leveling the score. Kohei Arihara, who played with the Texas Rangers the past two seasons, went seven innings to pick up his ninth win of the year. The win moves the Hawks to within one game of the Marines for second place in the standings. This is crucial because while both the second and third place teams will play each other in the first phase of the Climax Series, the second place team will get to host every game in the best-of-three series.
Kento Watanabe connected on a solo blast to open the scoring and David MacKinnon added two more bombs to lead the Seibu Lions to a 7-2 win over the Rakuten Eagles. Tatsuya Imai struck out eight over eight innings to earn his 10th win of the campaign. The defeat pushes the Eagles to a game-and-a-half back of the Hawks in their hopes of finishing in third place in the P.L. table. Hideto Asamura homered for Rakuten, number 25 for the Eagles' cleanup hitter. A wild game at Meiji Jingu saw the Chunichi Dragons score six runs in the sixth inning en route to a 9-7 win over the Yakult Swallows despite the Swallows outhitting the Dragons 17-8. https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/game/2021013479/video/player/11179202
Friday 22 September Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2023-09-22 Swallows vs Tigers was postponed (rain) BayStars 0-1 Dragons was called in the 3rd inning (rain)
Takayuki Kishi allowed just three hits with no walks over eight innings as the Rakuten Eagles gained a big 4-1 win over the Nippon-Ham Fighters at Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi. The victory, combined with losses for the SoftBank Hawks and Lotte Marines, allowed the Golden Eagles to pick up a full game on both teams as positioning for second and third place in the Pacific League has turned into a classic dog fight. A sixth inning home run by Chusei Mannami - his 24th homer of the year - was the only blemish of Kishi's performance that saw him pick up his sixth win of the season. Yuki Matsui allowed two base runners in the ninth but was able to earn his 37th save.
Shota Suekane homered twice, Shota Dobayashi connected for his 12th blast of the year and Shogo Akiyama hit his first home run since May 31 to help lead the Hiroshima Carp to a key 7-3 win over the Yomiuri Giants at the Tokyo Dome. The win, coupled with the Yokohama BayStars losing at home to the Chunichi Dragons, gives the Carp a two-game lead as they look to hold on to second place in the Central League. The Giants continue to trail the BayStars by three games in their fight for third place.
20 dingers on the year for Seiya Suzuki! pic.twitter.com/ENrYayn9s0— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 22, 2023 Seiya Suzuki on if he still follows the Hiroshima Carp“I can’t watch all the games but I always see the highlights. Many players have grown a lot since I left and they’re playing good Carp baseball. There’s a strong atmosphere around the team again.”https://t.co/FIqAe6WWh1— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) September 23, 2023
Hayato Sakamoto went 3-for-5 including two home runs for five RBIs while Shosei Togo hurled a complete game shutout as the Yomiuri Giants blanked the Yokohama BayStars 6-0 in a pivotal game in the Central League. The 34 year old Sakamoto, considered by many as the greatest Japanese shortstop to have ever played the game but has recently moved to the hot corner, knocked a two-run home run in the fifth inning off Yokohama's ace pitcher Shota Imanaga to extend their 1-0 lead from the fourth inning to 3-0. It was a milestone for Sakamoto who picked up his 1000th career RBI with the homer, the 49th player in NPB history to reach the mark. The Kyojin third baseman added another home run in the ninth, a three-run blast into the centerfield bleachers, to complete the scoring. It was Sakamoto's 22nd homer of the year and his third hit of the game. Following his three-hit performance from Friday night, the 17-year veteran now has 184 career modashos, fourth most in professional Japanese baseball history. ALL-TIME MODASHO LEADERS 251 - Isao Harimoto (1959-1981) 194 - Tetsuharu Kawakami (1938-1958) 186 - Shigeo Nagashima (1958-1974) 184 - Hayato Sakamoto (2007-present) For his part, Togo allowed six hits with no walks while fanning seven batters in a 113-pitch outing for his 12th win of the season. The victory moves the fourth place Giants just two games behind the BayStars in the race to gain the third and final playoff spot in the Central League.
Roki Sasaki was a late scratch for his scheduled start due to a fever and was replaced by Rikuto Yokoyama, who lasted just one inning as the SoftBank Hawks put up five runs (four earned) on six hits and a walk in the opening frame and were able to hold on for a tense 7-6 win over the Lotte Marines at ZOZO Marines Stadium in Chiba. The result puts the two teams level on winning percentage in second place in the Pacific League with their 25th and final head-to-head regular season meeting scheduled for Monday. The Marines continue to hold second place over the Hawks based on head-to-head, which Lotte currently lead 12-11-1. Hot on the heels of the Marines and Hawks are the Rakuten Eagles, who scored a dramatic 3-1 victory over the Nippon-Ham Fighters on Hiroaki Shimauchi's ninth inning 2-run Sayonara home run. The Fighters took the lead in third inning when Ryohei Hosokawa's double to right field scored Chusei Mannami from first base. But that was only one of the three hits Nippon-Ham managed get off rookie Eagles starter Kosei Shoji who pitched seven innings and gave up just one walk. The Eagles tied it 1-1 in the seventh inning on Hideto Asamura's RBI double that scored Hiroto Kobukata from second base to set up the ninth inning finish. The club from the Tōhoku region are just one game behind both the Marines and Hawks and still have to play both teams four times total - 3 vs SoftBank and 1 vs Lotte - as the regular season enters its final two weeks of play. An exciting finish appears to be in store.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs Seibu Lions 7 shutout innings 3 hits allowed 0 walks 10 strikeouts 15 wins on the year 1.26 ERA MLB beckons
BATTING Average .330 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .296 - Hayato Sakamoto (Giants) .294 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .293 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) .291 - Yohei Ohshima (Dragons) On-Base Percentage .404 - Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) .398 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .3819 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .3816 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .378 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) OPS .989 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .951 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .907 - Hayato Sakamoto (Giants) .898 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .873 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) Home Runs 41 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 31 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) 29 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) 23 - Jose Osuna (Swallows) 22 - 2 players tied RBIs 102 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) 93 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 85 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) 83 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) 73 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) AVG with RISP .375 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) .366 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) .358 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .321 - Seiya Kinami (Tigers) .312 - Shogo Akiyama (Carp) Stolen Bases 27 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 19 - Takumu Nakano (Tigers) 15 - Hidetaka Namiki (Swallows) 14 - Ryutaro Hatsuki (Carp) 11 - 2 players tied PITCHING ERA 1.68 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) 2.13 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 2.21 - Hiroki Tokoda (Carp) 2.36 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 2.39 - Masashi Itoh (Tigers) WHIP 0.73 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) 0.959 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 0.961 - Masashi Itoh (Tigers) 1.04 - Shota Imanaga (BayStars) 1.085 - Shosei Togo (Giants) Innings pitched 167.1 - Aren Kuri (Carp) 163.0 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 158.1 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) 156.1 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 155.0 - Shinnosuke Ogasawara (Dragons) Strikeouts 170 - Shota Imanaga (BayStars) 143 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 134 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) 134 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 130 - Trevor Bauer (BayStars) Wins 15 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 12 - Kotaro Ohtake (Tigers) 12 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 10 - 5 players tied Holds 38 - Sotaro Shimauchi (Carp) 37 - Noboru Shimizu (Swallows) 32 - J. B. Wendelken (BayStars) 31 - Hiromu Ise (BayStars) 25 - Tatsuya Shimizu (Dragons) Saves 33 - Suguru Iwazaki (Tigers) 33 - Kazuto Taguchi (Swallows) 32 - Raidel Martínez (Dragons) 24 - Takuya Yasaki (Carp) 20 - Yasuaki Yamasaki (BayStars)
BATTING Average .307 - Yuma Tongu (Buffaloes) .300 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .298 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .281 - Akira Nakamura (Hawks) .275 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) On-Base Percentage .424 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .381 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .378 - Yuma Tongu (Buffaloes) .364 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) .357 - Akira Nakamura (Hawks) OPS .940 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .865 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .862 - Yuma Tongu (Buffaloes) .829 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) .799 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) Home Runs 25 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) 25 - Gregory Polanco (Marines) 24 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) 23 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 20 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) RBIs 82 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 79 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) 73 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) 71 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) 70 - Gregory Polanco (Marines) AVG with RISP .379 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .353 - Ariel Martínez (Fighters) .336 - Keita Nakagawa (Buffaloes) .320 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .303 - Kenta Imamiya (Hawks) Stolen Bases 33 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) 32 - Hiroto Kobukata (Eagles) 24 - Shuta Tonosaki (Lions) 18 - Koshiro Wada (Marines) 17 - Ryota Isobata (Fighters) PITCHING ERA 1.26 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 2.21 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 2.25 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 2.35 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 2.65 - Takahiro Norimoto (Eagles) WHIP 0.89 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 0.95 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 1.09 - Takayuki Kato (Fighters) 1.10 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 1.12 - Kaima Taira (Lions) Innings pitched 164.0 - Naoyuki Uwasawa (Fighters) 163.1 - Takayuki Kato (Fighters) 157.0 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 155.0 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 145.0 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) Strikeouts 158 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 153 - Atsuki Taneichi (Marines) 147 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 135 - Roki Sasaki (Marines) 129 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) Wins 15 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 11 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 10 - 4 players tied Holds 39 - Luis Perdomo (Marines) 27 - Soichiro Yamazaki (Buffaloes) 26 - Katsunori Hirai (Lions) 24 - Takahide Ikeda (Fighters) 23 - Yuki Matsumoto (Hawks) Saves 37 - Yuki Matsui (Eagles) 35 - Naoya Masuda (Marines) 27 - Yoshihisa Hirano (Buffaloes) 24 - Roberto Osuna (Hawks) 24 - Seigi Tanaka (Fighters)
After settling in third place for well over two months the SoftBank Hawks had a statement performance Monday night with an emphatic 10-1 victory over the Lotte Marines to take over second place in the Pacific League standings. Kensuke Kondoh led the Hawks attack going 2-for-2 with a walk and a home run while 42 year old Tsuyoshi Wada struck out eight batters over five innings to earn the win. Now in the midst of a six-game losing streak, it was a hard loss for the Marines not just on the scoreboard but in the standings as well following the news of what was taking place at Es Con Field Hokkaido. The Rakuten Eagles broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth inning by exploding for eight runs to defeat the Nippon-Ham Fighters 9-1 and take over third place by a slim .0002 winning percentage over the Lotte Marines who drop from second to fourth place in the P.L. standings. Hiroto Kobukata (double) and Daichi Suzuki (triple) delivered extra-base hits with the bases loaded to key the ninth inning rally that produced six hits, two walks and a hit batsmen from the 12 batters Rakuten sent to the plate. Although he didn't figure into the decision the still-popular 34 year old Masahiro Tanaka reach into the time machine and delivered a vintage performance allowing just three hits with seven strikeouts over seven strong innings. The job is far from over but for the Eagles, who trailed the Marines by 9-1/2 games just before the All-Star break, it's been an incredible two-month ride.
The Yokohama BayStars took a major step towards the post-season with a 1-0 win over the Yomiuri Giants. A two-out double from Takuma Hayashi scored Toshiro Miyazaki in the second inning for the only run of the game. The result clinched a playoff berth for the second place Hiroshima Carp, but for the Giants the task is now a difficult one as they trail the BayStars for the third and final Central League post-season spot by three games. Yomiuri have five games remaining in their regular season while the BayStars have six.