BATTING *To qualify: 3.1 plate appearances per the number of games played by that player's club Average .315 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .310 - Tyler Austin (BayStars) .291 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) .290 - Shogo Akiyama (Carp) .289 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) On-Base Percentage .400 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .380 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .375 - Tyler Austin (BayStars) .372 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .367 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) OPS .971 - Tyler Austin (BayStars) .894 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .856 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .848 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .845 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) Home Runs 32 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) 26 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 24 - Tyler Austin (BayStars) 23 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) 21 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) RBIs 83 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) 78 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 71 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) 70 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) 70 - Jose Osuna (Swallows) AVG with RISP .395 - Tyler Austin (BayStars) .361 - Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) .352 - Kaito Kozono (Carp) .344 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) .336 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) ]Stolen Bases 18 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 12 - Kouki Kajiwara (BayStars) 12 - Kaito Kozono (Carp) 12 - Ryutaro Hatsuki (Carp) 11 - Naoki Yoshikawa (Giants) 11 - Masaya Yano (Carp) PITCHING *To qualify: Minimum innings equal to the number of games played by that pitcher's club ERA 1.28 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 1.61 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 1.70 - Tomoyuki Sugano (Giants) 1.86 - Daichi Ohsera (Carp) 1.98 - Shosei Togo (Giants) WHIP 0.93 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 0.955 - Tomoyuki Sugano (Giants) 0.959 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 1.045 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 1.050 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) Innings pitched 178.0 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 173.0 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 161.2 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 160.0 - Hiroki Tokoda (Carp) 149.1 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) Strikeouts 152 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 134 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 133 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 128 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 127 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) Wins 14 - Tomoyuki Sugano (Giants) 13 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 13 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 12 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 12 - Shosei Togo (Giants) Holds 35 - Shinya Matsuyama (Dragons) 38 - Takuma Kirishiki (Tigers) 33 - Tatsuya Shimizu (Dragons) 27 - Javy Guerra (Tigers) 29 - Daichi Ishii (Tigers) Saves 42 - Raidel Martínez (Dragons) 38 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 27 - Taisei Ota (Giants) 26 - Kohei Morihara (BayStars) 23 - Suguru Iwazaki (Tigers)
BATTING *To qualify: 3.1 plate appearances per the number of games played by that player's club Average .314 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .293 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .283 - Toshiya Satoh (Marines) .279 - Tomoya Mori (Buffaloes) .275 - Neftalí Soto (Marines) On-Base Percentage .439 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .363 - Tomoya Mori (Buffaloes) .351 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .349 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) .342 - Yuya Ogo (Eagles) OPS .960 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .815 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) .797 - Neftalí Soto (Marines) .787 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) .785 - Gregory Polanco (Marines) Home Runs 32 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) 23 - Franmil Reyes (Fighters) 22 - Gregory Polanco (Marines) 21 - Neftalí Soto (Marines) 19 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) RBIs 94 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) 87 - Neftalí Soto (Marines) 79 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) 72 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 62 - Franmil Reyes (Fighters) AVG with RISP .326 - Neftalí Soto (Marines) .324 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .320 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .300 - Ryoma Nishikawa (Buffaloes) .296 - Tomoya Mori (Buffaloes) Stolen Bases 41 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) 30 - Yuya Ogo (Eagles) 28 - Hiroto Kobukata (Eagles) 20 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) 19 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) PITCHING *To qualify: Minimum innings equal to the number of games played by that pitcher's club ERA 1.94 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 2.29 - Natsuki Takeuchi (Lions) 2.37 - Takahisa Hayakawa (Eagles) 2.42 - Kohei Arihara (Hawks) 2.46 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) WHIP 0.95 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 0.99 - Natsuki Takeuchi (Lions) 1.00 - Kohei Arihara (Hawks) 1.07 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 1.09 - Takahisa Hayakawa (Eagles) Innings pitched 167.2 - Kohei Arihara (Hawks) 164.1 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) 163.1 - Chihiro Sumida (Lions) 160.1 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 159.2 - Takayuki Kato (Fighters) Strikeouts 180 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) 151 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 150 - Takahisa Hayakawa (Eagles) 145 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 142 - Atsuki Taneichi (Marines) Wins 13 - Kohei Arihara (Hawks) 13 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 11 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 11 - Takahisa Hayakawa (Eagles) 11 - Kazuya Ojima (Marines) Holds 32 - Ryusei Kawano (Fighters) 25 - Shota Suzuki (Marines) 25 - Tomohito Sakai (Eagles) 23 - Seiryu Kotajima (Buffaloes) 23 - Yuki Matsumoto (Hawks) Saves 31 - Takahiro Norimoto (Eagles) 27 - Albert Abreu (Lions) 23 - Andrés Machado (Buffaloes) 23 - Naoya Masuda (Marines) 20 - Roberto Osuna (Hawks)
Keita Sano's high chopping fielder's choice grounder to second base in the 3rd inning allowed Kouki Kajiwara to score what would be the only run of the game to give the DeNA BayStars a crucial 1-0 victory over the Yomiuri Giants at Hamasta. The win coupled with the Hiroshima Carp's 3-1 defeat to the Yakult Swallows places the BayStars a game-and-a-half in front in the fight for 3rd place and the final playoff spot. And with the Hanshin Tigers idle on Wednesday the defeat keeps Yomiuri's Central League magic number at 4. American pitcher Andre Jackson hurled 6 solid innings allowing just two hits and one walk to even his record at 7-7. Tyler Austin went 3-for-4 with a single, double and triple raising his batting average to .315 Giants ace Shosei Togo also had a strong outing allowing just the one earned run over 7 frames to lower his ERA to 1.95 The race for third place in the Pacific League got tighter after Yuma Yasuda's three-run home run gave the Rakuten Eagles a 3-1 win over the Nippon-Ham Fighters at Es Con Field Hokkaido. The Eagles now trail the Lotte Marines by just one game as the two teams battle for that final post-season berth. Yuya Gunji supplied the Fighters only run with his 12th bomb of the year. With relief pitcher Yohei Kagiya having announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season, Fighters manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo gave Kagiya just his third career start (his first two were in his 2013 rookie season) and then pulled him with two outs so that he could be thanked by the fans. Drafted at 22 years of age in the third round of the 2012 NPB Draft, Yohei Kagiya was taken two rounds after the Fighters had made the risky first round selection of 18 year old Shohei Ohtani. The move was risky because Ohtani had previously announced his intentions to skip NPB and sign with MLB. But after manager Hideki Kuriyama promised Ohtani that he would continue as a two-way player (something MLB clubs were unwilling to do) Ohtani was convinced to sign with the Fighters. After a short spell with the ni-gun farm team, both Kagiya and Ohtani were quickly promoted to the ichi-gun where the two were mainstays of the Fighters pitching staff from 2013 until Ohtani's departure to MLB following the 2017 season, having helped the Fighters win the 2016 Nippon Series along the way.. Following Wednesday's game against the Eagles Kagiya received a retirement ceremony. The video tribute played for Kagiya ended with a surprise message from Ohtani: "I think that by the time you watch this video, you'll be so overwhelmed you won't be able to look ahead. If that's not the case, I'll be a little sad. (laughs) I joined the team at the same time as Kagiya, and seeing him continue to play for a long time while others retired, I wanted to work hard and we worked hard together. I'm a little sad to hear that he's retiring, but at the same time it makes me want to work even harder. I will continue to be a fan of yours." Kagiya: "I was surprised! No one said anything about it but I'm glad he sent me a message from America during his difficult time of trying to win a championship."
Hotaka Yamakawa hit his NPB-leading 33rd home run of the season as the SoftBank Hawks defeated the Seibu Lions 2-0 in their homecoming since winning the Pacific League. Colombian infielder Jeter Downs, who signed with the Hawks on 30 July and had a strong showing with the farm team, made his NPB debut at second base and achieved his first hit in the 7th inning. Seibu starter Chihiro Sumida put in another good outing striking out eight batters over 7 quality innings. But it was SoftBank's pitching that took the headlines. Carter Stewart began by going 5 innings allowing just two walks. Relievers Tsuyoshi Wada (6th inning), Katsuki Matayoshi (7th) and Kazuki Sugiyama (8th) also gave up a combined two walks but kept the Lions hitless throughout although a brilliant diving catch by Ukyo Shuto saved the bid to end the 8th. This paved the way for closer Roberto Osuna to try and complete the combined no hit-no run attempt, but with two outs Daiju Nomura drove a deep fly ball to centerfield that rebounded high off the padded fence despite a valiant effort by Shuto that resulted in Nomura sliding into third base with a triple. After the game the Hawks were presented with the 2024 Pacific League champions pennant in front of their supporters at the Mizuho Pay Pay Dome.
Criticized for seemingly not taking things seriously when he was named manager of the Nippon-Ham Fighters before the 2022 season, Tsuyoshi Shinjo has proven to be the right man for the job after guiding the team to its first post-season appearance since 2018 following the Fighters' 2-1 victory over the Rakuten Eagles at Es Con Field. Kotaro Kiyomiya, highly rated after setting the high school home run record in 2016, was considered a bust who would never reach his potential before Shinjo arrived. But the artist formerly known as 'Big Boss' fostered a positive culture, gave every player a chance to earn playing time, cemented a young core and provided a new identity for the team. He understood the task and treated it as a full rebuild from day one. With his crazy stunts, he put the spotlight on himself and off the many inexperienced players trying to find their feet. Now that the players have blossomed he’s letting them shine. Kiyomiya's home run in the 6th inning on Thursday was his 13th of the year and was the game winning hit. Franmil Reyes provided the first run with his 24th blast of the year, a line drive that quickly landed in the visitor's bullpen. On the mound Hiromi Itoh delivered his third consecutive complete game - his fifth of the season although this was the first where he allowed a run - to up his record to 14-4. Yukinori Kishida went 3-for-5 with three RBIs to help lead the Yomiuri Giants to a 12-4 dismantling of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. The victory reduced the Kyojin's Central League magic number to 3. Rui Okoye also had a three-hit modasho as did Kazuma Okamoto, who hit his 27th home run of the campaign.
Friday 27 September Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-09-27 Carp-Tigers went 12 innings
Four hits and a walk broke a scoreless deadlock in the 6th inning and led to a 3-1 win for the Yomiuri Giants over the Chunichi Dragons at the Tokyo Dome. An RBI single from Kazuma Okamoto brought home the first run and Shogo Asano drew a bases loaded walk to provide the necessary runs to bring the Giants a step closer to capturing the Central League pennant. Haruto Inoue fanned 9 batters in his 5 shutout innings of work though he did not figure into the decision. Yomiuri's magic number dropped to 1 when Shota Suekane line drive into the right-centerfield alley scored Takayoshi Noma from second base to give the Hiroshima Carp a 12 inning sayonara win over the second place Hanshin Tigers at Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium. The win moves the Carp to a game behind the Yokohama BayStars in their race for third place in the CL.
In their historic 90th anniversary season the Yomiuri Giants, Japan's oldest professional baseball club, won their 39th Central League pennant, their first since 2020, after beating the Hiroshima Carp 8-1 on Saturday. Tomoyuki Sugano continued his incredible comeback season by going 8 innings allowing just one earned run to pick up his 15th win of the year. Team captain Kazuma Okamoto delivered at the plate going 4-for-5 including three doubles with three RBIs. Yomiuri skipper Shinnosuke Abe is the sixth manager in club history to win the CL title in his first season in charge. By finishing first place in the standings the Kyojin will receive a bye directly to the Final Phase of the PL Climax Series where they start with a one game advantage and host all six games at the Tokyo Dome.
Yoshida Kosei threw 5 innings and Ryo Ohta hit his sixth home run of the year as the Orix Buffaloes defeated the Rakuten Eagles 5-2 in Sendai. The game marked the return of Rakuten's legendary pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, out of action since undergoing right elbow cleaning surgery in October of last year. The former New York Yankee who turns 36 in November was able to go 5 innings allowing four earned runs on six hits and two walks over 93 pitches. In the 8th inning Orix reliever Yoshida Kosei, who was making his 50th appearance this season, had to leave the game after hitting Hideto Asamura with just his seventh pitch of the game, complaining of discomfort in his right elbow. Ariel Martinez's single to right field scored Ryōhei Hosokawa to complete a two-run 9th inning 7-6 comeback victory for the Nippon-Ham Fighters over the SoftBank Hawks. The win confirms the Fighters as finishing in second place in the Pacific League meaning Es Con Field Hokkaido will host the best-of-three Climax Series First Phase against either the Lotte Marines or Rakuten Eagles.
The Hanshin Tigers scored five runs in the 7th inning to gain a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over the Yokohama DeNA BayStars on Sunday. The win confirmed the Tigers will finish in second place in the Central League standings, assuring that they will host the First Phase of the CL Climax Series at Koshien Stadium against either the BayStars or Hiroshima Carp. Teruaki Sato capped the big rally with a two-out two-run triple into the left field corner for the game winning hit. Kazuya Ojima picked up his 12th win of the year after pitching 7 shutout innings as the Lotte Marines defeated the Seibu Lions 2-0 in Saitama. Hiromi Oka and Yūdai Fujioka drove in the two runs to give the Marines the important win and giving them a three-game cushion over the Rakuten Eagles in the race for the final Pacific League post-season slot. The Marines travel to Sendai for a crucial two-game series against the Eagles on Monday and Tuesday.
A two-run home run from Toshiro Miyazaki in the 6th inning was enough to give the Yokohama DeNA BayStars a 2-0 blanking of the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien. It was Miyazaki's 14th bomb of the year and puts the BayStars closer to earning post-season play. Yokohama pitchers Teruki Yoshino (6 innings), Hiromi Ise and Chihaya Sasaki had combined to keep the Tigers hitless through 8 innings, but Koji Chikamoto led off the 9th with a clean single to left field off Kohei Morihara to break up the no-no. The win extended DeNA's lead ahead of the Hiroshima Carp to a-game-and-a-half as the two foes set to meet head on in Yokohama on Tuesday in their fight to reach the playoffs. A single to centerfield by Toshiya Satō drove in Kōshirō Wada in the top of the 9th inning to give the Lotte Marines a big 2-1 victory over the Rakuten Eagles in a crucial game for both teams. The two teams play each other again on Tuesday, and a win by the Marines will cement their spot in the Climax Series First Phase. Natsuki Takeuchi capped off an excellent rookie campaign with 8 scoreless innings of three-hit ball in the Seibu Lions 8-0 thrashing of the Nippon-Ham Fighters. Takeuchi is expected to win the Pacific League Rookie of the Year award.
R.I.P. Pete Rose. The Cincinnati Reds tour of Japan in 1978 was the last time Rose donned the Reds uniform strictly as a player until his return to the club as player/manager in 1984. (The tour also was the last time Sparky Anderson managed the Reds) (L-R): George Foster, Sadaharu Oh, Pete Rose, Isao Harimoto, Johnny Bench in 1978.
Roki Sasaki tossed his first complete game since 2022 as the Chiba Lotte Marines clinched the final playoff spot in the Pacific League with a comfortable 5-1 victory over the Rakuten Eagles in Sendai. Sasaki allowed just one earned one on five hits with no walks and stuck out 10 batters. The Eagles are just the 5th team since Interleague play began in 2005 to fail to make the post-season after having won the Interleague series earlier in the season. The Marines will play the Nippon-Ham Fighters in the best-of-3 First Phase of the PL Climax Series beginning on Saturday 12 October. The Yokohama DeNA BayStars took a major step to qualify for the Central League post season by defeating the fourth place Hiroshima Carp 3-1 at Hamasta. Masayuki Kuwahara delivered the key hit with a two-RBI double that flipped a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead in the 4th inning. Yasutaka Tobashira followed with an RBI single to complete the three-run rally for the BayStars. Starting pitcher Andre Jackson recorded 10 strikeouts over 7 innings to up his record to 8-7 on the year. Top of the CL standings at the start of September, the Carp have had a horrible month going just 5-20 and are now on the verge of not even making the post-season as they now trail third place Yokohama by three games. The BayStars have five games remaining on their regular season schedule while Hiroshima have three to play.
Wednesday's game between the Yakult Swallows and Hiroshima Carp was dubbed as the retirement game for 42 year old Norichika Aoki who had announced last month that he would retire after this season. Batting leadoff and ultimately playing all three positions in the outfield during the game, Aoki went 2-for-4 including a double in his final at-bat to help the Swallows to a 5-3 win at Meiji Jingu Stadium. Following the game there were tributes from many including a video message from Ichiro Suzuki in a very emotional post-game ceremony. Aoki played 15 total seasons with the Swallows, a run interrupted in 2012 when he crossed the Pacific Ocean and played six seasons for seven different MLB clubs. He returned to the Tokyo club in 2018 where he played out the final seven years of his profession. He retired with a NPB career .313 batting average with 145 home runs and 667 runs batted in. His stint in MLB adds another 33 homers and 219 RBIs to his career totals. Wednesday's result means that the Carp, in the worst collapse in NPB history, can no longer qualify for the post-season. On 1 September Hiroshima were top of the Central League standings looking for their first pennant since 2018. But since then they have gone a horrific 4-22 and are guaranteed to finish in the bottom three of the CL table making them the first team since the three-team Climax Series post-season was established in 2004 to fail to make the playoffs after entering September in first place in their league. 12 of those 22 defeats came in consecutive games on the road from Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium. The monumental collapse of the Carp benefited the Yokohama DeNA BayStars who clinched third place in the CL despite losing to the Yomiuri Giants 4-2 at the Tokyo Dome. This is the third straight season the BayStars have qualified for post-season and they will travel to Koshien Stadium and look to dethrone the reigning NPB champion Hanshin Tigers in the First Phase of the CL Climax Series beginning on 12 October. Tyler Ausin blasted his 25th home run of the year during Wednesday's game while Rui Okoye homered for the Giants.
9 days before they meet in Kitahiroshima in the First Phase of the Pacific League Climax Series, the Nippon-Ham Fighters and Lotte Marines faced off in Chiba with the Fighters blanking the Marines 3-0. Dallas Keuchel made his eighth start for the Marines but was pulled after 2 innings complaining of discomfort in his left hamstring. Manager Masato Yoshii said after the game that Keuchel will be examined tomorrow with his status for thew playoffs unknown for now. Kotaro Kiyomiya hit a two-run home run in the 9th inning for the Fighters, his 14th of the year. There was also a Climax Series preview in the Central League with the Hanshin Tigers defeating the DeNA BayStars 3-1 in Yokohama. Yusuke Ohyama delivered the game winning hit with a bases loaded two-RBI double in the three-run 5th inning Kotaro Ohtake picked up his 11th win after allowing just one hit over 5 shutout innings.