Yuya Ogo lofted a two-run home run in the top of the 9th inning to lead the Rakuten Eagles past the Hanshin Tigers 3-2 at Koshien Stadium on Wednesday. The comeback was completed after the Eagles entered the 8th inning down 2-0. Ryosuke Tatsumi finished off his 3-for-4 night by doubling to open the 8th, moved to third then scored on consecutive fielder's choice grounders by Daichi Suzuki and Toshiki Abe to to reduce the deficit to 2-1. Hiroto Kobukata singled to begin the 9th and two outs later Ogo hit his game-winning homer off Tigers closer Suguru Iwazaki. The win keeps the Eagles on pace with the SoftBank Hawks at the top of the Interleague standings with 6-2 records while the reigning Nippon champion Tigers drop to 1-6 in last place. Shogo Akiyama homered off Hiromi Ito’s first pitch of the game and the Hiroshima Carp never looked back en route to a 6-0 victory over the Nippon-Ham Fighters at Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium.. Ito, suffering his first loss after five wins, struck out eight batters over 7 innings but his throwing error to first after fielding a bunt led to two more runs (unearned) in the 6th. Nippon-Ham were held to five hits and no walks over 8 shutout innings by Masato Morishita who appears to have regained Hiroshima's ace role since his impressive 2020 debut season. The win ended the Carp's five game losing streak while the Fighters loss drops them to third place on winning percentage behind the Lotte Marines in the Pacific League.
Dayan Viciedo hit his first home run of the year to help lead the Chunichi Dragons to a 3-0 shutout win over the SoftNBank Hawks. It was the 5,000th win for the Dragons since the formation of the two-league NPB format, Chunichi becoming the fourth club to reach that mark (Giants, Hawks, Lions) since the inaugural 1950 season. The defeat ended the Hawks five-game winning streak as well as dropped them into second place in the Interleague standings. Ryoma Nishikawa went 3-for-4 with two-RBIs to help lead the Orix Buffaloes to a 3-1 win over the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. Ryo Ota walked, singled and scored the go-ahead run in the 8th inning on Nishikawa double.
Friday 7 June (セ・パ交流戦) Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-06-07 Swallows-Fighters went 11 innings
32 year old right hander Daichi Ohsera tossed the second NPB no hit, no run game this season leading the Hiroshima Carp to a 4-0 win over the Lotte Marines. Ohsera threw 129 pitches, striking out just two batters while walking five. It's the seventh no-no thrown in club history with Ohsera becoming the fifth Carp hurler to achieve the feat joining Yoshiro Sotokoba (who had three no-hitters), Kazuhiro Fujimoto, Shinji Sasaoka and Kenta Maeda who threw the last one in 2012. Ohsera is the 90th pitcher to throw a NPB no-hitter which has now been accomplished 102 times. It's also only the fourth no-hitter in Interleague play. The last was in 2022 by Shota Imanaga (BayStars at Fighters). RBI triples from both Takayoshi Noma (4th inning) and Kaito Kozono (6th) accounted for the Carp's scoring. All 27 outs Chusei Mannami doubled to lead off the 11th inning and ultimately scored the winning run off a wild pitch by Reiji Kozawa to give the Nippon-Ham Fighters a 5-4 win over the Yakult Swallows at Meiji Jingu Stadium. Domingo Santana had tied the game at 4-4 with a solo home run in the bottom of the 9th, his eighth bomb of the year. Shun Mizutani and Ariel Martinez homered for the visitors, both being solo shots in the 1st inning.
The fourth round on Interleague play began on Friday. - Takahisa Hayakawa threw 7 scoreless innings as the Eagles continue to lead the interleague standings. - Pitcher Livan Moinelo got his first career base hit in the Hawks destruction of the BayStars. - Kohei Azuma went 8 strong in shutting down the Giants. - Masashi Itoh pitched 7 innings to lead the Tigers over the Liuons.
The SoftBank Hawks scored two runs in the top of the 9th inning to secure a 5-3 victory over the DeNA BayStars at Yokohama Stadium on Saturday. Carter Stewart Jr. pitched 6 shutout innings to earn his second win of the season. Former BayStar Hiroki Minei, now in his second season with the Hawks, hit a pinch-hit home run in his first appearance of the year. Tyler Austin, fully recovered from injuries that have plagued him the past two seasons, had tied the game with a three-run home run in the 8th. The battle of felines is taking place this weekend at Koshien Stadium and the Hanshin Tigers have taken the first two games following a 4-1 win over the Seibu Lions. Jeremy Beasley went the full 9 innings and came within two outs of completing a shutout performance. He ended up tossing 119 pitches allowing one earned run on four hits and three walks while striking out six. Shota Morishita got the job done offensively for Hanshin going 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
Hiroto Saiki struck out nine batters over 8 shutout innings to lead the Hanshin Tigers to a weekend sweep over the Seibu Lions following their 3-0 win on Sunday afternoon at Koshien. Saiki took a no-hitter into the 8th inning but pinch hitter Kakeru Yamanobe broke up the bid with a one-out triple to right field. Saiki was removed after the inning showing discomfort but still picked up his seventh win on the year while lowering his ERA to 1.19 He walked three batters over 112 pitches. Saiki was made to wait until the bottom of the 7th when Hanshin finally scored to gain the win. Takumu Nakano hit a two-out triple over the head of Lions centerfielder Koichi Okumura scoring two crucial runs, then scored on Ukyo Maegawa's single to right for the insurance third run. Okumura was making his NPB debut after being called up from the Lions' developmental squad, hence his wearing jersey number 132. His new #75 jersey had yet to arrive before the start of the game. Ryoma Nishikawa went 2-for-4 with two RBIs leading the Orix Buffaloes to a 4-1 win over the Yomiuri Giants in the day's only game that saw the Pacific League come out victorious. The three-time defending P.L. champions arrived at the Tokyo Dome on Friday with a rough 21-30 record but leaves after a dominating series that saw the Kyojin score just one run in the three-game set. It's the Buffaloes' fifth straight win on the road which serves notice that they should not be counted out just yet in their quest for a fourth consecutive pennant.
BATTING *3.1 plate appearances per the number of games played by that player's club to quality *Average .488 - Shun Mizutani (Fighters) .415 - Tatsuru Yanagimachi (Hawks) .378 - Yua Tamiya (Fighters) .375 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) .375 - Soichiro Tateoka (Giants) .362 - Yoshihiro Maru (Giants) .357 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .347 - Elier Hernández (Giants) .326 - Ryoma Nishikawa (Buffaloes) .325 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .325 - Hiroki Fukunaga (Dragons) .325 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) *On-Base Percentage .511 - Shun Mizutani (Fighters) .474 - Soichiro Tateoka (Giants) .460 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .460 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .458 - Yuma Tongu (Buffaloes) .455 - Tatsuru Yanagimachi (Hawks) .447 - Takayoshi Noma (Carp) .444 - Yoshihiro Maru (Giants) .410 - Yua Tamiya (Fighters) .471 - Ukyo Maegawa (Tigers) *OPS 1.218 - Shun Mizutani (Fighters) 1.043 - Tyler Austin (BayStars) 1.034 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) 1.008 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .978 - Yua Tamiya (Fighters) .967 - Tatsuru Yanagimachi (Hawks) .944 - Yoshitomo Tsutsugo (BayStars) .910 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .906 - Elier Hernández (Giants) .895 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) Home Runs 3 - Tyler Austin (BayStars) 3 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) 2 - 14 players tied RBIs 11 - Yuya Ogo (Eagles) 9 - Shun Mizutani (Fighters) 9 - Elier Hernández (Giants) 9 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 8 - Tatsuru Yanagimachi (Hawks) 8 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 8 - Tyler Austin (BayStars) 8 - Yuma Tongu (Buffaloes) 7 - 8 players tied AVG with RISP .667 - Shun Mizutani (Fighters) .500 - Soichiro Tateoka (Giants) .500 - Yuya Ogo (Eagles) .500 - Ryoma Nishikawa (Buffaloes) .462 - Yoshihiro Maru (Giants) .462 - Tatsuru Yanagimachi (Hawks) .455 - Naoki Yoshikawa (Giants) .429 - Haruki Nishikawa (Swallows) .429 - Ryusei Ogawa (Marines) .417 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) .417 - Shogo Akiyama (Carp) .417 - Tatsuki Mizuno (Fighters) Stolen Bases 3 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) 3 - Soichiro Tateoka (Giants) 3 - Hiroki Fukunaga (Dragons) 3 - Atsuki Tomosugi (Marines) 2 - 9 players tied PITCHING *Minimum innings equal to the number of games played by that pitcher's club to quality *ERA 0.00 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 17.0 IP 0.00 - Daichi Ohsera (Carp) 16.0 0.00 - Masato Morishita (Carp) 15.0 0.00 - Tomohisa Ohzeki (Hawks) 12.0 0.00 - Kohei Azuma (Buffaloes) 11.1 0.00 - Shōgo Tamamura (Carp) 11.0 0.69 - Aren Kuri (Carp) 0.69 - Takahisa Hayakawa (Eagles) 0.71 - Anthony Kay (BayStars) 0.73 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) *WHIP 0.53 - Kohei Azuma (Buffaloes) 0.58 - Tomohisa Ohzeki (Hawks) 0.59 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 0.60 - Masato Morishita (Carp) 0.67 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 0.69 - Keiji Takahashi (Swallows) 0.71 - Shoma Kanemura (Fighters) 0.73 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 0.77 - Aren Kuri (Carp) 0.79 - Atsuki Taneichi (Marines) Innings pitched 17.0 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 16.0 - Daichi Ohsera (Carp) 15.0 - Masato Morishita (Carp) 15.0 - Jeremy Beasley (Tigers) 15.0 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 15.0 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 14.0 - Cristopher Mercedes (Marines) 14.0 - Atsuki Taneichi (Marines) 14.0 - Hideaki Wakui (Dragons) 14.0 - Takayuki Kato (Fighters) 14.0 - Hiroki Tokoda (Carp) 14.0 - Shoma Kanemura (Fighters) Strikeouts 17 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) 17 - Kojiro Yoshimura (Swallows) 16 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 16 - Atsuki Taneichi (Marines) 16 - Keiji Takahashi (Swallows) 15 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 15 - Shoma Kanemura (Fighters) 14 - Takahisa Hayakawa (Eagles) 13 - Masaru Fujii (Eagles) 13 - Darwinzon Hernández (Hawks) Wins 2 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 2 - Masato Morishita (Carp) 2 - Shōta Watanabe (Eagles) 2 - Masaru Fujii (Eagles) 2 - Haruto Inoue (Giants) 2 - Yuki Matsumoto (Hawks) 1 - 57 players tied Holds 5 - Tatsuya Shimizu (Dragons) 5 - Hitomi Honda (Buffaloes) 4 - Seiryu Kotajima (Buffaloes) 4 - Shinya Matsuyama (Dragons) 4 - Tomohito Sakai (Eagles) 4 - Takuma Kirishiki (Tigers) 4 - Darwinzon Hernández (Hawks) 3 - 8 players tied Saves 5 - Raidel Martínez (Dragons) 4 - Andrés Machado (Buffaloes) 4 - Takahiro Norimoto (Eagles) 4 - Roberto Osuna (Hawks) 3 - Kazuto Taguchi (Swallows) 3 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 2 - Albert Abreu (Lions) 2 - Naoya Masuda (Marines) 2 - Alberto Baldonado (Giants) 2 - Kohei Morihara (BayStars)
Updated voting totals as of Monday 10 June. PACIFIC LEAGUE STARTING PITCHER 416,292 - Sachiya Yamasaki (Fighters) 203,195 - Rōki Sasaki (Marines) 165,887 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) RELIEF PITCHER 450,535 - Ryusei Kawano (Fighters) 196,333 - Yuki Matsumoto (Hawks) 191,885 - Andrés Machado (Buffaloes) CLOSER 602,599 - Seigi Tanaka (Fighters) 252,442 - Takahiro Norimoto (Eagles) 185,135 - Roberto Osuna (Hawks) CATCHER 625,457 - Yua Tamiya (Fighters) 266,245 - Tomoya Mori (Buffaloes) 214,159 - Takuya Kai (Hawks) FIRST BASE 556,028 - Ariel Martinez (Fighters) 274,771 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) 234,706 - Neftalí Soto (Marines) SECOND BASE 376,596 - Daigo Kamikawabata (Fighters) 284,862 - Shuta Tonosaki (Lions) 224,509 - Taisei Makihara (Hawks) THIRD BASE 587,390 - Yūya Gunji (Fighters) 277,857 - Yuma Mune (Buffaloes) 218,666 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) SHORTSTOP 372,915 - Tatsuki Mizuno (Fighters) 334,200 - Kotaro Kurebayashi (Buffaloes) 316,429 - Sosuke Genda (Lions) OUTFIELD 764,152 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) 529,504 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 525,497 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) 444,883 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) 325,932 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) DESIGNATED HITTER 355,540 - Takeya Nakamura (Lions) 231,947 - Gregory Polanco (Marines) 217,528 - Leandro Cedeño (Buffaloes) CENTRAL LEAGUE STARTING PITCHER 255,538 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 131,146 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 104,187 - Tomoyuki Sugano (Giants) RELIEF PITCHER 304,317 - Suguru Iwazaki (Tigers) 206,423 - Yuhi Nishidate (Giants) 147,481 - Kohei Morihara (BayStars) CLOSER 512,493 - Raidel Martínez (BayStars) 194,644 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 159,608 - Javy Guerra (Tigers) CATCHER 342,497 - Yuudai Yamamoto (BayStars) 240,002 - Yuhei Nakamura (Swallows) 180,996 - Seishirō Sakamoto (Tigers) FIRST BASE 492,295 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 245,831 - Sho Nakata (Dragons) 206,855 - José Osuna (Swallows) SECOND BASE 359,282 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) 315,514 - Takumu Nakano (Tigers) 207,626 - Mikiya Tanaka (Dragons) THIRD BASE 569,291 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) 216,192 - Hayato Sakamoto (Giants) 187,490 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) SHORTSTOP 323,533 - Hideki Nagaoka (Swallows) 293,366 - Kaito Muramatsu (Dragons) 240,990 - Kaito Kozono (Carp) OUTFIELD 561,775 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 513,921 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) 393,822 - Yoshitomo Tsutsugo (BayStars) 349,769 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) 297,134 - Shōta Morishita (Tigers)
ダッシュマン vs ダイアナ The most anticipated dream matchup will become a reality! During their home games, the Chiba Lotte Marines and Yokohama DeNA BayStars each feature a between-innings race that have become fan favorites. "'47 DASHMAN RACE" is the popular event that has been held at ZOZO Marine Stadium since last year. It features DASHMAN, an unknown sprinter who competes in a dash race across the outfield warning track against any fan willing to take on the challenge. It is modeled after the popular Beat The Freeze event put on by the Atlanta Braves. The BayStars' equivalent is the "Hisense Hamasta Battle", a relay race that involves a three-member team built from their cheering squad, collectively known as Diana with their motto "ALWAYS FULL SWING". They, too, race against fans who are willing to embarrass themselves all in the name of fun. With the Marines and BayStars scheduled to play each other on the Interleague diamond this week, it was announced on Monday that DASHMAN and Diana will race against each other on June 11 and 12. Diana will be given a 4 second head start in both races. The participants are eager. DASHMAN: "As Makuhari's speedster, I will run faster than a shooting star." Diana: "We will go for it with Always Full Swing as always, and will use our weapon, the baton pass, to thoroughly win!"
The Rakuten Eagles scored five runs over the final two innings including three in the 9th to earn a dramatic 7-6 sayonara victory over the Yomiuri Giants in Sendai. Tokyo reliever Alberto Baldonado was tattooed attempting to pick up his seventh save of the year, allowing three earned runs off two hits and three walks in a horrific 9th inning. Yuya Ogoh provided the game-winning hit for the Eagles with a two-out two-run double that landed on the centerfield warning track. Hideo Asamura kick started the comeback with his fifth home run of the year, a two-run shot in the 8th that reduced the deficit to 6-4. Yukinori Kishida clubbed his first home run of the season for the Giants but it was a historic one as it was the 11,000th round-tripper slugged in the team's history. After being named May's Central League Pitcher of the Month, Hiroki Tokoda outdueled Tatsuya Imai to lead the Hiroshima Carp to a 2-1 win over the Seibu Lions. Tokoda allowed just one run over 8 innings walking two batters while fanning three. His K:BB ratio over his last 5 starts is just 11:11 yet he’s gone at least 7 innings in each of those starts. The last placed Lions, enduring an eight game losing streak, are the first team this season to hit 40 losses.
The final week of Interleague play began on Tuesday beginning with Round 5. - Highly touted southpaw prospect Ryuhei Sotani recorded 12 strikeouts in 6 innings of work as the Buffaloes shut down the Tigers in a rematch of last Fall's Kansei Derby Nippon Series. - The Hawks scored four runs in the 7th while Kohei Arihara struck out nine over seven innings in their win over the Swallows. - Andre Jackson pitched 7 brilliant innings allowing just two hits and two walks with eight strikeouts as BayStars shutout the cross bay rival Marines. - Hiroto Takahashi tossed seven shutout innings lowering his ERA to 0.56 as the Dragons beat the Fighters for the first time since Tsuyoshi Shinjo took over the Hokkaido club in 2022.
NPB Players of the Month - May 2024 CENTRAL LEAGUE - PITCHER LHP Hiroki Tokoda - Hiroshima Carp (2nd time award winner) 4 starts 4 wins 0 losses 1.000 win ratio 28.2 innings pitched 12 strikeouts 4 runs allowed 3 earned runs allowed 0.94 ERA CENTRAL LEAGUE - BATTER IF Kaito Kozono - Hiroshima Carp (1st time award winner) 23 games 87 official at-bats 32 hits .368 batting average 1 home run 15 runs batted in .471 slugging percentage .417 on base percentage PACIFIC LEAGUE - PITCHER LHP Natsuki Takeuchi - Seibu Lions (1st time award winner) 4 starts 3 wins 0 losses 1.000 win ratio 28.2 innings pitched 20 strikeouts 2 runs allowed 2 earned runs allowed 0.63 ERA PACIFIC LEAGUE - BATTER IF Ryoya Kurihara - SoftBank Hawks (1st time award winner) 21 games 67 official at-bats 25 hits .373 batting average 3 home runs 16 runs batted in .672 slugging percentage .444 on base percentage
Munetaka Murakami blasted his 14th home run of the year, one of three homers hit by the Yakult Swallows who dispatched the SoftBank Hawks 9-3 in Fukuoka. Domingo Santana (10th of the season) and Jose Osuna (8th) also parked balls into the bleachers and Kyo Suzuki added two RBIs as the Swallows shelled out 12 hits against the Pacific League leaders. Taichi Yamano pitched 7 innings to earn his second win of 2024. Two Pacific League pitchers had outstanding outings on Wednesday. At Es Con Field Hokkaido, Hiromi Itoh threw a complete game shutout in under 100 pitches, commonly referred to as a "Maddux" after former MLB hurler Greg Maddux who accomplished the feat 13 times since record keeping of pitch-counts began in 1988. Itoh allowed just three hits without walking a single batter and registered seven strikeouts on 98 pitches. Chusei Mannami and Yuya Gunji each homered to lead the Nippon-Ham Fighters to a 7-0 blanking of the Chunichi Dragons. In Saitama, Chihiro Sumida also tossed a 'Maddux', throwing 99 pitches allowing four hits and two walks with four strikeouts in leading the Seibu Lions to a 5-0 win over the Hiroshima Carp.
The final showdown. 本日も開催！交流戦MATCH！DASHMAN vs dianaのプライドをかけた真剣勝負！DASHMANのリベンジなるか……！？#chibalotte #MarinesBaseball #日本生命セ・パ交流戦2024 pic.twitter.com/dAEhU3TTHP— 千葉ロッテマリーンズ (@chibalotte) June 12, 2024