Tuesday 5 May - 子供の日 Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-05-05 BayStars-Carp finished tied after 12 innings
A 3-run home run from Takumi Ohshiro was enough to give the Yomiuri Giants a 3-2 victory over the Yakult Swallows in the3 ever fierce Tokyo Derby. It was one of only 2 hits (and 4 walks) allowed by Swallows pitcher Kojiro Yoshimura who took the loss despite going the 8 inning distance. Domingo Santana slugged his 8th home run of the year for th3e Swallows in a losing cause. Kaito Muramatsu had 4 RBIs including a bases loaded triple to help the Chunichi Dragons to another 7-3 win over the Hanshin Tigers in Nagoya. Jason Vosler and Ryuku Tsuchida each hit solo home runs for the Dragons while Yumeto Kanemaru threw 7 strong innings for his third win. The Tigers hammered out 3 solo bombs of their own including Shota Morishita - his 8th of the year - and Teruaki Sato who now leads the Central League with 9 blasts.
Hideto Asamura's 2-run home run in the 7th inning provided the difference as the Rakuten Eagles defeated the Nippon-Ham Fighters 3-2 in Sendai. 4 home runs combined flew out of Miyagi Park with Asamura's being the only multi-run dinger. Solo shots from Rodolfo Castro and Kotaro Kiyomiya had put the Fighters up 2-0 by the 5th inning but Ryuya Taira cut the lead in half with his third bomb of the year. Kosei Shoji tossed 7 innings for his fourth win while Shoma Fujihira earned save number 8. Haruki Hosono accepted the tough loss for the Fighters despite striking out 11 batters and allowing just 4 hits over 8 complete innings. Sean Hjelle threw 7 shutout innings as the Orix Buffaloes eased past the Lotte Marines 6-1 at the Kyocera Dome. The former San Francisco Giants reliever faced just 2 batters over the 7 frame minimum, allowing just 4 hits and no walks for his first NPB career win. A 2-run single from Tomoya Mori eventually became the game winning hit for the Pacific League-leading Buffaloes.
Haruto Takahashi has often been dubbed by fans and the media as the 'glass ace" of the Hanshin Tigers pitching rotation. Despite having weak arm strength in his throwing left arm, Takahashi was still considered one of the most naturally talented pitchers coming out of high school, and after spending a year at Asia University Baseball Club in Tokyo he was drafted by the Tigers in the 2nd Round of the 2017 NPB Draft. But his performances were limited from 2021 to 2024 due to rehabbing from numerous injuries including left elbow cleaning surgery, Tommy John surgery, Left ulnar shortening osteotomy and arthroscopic cleaning of his left shoulder. After rehabbing for most of 2025, the 30 year old Takahashi has finally been able to begin a season under healthy conditions and is clearly making his mark. In Wednesday's 2-0 win over the Chunichi Dragons the southpaw threw his third consecutive complete game shutout - his fourth in five starts - allowing just 2 hits and no walks while striking out 10 to take his ERA down to 0.21 He has averaged just over 113 pitches in those 4 complete game shutouts and has a current streak of throwing 32 straight scoreless innings. Haruto's outing in Nagoya outshone that of the Dragons Hiroto Takahashi who struck out 15 batters over 8 innings. That performance joins those of Yu Darvish (25 August 2011) and Atsuki Taneichi (27 SAeptember 2025) as having fanned 15+ batters yet still took the loss in an NPB game since 2010. The only scoring in the game came off the bat of Nozomu Takatera who hit his first home run of the year, a 2-run blast in the 6th inning. Hidetaka Namiki deposited the very first pitch of the game into the left field bleachers and Souma Uchiyama added another bomb in the 6th inning to lead the Yakult Swallows to a 5-0 win over the Yomiuri Giants. Taichi Yamano tossed 6 shutout frames to increase his record to 5-2. Yomiuri's talented southpaw rookie Kazuyuki Takemaru struggled allowing all 5 earned runs before getting chased with two outs in the 7th. Nintendo's 40th Anniversary celebrations of the Super Mario Bros. video game continued in Yokohama where the Hiroshima Carp spoiled the home festivities with a 10-0 thrashing of the DeNA BayStars. Defensive wizard Ryosuke Kikuchi opened the scoring with a 3-run home run in the 3rd inning and Taiki Mochimaru capped a 3-for-4 afternoon with a solo home run in the 6th. After finishing April with the worst offense in NPB, the Carp pushed 23 runs across the plate during the midweek series against the BayStars.
Kona Takahashi allowed two hits with one walk and 5 strikeouts over 6 innings as the Seibu Lions defeated the SoftBank Hawks 10-2 in the rubber game of their series. Takahashi's renaissance this season has seen him win 4 of his first 6 starts (he's 3-0 against the Hawks) and his ERA has now dropped to 0.84 A grand slam from Seiya Watanabe was part of an 8-run 2nd inning that put the Lions on course for the win. Hiromi Itoh allowed one earned run over 7 innings as the Nippon-Ham Fighters crushed the Rakuten Eagles 12-2 in Sendai. Kenta Maeda did not figure in the decision but pitched well for the Eagles allowing just one run in 5 innings of work. The floodgates were opened in the 7th when the Fighters went on a 7-run barrage to put a close game beyond doubt. Ryohei Hosokawa and Kota Yazawa each homered to finish with 3 RBIs apiece. Daiki Tajima picked up his first win of the year after allowing only 4 hits and a walk over 6 shutout innings in the Orix Buffaloes 3-0 blanking of the Lotte Marines. Tomoya Noguchi's 2-run timely in the 2nd inning held up as the game winning hit.
Wednesday marked the end of the 2026 Golden Week holiday period. No NPB games are scheduled for Thursday.
The Pacific Swings podcast began a new series this week. Once a month, Monthly Swings will see NPB players Trey Cabbage (Yomiuri Giants) and Cooper Hummel (Yokohama BayStars) join hosts Jasper Spanjaart and David MacKinnon to talk about life this season in NPB. Episode 1: "Cooper reflects on his first month in Japan, Trey breaks down the difference between year one and year two in Tokyo, and together they go deep on pitching patterns, reading pitchers, fan culture, balls, turf, and the unwritten rules of borrowing a teammate's bat mid-series."
Kenta Tanigawara's RBI single capped off an incredible 3-run 9th inning to give the SoftBank Hawks a thrilling 6-5 sayonara win over the Lotte Marines at the Mizuho/PayPay Dome in Fukuoka. Toshiya Satō and Kyota Fujiwara each drove in 2 runs in a 5-run 6th inning to put the Marines ahead 5-2. The Hawks cut it to 5-3 before Ryoya Kurihara began the 9th inning rally with his 9th home run of the year. Kensuke Kondoh put SoftBank ahead in the 3rd inning with a 430 foot blast, his 8th bomb of the season. Tomoya Mori homered twice to help lead the Orix Buffaloes to a 4-3 victory over the Nippon-Ham Fighters at the Kyocera Dome. It was the slugging catcher-turned-DH's first multi-homer game since 10 June 2023 as he drove in 3 runs total including an 8th inning insurance run that ultimately proved to be the difference in the game. Nippon-Ham's Dominican duo of Franmil Reyes and Rodolfo Castro each had 3-hit modashos to no avail.
Yuya Yanagi struck out 10 batters over 6-1/3 innings as the Chunichi Dragons made easy work in defeating the Yomiuri Giants 9-2 at the Vantelin Dome in Nagoya. The 10-year veteran right-hander began the contest by fanning the first 6 batters he faced in the first 2 innings, one strikeout short of matching the NPB record of 7 Ks to start a game set by Masaaki Koyama on 27 March 1956 (Tigers vs Carp). The Dragons took the lead on a 2-run home run from Jason Vosler in the 2nd inning, then added 3 runs as they batted around the order in the 5th, and broke the game open with a 4-run outburst in the 7th capped by a three-run bomb from Seiya Hosokawa for his fifth homer of the season. The Giants shelled out 10 hits but stranded 9 runners on base. Defensive miscues in the 4th inning allowed the opening two runs to score as the DeNA BayStars went on to thrash the Hanshin Tigers 10-1 at Koshien Stadium. The BayStars tacked on 8 runs in the top of the 9th that was capped by a 3-run home run from Toshiro Miyazaki. The fielding lapses by Hanshin negated a decent outing from starter Shoki Murakami who struck out 6 batters over 7 frames but suffered his third loss of the campaign. Shota Morishita scored the home team's only run with his 9th homer of the year tying him with teammate Teruaki Sato for the Central League lead. The Tigers struck out 16 times on Friday night, 33 times over their past two games following the 17 times they were punched out on Wednesday against the Dragons.
Kengo Matsumoto tossed 8 innings of 1-hit shutout ball as well as driving in the game winning run in leading the Yakult Swallows to a 4-0 win over the Hiroshima Carp at Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium. The third year right-hander struck out 7 batters while walking two as his record increased to 4-0. Matsumoto's 2-run single in the 2nd inning was not only the game winning hit but was also the first RBIs of his career. Ren Sawai added insurance with his first home run of the year, a 2-run shot in the 4th. Yudai Ohno won his fourth game of the season after tossing 7 shutout innings as the Chunichi Dragons defeated the Yomiuri Giants 4-2. Back-to-back RBI hits from Kaito Muramatsu and Seiya Hosokawa capped a 3-run 5th inning and ultimately provided the difference in the final score. The first run of the inning came from an unusual play that ended with Giants pitcher Masahiro Tanaka being charged with obstruction during a rundown between third base and home plate that allowed Mikiya Tanaka to score. During the rundown the batter, Orlando Calixte, was tagged out at third but was allowed to return to second due to the obstruction call.
Four solo home runs including a game-winning blast from Gregory Polanco gave the Lotte Marines a hard fought 5-4 victory over the SoftBank Hawks. Polanco's homer off Hawks reliever Yuki Matsumoto broke a 4-4 tie with two outs in the 9th inning. Hotaka Yamakawa showed he's back in form with 2 home runs for SoftBank, numbers 7 and 8 for him this season. Takayuki Katoh allowed just three hits with no walks over 8 strong shutout innings to lead the Nippon-Ham Fighters to a 3-0 vanquishing of the Orix Buffaloes in Osaka. Michigan-born Yuki James Nomura provided the necessary offense, driving in all 3 runs including a 2-run home run for his 5th bomb of the year.
The 12 professional baseball teams celebrate Mother's Day and express their gratitude to all mothers. Sunday 10 May - 母の日 Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-05-10
Hiroto Saiki struck out 10 batters on the mound and bunted home the game winning run as the Hanshin Tigers avoided getting swept with a 3-0 blanking of the DeNA BayStars at Koshien. Saiki's bunt hit in the 5th inning scored Seiya Kinami to open the scoring. Teruaki Sato socked his 10th home run of the year in the 6th, the sixth straight season of double-digit homers for the 27-year-old slugger. And in the 7th, rookie Rinshirō Shimamura added more insurance with a pinch hit run scoring double for his first career RBI. Shunsuke Urata went 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs and a run scored to help the Yomiuri Giants beat the Chunichi Dragons 9-4 in Nagoya. Bobby Dalbec also had a modasho 3-for-4 afternoon that included a 2-run home run, his 8th bomb of the season. Orlando Calixte and Kosuke Ukai each went deep for the Dragons. The Hiroshima Carp used 7 pitchers to limit the Yakult Swallows to just 3 hits and one walk on their way to a 4-0 shutout win. Shoichi Futamata had 2 RBIs while Shogo Sakakura and Elehuris Montero drove in a run each to help the Carp towards victory.
Franmil Reyes launched a 1st inning 2-run rocket into the left field bleachers and it held up to give the Nippon-Ham Fighters a 2-0 win over the Orix Buffaloes. Fighters starting pitcher Koki Kitayama threw 8 shutout innings for the win. Tough luck for Buffaloes starter Anderson Espinoza who allowed just 3 hits and a walk while striking out 10 batters over 7 solid innings only to suffer his first loss of the year. Ryoya Kurihara banged out his 10th home run of the year as the SoftBank Hawks took the rubber game of their series against the Lotte Marines with an 8-3 victory in Fukuoka. Hotaka Yamakawa went yard for the 9th time this season and sophomore pro Yudai Shoji had a 3-hit day for the hometown Hawks. Manaya Nishikawa had 3 RBIs including a a 2-run home run in the Seibu Lions 6-1 victory over the Rakuten Eagles. In his 9th game of the season Tyler Nevin hit his fourth home run, a screaming liner near the left field corner in the 3rd inning. Shinya Sugai pitched 5 innings to claim the win.
The are two paths available for a Japanese player in NPB to try signing to play in MLB. One is through the posting system, which requires the agreement of the player's NPB club to allow him to leave. The other is gaining international free agency which is acquired after 9 years of service time. On Sunday the Seibu Lions announced that 29 year old right-handed pitcher Kona Takahashi has officially obtained international free agency eligibility. Last off-season, Takahashi was allowed to be posted by the Lions but after no substantial offers were made by MLB teams he eventually remained with Seibu. By gaining international free agency, he could try testing the MLB market again after this season, but this time without the permission of the Lions. His current contract is a multi-year deal but it is believed to include an opt-out clause allowing him to terminate the agreement should he wish to do so. After a few down seasons following an impressive 2023 campaign, 2026 has so far seen Takahashi in the best form of his career. "I have now acquired overseas free agent rights. I feel that the only reason I have been able to continue my career to this day is thanks to the warm encouragement from our fans and the support of everyone involved with the team. I offer my heartfelt gratitude. For now, I will focus on the season immediately before me and play with all my might to contribute to the team's victories." Regarding another attempt to move to MLB: "I haven't given up yet. In fact, giving up now would be the lamest thing imaginable. My baseball career is far from over." DEFINING SERVICE TIME While 9 years grants players international free agency, domestic free agency is obtained after 6 years service time. NPB defines a year of service time as one year with 145 or more days on the first-team roster with two exceptions: • Players who spent at least 145 days on the first-team roster in the previous year, will be credited with up to 60 days between the time he suffers an on-field injury and appears in a minor league rehab game. • Players who fail to achieve 145 days in a single year, can add those days to days from other years with fewer than 145 to create a full year’s service. • Starting pitchers who pitch within one week of the start of the season, within one week of the start of the All-Star series and within one week of the end of the series are not docked service time for being deactivated. (Starting pitchers are often deactivated from the first team roster immediately following a performance outing, then re-activated the day of their next start.)
BATTING *To qualify: 3.1 plate appearances per the number of games played by that player's club Average .313 - Franmil Reyes (Fighters) .298 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .297 - Kyota Fujiwara (Marines) .294 - Ryoma Nishikawa (Buffaloes) .293 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) On-Base Percentage .413 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .405 - Kyota Fujiwara (Marines) .396 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .367 - Fumiya Kurokawa (Eagles) .366 - Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) OPS .972 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .953 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) .821 - Franmil Reyes (Fighters) .819 - Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) .807 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) Home Runs 10 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) 10 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) 9 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) 8 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 7 - Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) RBIs 27 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) 24 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 24 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) 23 - Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) 20 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) AVG with RISP .433 - Kyota Fujiwara (Marines) .414 - Ryo Ohta (Buffaloes) .387 - Ryoma Nishikawa (Buffaloes) .385 - Seiya Watanabe (Lions) .367 - Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) Stolen Bases 8 - Haruto Watanabe (Buffaloes) 8 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) 5 - Yuya Ogo (Eagles) 5 - Hiroto Kobukata (Eagles) 5 - Ryota Isobata (Fighters) PITCHING *To qualify: Minimum innings equal to the number of games played by that pitcher's club. ERA 0.84 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 0.95 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 1.52 - Ryosuke Ohtsu (Hawks) 1.94 - Koki Kitayama (Fighters) 2.39 - Anderson Espinoza (Buffaloes) WHIP 0.70 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 0.840 - Koki Kitayama (Fighters) 0.842 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 0.94 - Ryosuke Ohtsu (Hawks) 1.03 - Kosei Shoji (Eagles) Innings pitched 46.1 - Naoyuki Uwasawa (Hawks) 45.1 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 43.0 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 41.2 - Koki Kitayama (Fighters) 41.1 - Ryosuke Ohtsu (Hawks) Strikeouts 44 - Kosei Shoji (Eagles) 40 - Haruki Hosono (Fighters) 40 - Naoyuki Uwasawa (Hawks) 40 - Allen Kuri (Buffaloes) 39 - Ryosuke Ohtsu (Hawks) 39 - Koki Kitayama (Fighters) Wins 4 - Akira Yagi (MArines) 4 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 4 - Ryosuke Ohtsu (Hawks) 4 - Anderson Espinoza (Buffaloes) 4 - Takayuki Kato (Fighters) 4 - Kosei Shoji (Eagles) Holds 10 - Sora Suzuki (Eagles) 9 - Ren Mukunoki (Buffaloes) 8 - Hikaru Kimura (Hawks) 8 - Shota Suzuki (Marines) 8 - Masaya Nishigaki (Eagles) Saves 11 - Andrés Machado (Buffaloes) 10 - Hakua Iwaki (Lions) 9 - Rikuto Yokoyama (Marines) 8 - Shoma Fujihira (Eagles) 8 - Taisei Yanagawa (Fighters)
BATTING *To qualify: 3.1 plate appearances per the number of games played by that player's club Average .377 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) .314 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) .308 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .298 - Ryūki Watarai (BayStars) .296 - Shogo Sakakura (Carp) On-Base Percentage .461 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) .426 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .407 - Shogo Sakakura (Carp) .382 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) .378 - Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) OPS 1.223 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) .968 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) .937 - Shogo Sakakura (Carp) .917 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .888 - Bobby Dalbec (Giants) Home Runs 10 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) 9 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) 8 - Bobby Dalbec (Giants) 8 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) 5 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) 5 - Shogo Sakakura (Carp) 5 - Trey Cabbage (Giants) RBIs 30 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) 24 - Shogo Sakakura (Carp) 21 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) 21 - Keita Sano (BayStars) 21 - Bobby Dalbec (Giants) AVG with RISP .500 - Shogo Sakakura (Carp) .462 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .433 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) .361 - Keita Sano (BayStars) .360 - Ryūki Watarai (BayStars) Stolen Bases 11 - Yukihiro Iwata (Swallows) 7 - Konosuke Tatsumi (Carp) 6 - Masaki Mimori (BayStars) 6 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 6 - Shunsuke Urata (Giants) PITCHING *To qualify: Minimum innings equal to the number of games played by that pitcher's club. ERA 0.21 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 0.96 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 1.38 - Yudai Ohno (Dragons) 1.89 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 1.99 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) WHIP 0.54 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 0.55 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 0.82 - Yudai Ohno (Dragons) 0.966 - Yumeto Kanemaru (Dragons) 0.973 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) Innings pitched 45.1 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) 45.0 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) 42.2 - Yutaro Ishida (BayStars) 42.0 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 41.0 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) Strikeouts 57 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 45 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 41 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) 41 - Yutaro Ishida (BayStars) 37 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) Wins 5 - Taichi Yamano (Swallows) 4 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 4 - Yudai Ohno (Dragons) 4 - Kengo Matsumoto (Swallows) 4 - Kazuyuki Takemaru (Giants) 4 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) Holds 12 - Sean Reynolds (BayStars) 9 - Taylor Hearn (Carp) 9 - Eito Tanaka (Giants) 9 - Taisei Ota (Giants) 9 - Tomoya Hoshi (Swallows) Saves 11 - José Quijada (Swallows) 10 - Raidel Martínez (Giants) 9- Yasuaki Yamasaki (BayStars) 6 - Suguru Iwazaki (Tigers) 6 - Shinya Matsuyama (Dragons)
You won't hear about this trade in the U.S. but in Japan this is HUGE. The BayStars actually had 3 top notch catchers on their roster (Yasutaka Tobashira is 36) but Yuudai Yamamoto was the one I thought would have been the last one to be dealt away. He had a strong case to be on Samurai's roster during the WBC. Many BayStars fans on social media are quite frustrated with this trade. The Hawks always seem to have a way to get things done. Statement from Yamamoto via BayStars press release: "To be honest, hearing the news of the trade so suddenly came as a surprise, and I am currently experiencing a mix of emotions. I am truly grateful to the organization, the coaches, and the staff members who have helped me grow as a player up to this point. In particular, the presence of (Keita) Sano-san, (Katsuki) Azuma-san, and Shugo (Maki) was immense; I have nothing but gratitude for the opportunity to have trained and competed alongside them, pushing one another to improve. I wish I could have shown the fans more of my active performance here at Yokohama Stadium. We began this season with a firm resolve to win the league championship—this year, above all others—so it is deeply frustrating to fall short and to realize that I will not be able to help achieve that goal with my own efforts. The cheers from the BayStars fans were truly warm, powerful, and passionate; every time I stepped onto the field at Yokohama Stadium, I drew courage from them and was uplifted time and again. I am realizing anew just how incredibly fortunate I was to have experienced that. I will never forget the courage and support you have given me. As I embark on this new challenge, I intend to remain positive and give it my absolute best. Thank you so very much for these past nine years."
In Japan where small ball remains king, it's nearly automatic. Bottom of the 9th inning (or extra innings) and the score is tied or the home team is down a run, if the leadoff batter gets on base, the next batter will bunt the runner to second base to set up a scoring situation. This was the case Tuesday night at Gifu Municipal Ballpark. With the score knotted at 3-3 in the bottom of the 9th Riku Masuda led off with a single to right field. As Shunsuke Sasaki stepped into the batter's box, everyone watching - including the commentators - expected the sacrifice bunt. But Sasaki shocked everyone by swinging at the first pitch and delivered the game winning Sayonara home run to give the Yomiuri Giants an exciting 5-3 win over the Hiroshima Carp. Takumi Ohshiro also parked a ball into the right field bleachers that put the Kyojin up in the 2nd inning. Shogo Sakakura homered in the 5th that gave the Carp a 3-2 lead in the 5th. Giants pitcher Kota Nakagawa pitched an inning of shutout ball to extend his club record streak to 13 consecutive games of not giving up a run. Off the field, veteran Carp outfielder Shogo Akiyama was diagnosed with a torn left hamstring after injuring it against the Swallows on 10 May. In a series battle for first place in the Central League the Hanshin Tigers took Game 1 with 10-0 thrashing of the Yakult Swallows at Meiji Jingu. While the Tigers often hit home runs - they hit 4 more on Tuesday including Shota Morishita's first career grand slam - they also strike out quite a bit as they fanned out 10 times against the Swallows, the fifth consecutive game Hanshin have struck out at least 10 times. Tigers pitcher Yuki Nishi, who pitched 6 innings to get the win, became just the third pitcher in NPB history to make 300 consecutive appearances as a starting pitcher. Swallows first baseman José Osuna returned to the Swallows first team after a brief demotion, but with the Swallows down 10-0 in the top of the 9th and having gone through 6 pitchers, Osuna (who pitched in two games for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2019) was handed the ball to pitch the final 2 outs in the 9th inning. He issued a walk but then induced a ground ball double play. It's the second time this season a position player took the mound in an NPB game but it is still very rare to see in Japan.
Franmil Reyes hit his 5th home run of the year to help the Nippon-Han Fighters to a 3-2 victory over the Lotte Marines in Chiba. Hiromi Itoh allowed a game-tying home run to Kyuto Ueda in the 7th inning but managed to pick up his fourth win when Kotaro Kiyomiya's RBI single in the 8th restored the Fighters lead. Lotte's Andre Jackson struck out 8 batters over 7-1/3 in a valiant effort. An RBI double from Ryoma Nishikawa in the 4th inning was enough offense for the Orix Buffaloes en route to a 2-0 win over the Rakuten Eagles at Haruka Dream Baseball Stadium in Hirosaki. Two batters later Ryo Ohta drove in Nishikawa for insurance. It was an unfortunate inning for Eagles starter Kosei Shoji who allowed just 3 hits and a walk while striking out 9 batters over 6 quality innings. Buffaloes closer Andres Machado tied a club record by earning his the save in 10 consecutive appearances.