A rare full slate of Monday yakyū as Japan celebrated Ocean Day, a public holiday to give thanks to the ocean for its bounty and to consider the importance of it to the country as a maritime nation. After a 7 week demoted stint with the farm team, Hiroto Takahashi returned to the Chunichi Dragons ichi-gun with a vintage 8 inning performance in a 4-2 victory over the Yakult Swallows at Meiji Jingu Stadium. The 24 year old ace allowed just 3 hits and a walk while fanning 8 batters to earn just his second win of the season. Yutaro Itayama homered for the visitors. A bases loaded double from Misaki Sasahara in the 6th inning cleared the bases to give the Yomiuri Giants a 3-1 victory over the Hiroshima Carp at the Tokyo Dome. Haruto Inoue earned his 9th win by allowing just one run while striking out 8 over 7 innings. Sandro Fabian provided the Carp's only run with a solo moonshot, his second home run in consecutive games. 6 runs over the final 2 innings sealed a 7-0 win for the DeNA BayStars over the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien Stadium. A solo home run from Asahi Miyashita in the 5th inning became the game winning run while Jerar Encarnación continued his standout form with a 3-run bomb in the 8th. Kentarō Taira allowed 3 hits with 7 strikeouts over 6 innings to pick up the win.
4 runs in the 2nd inning spurred the Seibu Lions to a 5-4 win over the Rakuten Eagles. The rally was highlighted by back-to-back home runs from Yuto Koga and Manaya Nishikawa. The Eagles fought back with 3 runs in the 5th in a valiant but unsuccessful comeback attempt. A sacrifice fly from Ukyo Shuto in the 9th inning gave the SoftBank Hawks a 5-4 victory over the Lotte Marines. Kyota Fujiwara hit a leadoff home run that had put the Marines on top in the 1st inning while Koki Yamaguchi and Neftali Soto also went yard in a losing cause. The Orix Buffaloes snapped a 5 game losing streak with a 3-0 blanking of the Nippon-Ham Fighters. Yuma Mune drove in 2 runs along with some nice fielding to earn co-Hero status along with starting pitcher Allen Kuri who allowed just 3 hits over 7 shutout innings.
Tuesday 21 July Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-07-21 Tigers-BayStars went 11 innings
Nozomu Takatera's deep fly into left-centerfield scored Takahiro Kumagai from second base to give the Hanshin Tigers a 2-1 sayonara victory in 11 innings over the DeNA BayStars. Hiyu Motoyama started at shortstop for the first time since arriving from Seibu and not only impressed with his fielding but also scored on Kaito Shimomura's groundout ion the 5th inning, the rookie pitcher's first career RBI. Toshiki Abe hit 2 home runs with 5 RBIs to lead the Chunichi Dragons to an 11-4 win over the Yakult Swallows. Hiroki Fukunaga also homered for the second time this season. The Swallows have now lost 7 in a row. Bobby Dalbec had a 3-RBI double while Shunsuke Urata and Yuta Izuguchi drove in 2 runs apiece as the Yomiuri Giants waltzed to an 11-5 win over the Hiroshima Carp. A right shoulder injury has kept Giants pitcher Iori Yamasaki out of action until last week and on Tuesday he picked up his first win after pitching into the 6th inning allowing just 2 runs.
A solo home run in the 5th inning from Ryu Sugisawa held up to give the Orix Buffaloes a 2-1 victory over the SoftBank Hawks at the Mizuho/PayPay Dome in Fukuoka. Anderson Espinoza threw a sturdy 7 innings allowing 4 hits and 2 walks while fanning 8 batters for his 9th win of the year. Keita Yamamoto provided the Hawks' lone run with his second blast of the season.
Wednesday 22 July Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-07-22 Lions-Fighters went 10 innings
The SoftBank Hawks reminded everyone just how powerful a force they are as they hammered out 26 hits in a 22-2 thumping of the Orix Buffaloes. The Hawks hit 5 home runs total including 2 from NPB home run leader Ryoya Kurihara who now has 29 on the year. Kensuke Kondoh went 4-for-4 with 4 RBIs including a solo home run as the home team scored in every frame except the 5th. Carter Stewart Jr. was the beneficiary of the offense, tossing 7 innings for his 6th win of the year. Tyler Nevin hit a Sayonara home run in the 10th inning to give the Seibu Lions a 4-3 victory over the Nippon-Ham Fighters at the Bellunba Dome. The Fighters scored 3 runs in the first 2 innings but could only manage 1 hit the rest of the game. The walk off handed 4th year reliever Taishi Mameda his first professional win. Kazuya Ojima pitched the 8th complete game of his career to lead the Lotte Marinjes past the Rakuten Eagles 10-2 at ZOZO Marine Stadium. Ojima threw 141 pitches allowing no walks for his 3rd win of the year. Neftali Soto, Toshiya Satō and Koki Yamaguchi each homered while leadoff batter Kyota Fujiwara went a modasho 3-for-3 with an RBI and 2 runs scored.
14 year veteran Torai Fushimi and Koji Chikamoto each had 3-hit modashos as the Hanshin Tigers defeated the DeNA BayStars 4-3 in a tightly contested game. Shugo Maki hit his 16th home run of the year but fielding lapses by the visitors contributed to the Tigers victory. Shintaro Fujinami made his first appearance at Koshien Stadium in 1,403 days since getting posted by Hanshin to MLB in 2023, allowing an earned run in 4-2/3 innings. Elehuris Montero went 3-foir-3 with 2 RBIs including a solo home run to lead the Hiroshima Carp to a 6-1 win over the Yomiuri Giants. Taiki Mochimaru followed Montero with a blast of his own while starting pitcher Yuta Saito allowed just one run in 5 innings for his first win of the season. The Yakult Swallows hit 3 home runs to break a 7 game losing skid with an 8-6 victory over the Chunichi Dragons. Souma Uchiyama, Yoshihiro Akahane and Hideki Nagaoka each went yard as the Swallows pounded out 12 hits total for their first win since 14 July. Seiya Hosokawa and Miguel Sanó also went deep for the Dragons.
Yujki Yanagita's deep fly to centerfield (ruled as a base hit) allowed Taisei Makihara to score from 3rd base giving the SoftBank Hawks a 6-5 sayonara win over the Orix Buffaloes. Down 5-2 in the top of the 9th, the Buffaloes tied it on a dramatic 3-run home run by Kotaro Kurebayashi. SoftBank's Tomoya Masaki homered on consecutive nights while Kensuke Kondoh launched his 22nd of the year. The Hawks as a team have hit 101 home runs before next week's All Star break equaling their total output from the entire 2025 season. Itsuki Murabayashi drove in 2 runs to tie the score in the 6th and Ryuya Taira singled home the winning run in the 7th to lead the Rakuten Golden Eagles past the Lotte Marines 4-3. Daisuke Nakashima went 4-for-5 with 3 runs scored while rookie reliever Ryu Kutani pitched the 7th to earn his first career win. Home runs from Yuki Nomura, Franmil Reyes (his 21st of the season) and Chusei Mannami (the 100th of his career) led the Nippon-Ham Fighters to an 11-2 victory over the Seibu Lions in Saitama. Koki Kitayama allowed just one run over 6 innings to secure his 9th win of the season. Chihiro Sumida struggled in his 4 innings of work giving up 7 runs (4 earned) in suffering his 6th loss this year. In the 9th inning Tyler Nevin hit his 14th homer in a lost cause.
NPB All-Star 'Plus One' voting results CENTRAL LEAGUE 30,684 - Hayato Sakamoto (Giants) 10,547 - Atsushi Katsumata (BayStars) 5,877 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) PACIFIC LEAGUE 31,180 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) 8,923 - Tomoya Masaki (Hawks) 4,019 - Takumi Kuriyama (Lions) Total number of votes received: 201,232
NPB Home Run Derby CENTRAL LEAGUE Teruaki Sato (Tigers) Shota Morishita (Tigers) Shugo Maki (BayStars) Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) PACIFIC LEAGUE Franmil Reyes (Fighters) Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) Chusei Mannami (Fighters) Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks)
Friday 24 July Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-07-24 Tigers-Giants went 10 innings Swallows-Carp went 12 innings
Yuto Kohama hit his first career home run, a 2-run shot in the 10th inning that gave the Yomiuri Giants a stunning 4-2 victory over the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien. Having allowed just 3 hits while striking out 12 batters, Tigers starter Hiroto Saiki was one strike away from a complete game gem when Bobby Dalbec launched a dramatic 2-run home run on Saiki's 122nd pitch of the night. Saiki would notch his 13th strikeout after the devastating damage. Shota Morishita's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th spared a loss for Saiki but did not spare the Tigers of defeat following rookie Kohamna's improbable blast an inning later. Giants starter Forrest Whitley stuck out 6 batters over 6 innings but his throwing error in the 2nd inning had allowed what would have been the game winning run before Dalbec's go-ahead blast in the 9th. The Chunichi Dragons scored twice in the bottom of the 9th inning to earn a 3-2 sayonara victory over the DeNA BayStars at the Vantelin Dome in Nagoya. With the Dragons trailing by two runs in the bottom of the 6th inning Seiya Hosokawa cut the deficit in half with his 15th home run of the year. And in the 9th Jason Vosler tripled home the tying run before Kaito Muramatsu delivered the knockout punch with a high bouncer that allowed pinch runner Gōki Oda to race home from third with the game winner. The Yakult Swallows hit 3 home runs including a Sayonara 2-run bomb by Souma Uchiyama in their 5-3 win in 12 innings over the Hiroshima Carp. Hideki Nagaoka and Yudai Koga also went deep for the Swallows who overturned a 3-0 deficit into their second win in a row.
The Orix Buffaloes scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to snatch a dramatic 3-2 sayonara win over the Lotte Marines at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka. Home runs from Koki Yamaguchi and Neftali Soto had the Marines up 2-1 in the 2nd inning before the Buffaloes finally rallied in the 9th. Ryōma Yamanaka's single to left field scored Ryoto Kita from second base with the tying run, then Ryo Ohta walked it off when his single to centerfield scored pinch runner Haruto Watanabe from second. The comeback was a terrible blow for Marines starting pitcher Tokito Kawamura who had a masterful outing entering the 9th having allowed just one hit and retired 23 batters in a row before the Buffaloes caught fire. Ryoya Kurihara hit his 30th home run of the season and Kensuke Kondoh homered for the third consecutive game as the SoftBank Hawks defeated the Seibu Lions 7-3 at the Belluna Dome in Saitama. Seibu's Tyler Nevin also went yard for the third straight night while a 2-run blast from An-Ko Lin had briefly tied the score at 3-3 in the 4th inning.
Saturday 25 July Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-07-25 Swallows-Carp went 10 innings
A 6-run rally in the 6th inning flipped a 6-2 deficit into an 8-6 victory for the Seibu Lions over the SoftBank Hawks. The Lions had 8 hits total, all singles including 4 hits during the 6th frame comeback that also included 2 walks, 2 balks and 2 sacrifice flies. Tomoya Masaki hit his 15th home run of the season for the Hawks. The Nippon-Ham Fighters scored single runs in each of the final 3 innings for a 4-3 sayonara win over the Rakuten Eagles at Es Con Field Hojkkaido. Taiki Narama drove in Ryohei Hosokawa in the 9th inning for the walk off. Kosei Shoji took the loss despite a stellar 7 inning performance. Tatsuki Mizuno homered for the Fighters while Yuma 'YG' Yasuda went deep for the Eagles. Ryo Ohta homered in the 1st inning and Sho Fukunaga added a game winning bomb in the 7th to lead the Orix Buffaloes to a 5-3 win over the Lotte Marines. Andrés Machado worked the 3 batter minimum in the 9th to earn his 23rd save. Kyuto Ueda hit his 5th home run of the year for the Marines.
A sacrifice fly to right field from Yudai Koga scored Yasutaka Shiomi to give the Yakult Swallows a 2-1 sayonara victory over the Hiroshima Carp at Meiji Jingu. The set up that led to the game winning run was quite unconventional. Shiomi doubled to left field, then moved to third base when Carp reliever Atsushi Endoh balked while attempting to pick off Shiomi. Curiously, Carp manager Takahiro Arai decided to intentionally walk Hideki Nagaoka and Kazuya Maruyama to load the bases with no outs. Endoh managed to strike out Yoshihiro Akahane before Koga delivered the walk off fly. 2023 1st Round draft pick Kota Nishidate made his NPB debut, allowing 2 hits with 5 walks in a no-decision 5 inning 100-pitch performance. Bobby Dalbec went yard for the second night in a row to lead the Yomiuri Giants to a 5-1 victory over the Hanshin Tigers. Kazuyuki Takemaru allowed just 1 run over 6 innings to even his record at 7-7. The Kyojin are the first team in the Central League to reach 50 wins as they also retake top spot in the standings. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo and Shion Matsuo each hit a home run as the DeNA BayStars blanked the Chunichi Dragons 5-0. Dominican right-hander Osvaldo Bido pitched 5 innings to secure the win in his NPB debut. Baystars hitter Atsushi Katsumata extended his consecutive streak of reaching base safely to 33 games.
On Saturday Tadahito Iguchi was formally introduced by NPB as the new manager for Samurai Japan. The 51-year-old Iguchi will take over from Kazuhiro Ibata, who stepped down following the team's ouster from the World Baseball Classic against Venezuela in March. Iguchi managed the Chiba Lotte Marines from 2018-2022, reaching the post-season in 2020 and 2021. As a player, he was an infielder, mainly at second base, and was a 3-time Japan Series champion (1999, 2003 Daiei Hawks, 2010 Lotte Marines) He had a 4-year stint in MLB where he became the first fully Japanese position player to win the World Series (2005 Chicago White Sox). He finished his career with a combined 2,254 hits, 295 home runs and 1,222 RBIs. Thus, he becomes the first former MLB player to take take over as manager of the Japan national team. "I'm really honored to be given the opportunity to lead the top team that represents Japanese baseball but feel the weight of responsibility at the same time. I aim to reach the pinnacle of the world by fusing Japan's traditions with its strengths." Renowned for his data-driven approach to player placement, the graduate of Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo currently serves as a baseball analyst on MLB broadcasts in Japan. He is expected to manage Samurai Japan for the 2026 Asia Professional Baseball Championship in November followed by the 2027 Premier12 where the top-finishing Asian team will secure a berth in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics where active Major League players could feature for the first time. Iguchi's tenure is also expected to include the next World Baseball Classic in either 2029 or 2030.
Teruaki Sato homered over the fence in dead centerfield off Shinnosuke Ogasawara to give the Hanshin Tigers a 1-0 win over the Yomiuri Giants. The 6th inning blast was Sato's 22nd bomb of the season. Shoki Murakami tossed his second complete game shutout of the year allowing 6 hits and 1 walk with 6 strikeouts. Following the All-Star break the Tigers will begin their annual 'Death Road' part of the schedule. With Koshien Stadium set to host the National High School Baseball Tournament, Hanshin will be playing their next 24 games away from their home ballpark with only 2 of the 8 series' being 'home' games at the Kyocera Dome in nearby Osaka. Tai Sasaki went 3-for-4 including an RBI double in the 9th inning that broke a 3-3 deadlock and gave the Hiroshima Carp a 4-3 victory over the Yakult Swallows. The Carp had led 3-0 when the Swallows mounted a 3-run rally in the 7th to level the score. A bases clearing triple from Yutaro Itayama ignited a 4-run rally in the bottom of the 8th inning to give the Chunichi Dragons a 5-1 win over the DeNA BayStars. Itayama crossed home plate with the 4th run on Hiroki Fukunaga's single to left. Toshiro Miyazaki provided the BayStars lone run with his 8th jack of the year.
Koki Yamaguchi homered for the 4th time this week - his career high 17th of the year - to kick start the Lotte Marines to a 3-2 win over the Orix Buffaloes. Neftali Soto also went deep for the Marines while starter Andre Jackson fanned 7 batters in 7-plus innings for his 7th win of the season. Ryo Ohta homered for Orix for the second game in a row. Ukyo Shuto's timely 2-run triple capped a 3-run 5th inning which held up in the SoftBank Hawks 3-0 win over the Seibu Lions. Yugo Maeda threw 6 shutout innings allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks to increase his record to 8-0 Naoki Arizono batted 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs including his first career home run as the Nippon-Ham Fighters handled the Rakuiten Eagles 6-2. Chusei Mannami also hit a solo blast for #19 on the year while veteran starter Sachiya Yamasaki pitched 5 innings to move his record to 4-0. Rakuten's Carson McCusker hit his 13th home run in his debut season.