Left: Ichiro Suzuki (Aikodai Meiden HS). Middle: Seiya Suzuki (Nishogakusha HS) Right: Kazuma Okamoto (Chiben Gakuen HS)
Wednesday 8 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-04-08 BayStars-Dragons went 11 innings
Tatsuki Koja pitched a complete game one hitter allowing just one walk while striking out 6 batters. Unfortunately, the one hit he allowed was solo home run by Rodolfo Castro in the 4th inning and it was enough to give the Nippon-Ham Fighters a 1-0 victory over the Rakuten Eagles. So far, Castro is just 2-for-14 in official at-bats this season but both hits were home runs. Nippon-Ham's Koki Kitayama was just as dominant on the mound, allowing only 3 hits and a walk while fanning 10 batters over 8 innings to pick up his second win of the season. This was just the fourth time since 1990 that a team won an NPB game 1-0 where their only hit was a solo home run. The Fighters won three of those four games. The last time the Fighters achieved this was on 17 April 2022 against the Lotte Marines, a game more famous for Roki Sasaki throwing 8 perfect innings that followed his previous start 7 days earlier when he pitched a perfect complete game. After failing to convince an MLB team to sign him during his posting this past off season, one could say that Kona Takahashi of the Seibu Lions has something to prove this season. Against the SoftBank Hawks on Wednesday Takahashi threw a dominating 8 solid innings to help lead the Lions to a 2-1 win in Fukuoka. Takahashi, who watched his Lions teammate Tatsuya Imai sign with the Houston Astros in January, struck out 11 while allowing just 2 hits and a walk on 125 pitches. SoftBank's Taiwanese talent Jo-Hsi Hsu made his second career NPB start allowing 1 run in 7 innings, the run coming off the bat of Taiga Kojima in the 1st inning. Seiya Watanabe also homered for Seibu in the 8th inning.
Yuta Izuguchi flipped a 1-0 deficit with a 9th inning 2-run home run to give the Yomiuri Giants a tight 2-1 win over the Hiroshima Carp. Although he didn't figure in the decision, Masahiro Tanaka delivered his best start since joining the Kyojin last year going 7 strong allowing an earned run on just 3 hits and a walk. An errant throw by Masaki Mimori allowed two runs to score giving the Chunichi Dragons a 6-4 victory over the DeNA BayStars in 11 innings at Yokohama Stadium. Seiya Hosokawa hit his second home run of the year for the Dragons. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo also went yard for his second of the season in a 3-for-4 performance that went in vain.
Thursday 9 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-04-09 Carp-Giants postponed (rain) Tigers-Swallows called during 7th inning (rain) Buffaloes-Marines went 10 innings
Kensuke Kondoh hit his fourth home run of the year as the SoftBank Hawks avoided a midweek sweep with a 2-0 victory over the Seibu Lions. Ryosuke Ohtsu allowed one hit and a walk over 7 innings for his first win of the season. A leadoff single from Masayuki Kuwahara to open the game turned out to be Seibu's only hit of the night as the Hawks pitching faced just two batters over the minimum. A 3-run home run from Kotaro Kiyomiya capped a four-run 6th inning leading to a 4-2 win for the Nippon-Ham Fighters over the Rakuten Eagles. It was Kiyomiya's fifth bomb of the season tying him with teammate Chusei Mannami in the leadership board. Rakuten's Jose Urena left the game with lower body tightness after throwing 5 scoreless innings in his second NPB start, allowing two hits while punching out 5. Ryoma Nishikawa singled home Yuma Mune from third base to give the Orix Buffaloes a 2-1 sayonara victory over the Lotte Marines in 10 innings. Orix's Hiroya Miyagi had 7 strikeouts when he was forced to leave the game after experiencing discomfort in his left arm with two outs and the bases loaded in the 6th inning.
In his first start as a pro 21 year old Hidetoshi Ibaraki struck out 5 batters over 6 shutout frames as the Hanshin Tigers pulled to within half-a-game atop the Central League standings following their 2-0 win over the first place Yakult Swallows. Shota Morishita provided the game winning hit with a solo home run to lead off the 4th inning. Two batters later veteran first baseman Yusuke Ohyama drove in a second run with a single to left. With two outs in the bottom of the 7th the Tigers threatened more insurance with runners on first and second but rain halted play and the game was eventually called.
Friday 10 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-04-10 BayStars-Carp postponed (rain) Eagles-Buffaloes postponed (rain)
The Hanshin Tigers rocked Chunichi Dragons closer Shinya Matsuyama for 4 runs in the 9th inning to steal a 5-3 victory at Nogoya's Vantelin Dome. Ukyo Maegawa delivered the crucial blow with a two-out double that flipped 3-2 deficit into 4-3 lead for Hanshin. Shota Morishita continued his great 2026 start with home run number 5 of the season while Koji Chikamoto (4-for-5) and Yusuke Ohyama (3-for-4) each drove in a run while achieving a modasho. Rookie Kazuyuki Takemaru pitched 5-2/3 innings allowing just one run for his second career win as the Yomiuri Giants defeated the Yakult Swallows 3-2 in the first Tokyo Derby of the season. Trey Cabbage launched a towering home run into the right field balcony seats for what ultimately became the game winning run. Kojiro Yoshimura struck out 6 batters over 7 innings while Yukihiro Iwata went a modasho 3-for-4 at the plate for the Swallows in a losing cause.
A rare error by WBC Samurai Sosuke Genda with two outs in the 9th inning ignited a 4-run rally to give the Lotte Marines a 6-3 win over the Seibu Lions in Omiya. Gregory Polanco followed with a 2-RBI opposite field knock to left field for insurance. It was a tough pill to swallow for the Lions after having taken a 3-2 lead on Junichiro Kishi's 2-RBI double in the bottom of the 8th. The contest was the first of 25 NPB games this season that will be played at regional 'countryside' venues throughout Japan. The Lions and Marines will actually meet up again in Omiya on May 20.
Horrible news for the Orix Buffaloes as ace starter Hiroya Miyagi (#18), who exited Thursday's game in the 6th inning with arm discomfort, was diagnosed with a UCL injury in his left elbow and will likely undergo season-ending surgery.
Teruaki Sato hit 2 home runs that drove in 5 runs to help power the Hanshin Tigers to a 9-3 victory over the Chunichi Dragons in Nagoya. Shota Morishita began the scorefest with a solo home run in the 2nd inning, his sixth dinger of the year. Yusuke Ohyama followed with his first blast of the season an inning later. Asahi Hanada and Miguel Sanó each went yard for the Dragons. Tigers starter Takato Ihara fanned 6 batters over 6 innings to claim his second win of the year. A 2-RBI double from Keita Sano kicked off a four-run 4th inning which led to the DeNA BayStars 4-3 win over the Hiroshima Carp in Yokohama. Yuudai Yamamoto and Yota Kyoda singled home a run each to complete the rally. Sano is the only player remaining to have hit safely in every game since Opening Day. He is only 3 hits away from reaching the 1,000 hit plateau.. Katsuki Azuma pitched 7 quality innings for his second win of the year. Shogo Sakakura homered for Hiroshima, a 2-run shot in the 7th and his first of the year.
Kensuke Kondoh capped a 5-run 6th inning with a 3-run home run as the SoftBank Hawks defeated the Nippon-Ham Fighters 6-3 at Es Con Field Hokkaido. It was Kondoh's fifth homer of the season and it chased Fighters starter and reigning Sawamura Award winner Hiromi Itoh from the game. Itoh allowed 6 runs in 5-2/3 innings as his ERA raised to 5.71 Current Hawks starter Naoyuki Uwasawa pitched 7 full for his first win this season. By beating his former club, Uwasawa became the 23rd pitcher in NPB history to claim a decision win against all 12 NPB clubs. Kota Yazawa homered to lead off the bottom of the 1st inning and became the twelfth Fighters batter to go yard in the team's 13 games from Opening Day, a new NPB record. In total, Nippon-Ham have hit 25 bombs so far this season. Yuma Yasuda hit a 3-run home run as the Rakuten Eagles racked up an 11-3 victory over the Orix Buffaloes at Miyagi Park. Eagles starting pitcher Takahisa Hayakawa threw a strong 7 innings allowing just one run on three hits and a walk to earn his first win of the year. Yuma Mune hit his third homer of the season for the Buffaloes; his is OPS is currently at 1.001
Sunday 12 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-04-12 Lions-Eagles went 10 innings
An-Ko Lin delivered a home run in the 10th inning to give the Seibu Lions a tough 2-1 Sayonara victory over the Lotte Marines at the Belluna Dome. It was the first homer for the Taiwanese Lin who was a 4-time All-Star in the CPBL and is in his debut season in NPB. Both starting pitchers each threw 7 shutout frames but didn't feature in the decisions. Seibu's Kaima Taira has now thrown 24 innings in three starts and despite having a 0.00 ERA, lack of run support has his record at just 1-0. Lotte's 23-year-old Koshiro Hiroike struck out 8 while facing just one batter over the 7 inning minimum having allowed a base hit to Alexander Canario in the 3rd. Ukyo Shuto went 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs including a 2-run home run as the SoftBank Hawks stretched their lead in the Pacific League following their 11-7 win over the Nippon-Ham Fighters. Hotaka Yamakawa also hit a modasho 3-for-5 while driving in two runs. Yuki Nomura blasted his fourth homer this season for Nippon-Ham in a losing cause. The Fighters are 0-5 against the Hawks so far this year while going 7-2 against the rest of the P.L.
Hirotoshi Takanashi lost a perfect game and no-hitter in the 7th inning but was still able to claim his first win of 2026 as the Yakult Swallows shutout the Yomiuri Giants 2-0 at the Tokyo Dome. José Osuna and Yukihiro Iwata drove in the two runs for Yakult while holding the Giants to just two hits on the day. José Quijada closed out the 9th inning to earn his sixth save of the year. Haruto Takahashi tossed his second complete game shutout this young season as the Hanshin Tigers completed a three-game weekend sweep with a 3-0 win over the Chunichi Dragons. Shota Morishita drove in two runs to up his RBI season total to 11.
BATTING *To qualify: 3.1 plate appearances per the number of games played by that player's club Average .391 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .327 - Ryoya Kurihara (Hawks) .316 - Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) .315 - Ryoma Nishikawa (Buffaloes) .308 - Ryusei Terachi (Marines) On-Base Percentage .472 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .439 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .429 - Yuma Mune (Buffaloes) .414 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) .404 - Ryo Ohta (Buffaloes) .404 - Fumiya Kurokawa (Eagles) OPS 1.086 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 1.039 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) .972 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .950 - Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) .941 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) Home Runs 5 - Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) 5 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 5 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) 4 - Yuki Nomura (Fighters) 4 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) RBIs 14 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 13 - Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) 12 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) 10 - Yuki Nomura (Fighters) 10 - Keita Nakagawa (Buffaloes) AVG with RISP .500 - Misho Nishikawa (Marines) .500 - Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) .455 - Ryoma Nishikawa (Buffaloes) .444 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) .444 - Yuma Mune (Buffaloes) .444 - Ryo Ohta (Buffaloes) Stolen Bases 2 - 10 players tied PITCHING *To qualify: Minimum innings equal to the number of games played by that pitcher's club. ERA 0.00 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 0.56 - Anderson Espinoza (Buffaloes) 1.13 - Ryōta Takinaka (Eagles) 1.29 - Haruki Hosono (Fighters) 1.80 - Naoyuki Uwasawa (Hawks) 1.80 - Kosei Shoji (Eagles) WHIP 0.71 - Haruki Hosono (Fighters) 0.785 - Ryosuke Ohtsu (Hawks) 0.789 - Natsuki Takeuchi (Lions) 0.791 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 0.87 - Kosei Shoji (Eagles) Innings pitched 24.0 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 20.0 - Naoyuki Uwasawa (Hawks) 19.2 - Yutaro Watanabe (Lions) 19.0 - Natsuki Takeuchi (Lions) 18.2 - Allen Kuri (Buffaloes) Strikeouts 23 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 20 - Naoyuki Uwasawa (Hawks) 19 - Allen Kuri (Buffaloes) 17 - Haruki Hosono (Fighters) 17 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 17 - Haru Matsumoto (Hawks) Wins 2 - Anderson Espinoza (Buffaloes) 2 - Takayuki Kato (Fighters) 2 - Kosei Shoji (Eagles) 2 - Carter Stewart Jr. (Hawks) 2 - Haru Matsumoto (Hawks) Holds 4 - Ren Mukunoki (Buffaloes) 4 - Sora Suzuki (Eagles) 4 - Sam Long (Marines) 4 - Masaya Nishigaki (Eagles) 4 - Hiroshi Kaino (Lions) Saves 4 - Hakua Iwaki (Lions) 4 - Kazuki Sugiyama (Hawks) 3 - Rikuto Yokoyama (Marines) 3 - Shoma Fujihira (Eagles) 3 - Taisei Yanagawa (Fighters)
BATTING *To qualify: 3.1 plate appearances per the number of games played by that player's club Average .411 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) .352 - Hiroki Fukunaga (Dragons) .340 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .333 - Seiya Kinami (Tigers) .327 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) On-Base Percentage .469 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) .426 - Hiroki Fukunaga (Dragons) .424 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .414 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) .400 - Cooper Hummel (BayStars) OPS 1.183 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) 1.032 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) .969 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .944 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .898 - Yuta Izuguchi (Giants) Home Runs 6 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) 4 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) 3 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) 3 - Trey Cabbage (Giants) 3 - Yuta Izuguchi (Giants) 3 - Miguel Sanó (Dragons) RBIs 14 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) 13 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) 9 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) 9 - Shogo Sakakura (Carp) 8 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) 8 - Seiya Kinami (Tigers) AVG with RISP .583 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) .500 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) .500 - Yuta Izuguchi (Giants) .400 - Cooper Hummel (BayStars) .375 - Seiya Kinami (Tigers) .375 - Yuudai Yamamoto (BayStars) Stolen Bases 7 - Yukihiro Iwata (Swallows) 6 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 4 - Hiroki Fukunaga (Dragons) 3 - Takumu Nakano (Tigers) 3 - Shunsuke Urata (Giants) PITCHING *To qualify: Minimum innings equal to the number of games played by that pitcher's club. ERA 0.38 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 0.53 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 0.86 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) 1.47 - Hirotoshi Takanashi (Swallows) 1.62 - Kazuyuki Takemaru (Giants) WHIP 0.35 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 0.75 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 0.76 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) 0.93 - Hirotoshi Takanashi (Swallows) 0.95 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) Innings pitched 24.0 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 21.0 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) 20.0 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 20.0 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) 20.0 - Taichi Yamano (Swallows) Strikeouts 21 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 20 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 20 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 19 - Kojiro Yoshimura (Swallows) 18 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 18 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 18 - Taichi Yamano (Swallows) Wins 3 - Taichi Yamano (Swallows) 2 - Yū Hirosawa (Swallows) 2 - Haruto Takahashi (Tigers) 2 - Yuji Akahoshi (Giants) 2 - Kazuyuki Takemaru (Giants) 2 - Takato Ihara (Tigers) 2 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 2 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) Holds 6 - Sean Reynolds (BayStars) 5 - Tomoya Hoshi (Swallows) 4 - Taylor Hearn (Carp) 3 - 7 players tied Saves 6 - José Quijada (Swallows) 4 - Suguru Iwazaki (Tigers) 4 - Yasuaki Yamasaki (BayStars) 3 - Raidel Martínez (Giants) 2 - Taisei Ota (Giants)
Tuesday 14 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2026-04-14 Swallows-BayStars was called in the top of the 6th inning (rain)
The Yakult Swallows scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 5th inning to defeat the DeNA BayStars 5-3 in a rain-shortened game at Botchan Stadium in Matsuyama Trailing 3-1, Kazuya Maruyama and Yudai Koga each delivered 2-RBI singles to give the Swallows the come-from-behind victory. The BayStars had rallied to take the lead in the top of the 5th on consecutive RBI singles from Toshiro Miyazaki, Ryuki Watarai and rookie Asahi Miyashita. Go Matsumoto drove in the game winning run in the top of the 9th inning to give the Yomiuri Giants a 4-3 comeback win over the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien Stadium. Takumi Ohshiro went 3-for-4 including a game-tying solo home run in the 8th for the Kyojin. Nozomu Takatera had put Hanshin in front with a 2-RBI pinch-hit single in the 7th. Tigers starter Hiroto Saiki followed up his 16 K performance from last week with 8 more punchouts over 6 frames.
Kosei Shoji struck out 6 batters over 5 innings and raised his record to 3-0 as the Rakuten Eagles defeated the SoftBank Hawks 3-2 in Fukuoka. Ryosuke Tatsumi continued his hot start to the campaign with a game-tying RBI double and scored the game winning run in the 5th. Shoma Fujihira made quick work in the 9th to earn his fourth save. A 2-run double from Tatsuki Mizuno in the 4th inning was the game winner as the Nippon-Ham Fighters defeated the Lotte Marines 5-1 at ZOZO Marine Stadium. Yua Tamiya homered in the 8th for his second bomb of the year. 22 year old Kota Tatsu allowed just one run on 5 hits while recording 7 strikeouts over 8 innings for his first win of the season.
37 year old Yuki Yanagita (and Hotaka Yamakawa) put on a show during batting practice before Wednesday's game. During an injury-hit 2019 season, Gita finished the year just a few games short of gaining international free agency and had to play one more season where it was then expected he would go after a MLB career. But before the 2020 season began the SoftBank Hawks offered him a 7 year deal as the highest paid player in NPB history. It was an offer he felt he couldn't refuse. 2026 marks the final year of that deal and as of this posting he has not signed an extension. In February as he arrived for Spring Camp he said that he was going into the season thinking it would be his final year. Throughout his NPB career Yanagita has homered off pitchers that eventually traveled across the Pacific for MLB recognition: Masahiro Tanaka, Kenta Maeda, Shohei Ohtani, Yūsei Kikuchi, Shota Imanaga, Yoshinobu Yamamoto (one of only two grand slams Yamamoito has surrendered in his career), Yuki Matsui...... the first time Yanagita ever batted against Roki Sasaki in 2021 he sent the first pitch into the left-center field bleachers of ZOZO Marines Stadium. Even today many pitchers in NPB call Yuki Yanagita the toughest batter to pitch against.