At 22 years, 6 months and 10 days, Munetaka Murakami blasted his 40th home run of the season making him the youngest player in NPB history to have a 40 home run season. Sadaharu Oh (1963) and Koji Akiyama (1985) were both 23 when each had their first 40 homer seasons. Murakami's eighth inning shot to right field wasn't enough for the Yakult Swallows as they dropped a 6-3 decision to the Hiroshima Carp for their sixth consecutive loss. Their lead atop the Central League is now down to 7 games ahead of the second place Yokohama BayStars. 1557696975893843968 is not a valid tweet id
Day 7 of Summer Koshien is halfway done. The next game on the menu: Tsuruoka East (Yamagata) -vs- Ohmi (Shiga) I only mention this game because Ohmi Senior High School, from the Shiga Prefecture, features Haruto Yamada, a highly touted pitcher who many regard as the next big thing once he turns pro. Yamada helped lead Ohmi to the semifinals of last year’s Summer Koshien tournament and were runners-up in this year's Spring Koshien in March. He pitched in Ohmi's 8-2 win in the 1st round against Naruto (Tokushima) on Sunday so I'm unsure if he'll start today's game but he'll likely be available for relief if needed. Like most ace pitchers for each team in this tournament, Yamada wears the #1 jersey. First pitch is roughly around 1:15am ET / 10:15pm PT. https://sports.yahoo.co.jp/livestream/vk/hsb/games/live https://vk.sportsbull.jp/koshien/
Hotaka Yamakawa hit his 34th home run of the year as the Seibu Lions beat the Rakuten Eagles 5-1. #山川穂高 選手が変化球を完璧に捉え左中間スタンドへ！ここまで粘りを見せ、無失点ピッチングを続ける #今井達也 投手の背中を押すホームランです！#埼玉西武ライオンズ #seibulions #WILDユニ pic.twitter.com/aJwYFR7PKv— 埼玉西武ライオンズ (@lions_official) August 12, 2022 Munetaka Murakami with home run #41 but the Yakult Swallows were beaten by the Yokohama BayStars 4-3 as their winless streak extends to seven games. 連敗ムードを払拭する #村上宗隆 選手の第41号HR2年連続となる100打点達成！#神宮球場#ヤクルト#DeNA pic.twitter.com/VB6tNK1j3h— 【公式】フジテレビ野球 (@fujitv_baseball) August 12, 2022
Saturday, August 13 Fighters at Marines and BayStars at Swallows were postponed (Typhoon Meari) Boxscores: http://hosted.stats.com/npb/scoreboard.asp?day=20220813
Highlights: Orix Buffaloes at Softbank Hawks Ukyo Shuto capped off a 'Hero of the Game' performance by blasting a solo Sayonara home run in the ninth inning to give the Softbank Hawks a 5-4 win over the Orix Buffaloes. Shuto scored the first run of the contest in the first inning off the throwing error by Orix pitcher Sachiya Yamasaki. Alfredo Despaigne extended the lead to 2-0 when his sacrifice fly to right scored Kenta Imamiya. Shuto then preserved the lead in the second inning when a fly ball deep into the right-center gap by Keita Nakagawa forced Shuto to sprint and make a two-out leaping over-the-shoulder catch with the bases loaded, holding onto the ball as he tumbled onto the warning track. Masataka Yoshida, who went 2-for-2 with three walks, scored in the third for the Buffaloes off a sacrifice fly to left from Masahiro Nishino to cut the lead in half. In the fourth Softbank loaded the bases and Imamiya drove in two with a single to left making it 4-1. But Orix tied it with a three-run eighth inning; Torai Fushimi with an RBI double, Nakagawa with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to left, and an error allowing pinch runner Yuya Oda to cross home with the tying run. Shuto then sent the home fans happy with his second Sayonara home run of the year when he belted the first pitch he saw from rookie reliever Yuki Udagawa - pitching in only his fourth career NPB game - over the right field fence.
Shinnosuke Ogasawara struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing just hits and two walks, and closer Raidel Martinez earned his 25th save as the Chunichi Dragons got past the covid-hit Hanshin Tigers 2-0 at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka. Tigers starter Shintaro Fujinami also put in a stellar performance onthe mound, striking out 10 batters without issuing a walk and allowing four singles in seven innings. But he gave up a run in the sixth inning when 19 year-old rookie Ryuku Tsuchida singled, stole second, was sacrificed to third and scored on Yuki Okabayashi's squeeze. Tsuchida scored an insurance run in the eighth after a leadoff double, a sacrifice and a RBI groundout from Okabayashi. It's the 21st time Hanshin have been shutout this season.
Highlights: Seibu Lions at Rakuten Eagles The Rakuten Eagles scored four runs in their final two at bats to overturn a 3-0 deficit into a 4-3 victory at Miyagi Ballpark in Sendai. The Lions opened the scoring in the third inning when Sosuke Genda bounced a groundert past the mound into a potential double play, but Eagles starting pitcher Shoma Fujihira deflected the ball into right field allowing two runs to score. Hotaka Yamakawa hit his 35th home run of the year in the fourth inning, a solo blast that extended Seibu's lead to 3-0. Dietrich Enns had a solid outing until the seventh inning when Hiroaki Shimauchi led off with his 11th home run this season, then two batters later Ryosuke Tatsumi lined a two-run shot into the right field bleachers to level the score at 3-3. In the eighth, Hiroto Kobukata completed Rakuten's comeback by singling off Lions reliever Yoshinobu Mizukami, moved to second on an errant pickoff throw, was sacrificed to third and scored on Hideto Asamura's sacrifice fly for the game winning run. Yuki Matsui closed the Lions' door in the ninth for his 22nd save.
Home runs from Tetsuto Yamada (his 18th of the year) and Yasutaka Shiomi (13th) helped the Yakult Swallows snap their seven game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Yokohama BayStars. With runners on first and third in the ninth inning, Chunichi Dragons catcher Takuya Kinoshita failed on a safety squeeze but the pitch from Hanshin Tigers closer Suguru Iwazaki sailed over Ryutaro Umeno's head allowing pinch runner Hironori Miyoshi to score the game winning run as the Dragons completed their sweep by winning 5-4 over the struggling Tigers who have now lost their last six games. Mel Rojas Jr. hit his seventh homer of the campaign, a three-run blast in the fifth inning.
'Summer Koshien', the popular annual high school baseball tournament, is now in the 3rd Round with 16 schools remaining. Four games will be played on Monday and the remaining four games will take place on Tuesday. Times shown are rough estimates. The first game has a hard start at 8:00am Japan time (7pm ET / 4pm PT) while first pitch for each subsequent game takes place roughly 30 minutes after the final out of the previous game. DAY 10 - Monday 15 August 8:00am : Meishu Hitachi (Ibaraki) 4-5 Sendai Ikuei (Miyagi) 10:30am: Takamatsu Commercial (Kagawa) 2-1 Kyushu International University (Fukuoka) 1:00pm : Meihō (Ōita) 2-5 Aikodai Meiden (Aichi) 3:30pm : Ohmi (Shiga) -vs- Kaisei (Nagasaki) DAY 11 - Tuesday 16 August 8:00am : Shimonoseki International (Yamaguchi) -vs- Hamada (Shimane) 10:30am: Kyushu Gakuin (Kumamoto) -vs- Kokugakuin Tochigi (Tochigi) 1:00pm : Tsuruga Kehi (Fukui) -vs- Seiko Gakuin (Fukushima) 3:30pm : Nishōgakusha Daifu (East Tokyo) -vs- Osaka Toin (Osaka) Monday's final game will feature Ohmi Senior High School and their highly touted ace pitcher, Haruto Yamada (wears #1 jersey), who is the one player in this tournament that the spotlight has been on. Yamada has started both of Ohmi's games and has produced the following lines... - 1st Round (August 7) vs Naruto (Tokushima): 8 innings, 33 batters faced, 2 runs allowed (1 earned), 4 hits allowed, 0 walks, 13 strikeouts. - 2nd Round (August 12) vs Tsuruoka East (Yamagata) 9 innings, 39 batters faced, 3 runs allowed (all earned), 11 hits allowed, 3 walks, 12 strikeouts. Osaka Tōin are the big favorites to win the tournament. On Sunday they took no prisoners in beating Seibou Gakuen (Saitama) 19-0. https://sports.yahoo.co.jp/livestream/vk/hsb/games/live https://vk.sportsbull.jp/koshien/
BATTING Average .325 - Keita Sano (BayStars) .321 - Yohei Ohshima (Dragons) .320 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .312 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .297 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) On-Base Percentage .452 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .379 - Yoshihiro Maru (Giants) .373 - Yasutaka Shiomi (Swallows) .3711 - Yohei Ohshima (Dragons) .3708 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) OPS 1.160 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .877 - Yoshihiro Maru (Giants) .874 - Keita Sano (BayStars) .858 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) .850 - Yasutaka Shiomi (Swallows) Home Runs 41 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) 22 - Yoshihiro Maru (Giants) 22 - Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) 22 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 19 - Adam Walker (Giants) RBIs 100 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) 71 - Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) 66 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 62 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) 60 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) AVG with RISP .344 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) .333 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .329 - Yasutaka Shiomi (Swallows) .321 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) .315 - Ryan McBroom (Carp) Stolen Bases 23 - Yasutaka Shiomi (Swallows) 22 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 17 - Takumu Nakano (Tigers) 15 - Naoki Yoshikawa (Giants) 15 - Kairi Shimada (Tigers) PITCHING ERA 1.39 - Koyo Aoyagi (Tigers) 2.19 - Yuki Nishi (Tigers) 2.44 - Shinichi Ohnuki (BayStars) 2.70 - Yudai Ohno (Dragons) 2.76 - Shosei Togo (Giants) WHIP 0.88 - Koyo Aoyagi (Tigers) 1.01 - Hiroki Tokoda (Carp) 1.03 - Yudai Ohno (Dragons) 1.04 - Yuki Nishi (Tigers) 1.10 - Shinichi Ohnuki (BayStars) Innings pitched 135.2 - Masato Morishita (Carp) 124.0 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 123.1 - Koyo Aoyagi (Tigers) 123.1 - Yuki Nishi (Tigers) 122.1 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) Strikeouts 107 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 101 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) 100 - Keiji Takahashi (Swallows) 98 - Koyo Aoyagi (Tigers) 97 - Aren Kuri (Carp) Wins 12 - Koyo Aoyagi (Tigers) 10 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 9 - Shinichi Ohnuki (BayStars) 9 - Masato Morishita (Carp) 8 - 3 players tied Holds 34 - Atsuki Yuasa (Tigers) 27 - Hiromu Ise (BayStars) 27 - Edwin Escobar (BayStars) 25 - Tatsuya Shimizu (Dragons) 23 - Yariel Rodriguez (Dragons) Saves 28 - Taisei Ota (Giants) 28 - Scott McGough (Swallows) 26 - Raidel Martínez (Dragons) 25 - Yasuaki Yamasaki (BayStars) 25 - Suguru Iwazaki (Tigers)
BATTING Average .355 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) .323 - Masataka Yoshida (Buffaloes) .299 - Taisei Makihara (Hawks) .297 - Kenta Imamiya (Hawks) .296 - Hiroaki Shimauchi (Eagles) On-Base Percentage .444 - Masataka Yoshida (Buffaloes) .395 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) .391 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Lions) .375 - Hiroaki Shimauchi (Eagles) .368 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) OPS 1.036 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Lions) .971 - Masataka Yoshida (Buffaloes) .849 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) .834 - Hiroaki Shimauchi (Eagles) .809 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) Home Runs 29 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Lions) 19 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) 15 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) 15 - Yutaro Sugimoto (Buffaloes) 15 - Brandon Laird (Marines) RBIs 73 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Lions) 63 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) 60 - Masataka Yoshida (Buffaloes) 59 - Hiroaki Shimauchi (Eagles) 53 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) AVG with RISP .464 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) .361 - Masataka Yoshida (Buffaloes) .346 - Yuma Mune (Buffaloes) .321 - Taisei Makihara (Hawks) .320 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) Stolen Bases 32 - Akito Takabe (Marines) 21 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) 17 - Haruki Nishikawa (Eagles) 16 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) 16 - Hiroto Kobukata (Eagles) PITCHING ERA 1.70 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 2.05 - Koudai Senga (Hawks) 2.40 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 2.72 - Naoyuki Uwasawa (Fighters) 2.76 - Nao Higashihama (Hawks) WHIP 0.97 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 1.00 - Takayuki Kishi (Eagles) 1.01 - Nao Higashihama (Hawks) 1.02 - Koudai Senga (Hawks) 1.11 - Masahiro Tanaka (Eagles) Innings pitched 138.0 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 127.2 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 121.1 - Masahiro Tanaka (Eagles) 119.0 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 112.2 - Naoyuki Uwasawa (Fighters) Strikeouts 146 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 139 - Roki Sasaki (Marines) 115 - Koudai Senga (Hawks) 103 - Masahiro Tanaka (Eagles) 100 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) Wins 10 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 9 - Kaito Yoza (Lions) 9 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 8 - 3 players tied Holds 30 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 25 - Taiki Tojo (Marines) 24 - Yoshinobu Mizukami (Lions) 20 - Tayron Guerrero (Marines) 18 - Keisuke Honda (Lions) Saves 26 - Yoshihisa Hirano (Buffaloes) 25 - Naoya Masuda (Marines) 22 - Yuki Matsui (Eagles) 22 - Tatsushi Masuda (Lions) 17 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks)
Yamada also bats cleanup and in the 7th inning he hit a grand slam to break open a close game. Yamada was rested for the rest of the game as Ohmi advanced, 7-1. ⚾️#第104回全国高校野球選手権大会⚾️#近江 × #海星あっぱれ！近江・山田陽翔、満塁ホームラン！#バーチャル高校野球 で🔴ライブ中継中❗️📲💻PC・スマホでも視聴する▼https://t.co/b6vu58Pk51#高校野球 #甲子園 pic.twitter.com/h0EYMBnzia— バーチャル高校野球 (@asahi_koshien) August 15, 2022
Highlights: Softbank Hawks at Seibu Lions Tomoya Mori provided the only runs in Saitama with a two-run home run in the fourth inning as the Seibu Lions took Game 1 of the three-game clash between the top two teams in the Pacific League. It was a tough loss for Softbank Hawks pitcher Shuta Ishikawa who allowed just five hits and a walk when he was removed with two outs in the eighth inning. Kona Takahashi also put in a stellar performance on the mound for the Lions, allowing five hits and two walks in six innings while recording six strikeouts. Tatsushi Masuda with his 23rd save.
Koki Yamaguchi went 3-for-4 including a three-run home run in the sixth inning that broke open a scoreless game as the Lotte Marines defeated the Orix Buffaloes 4-0 in a rain-shortened game at Hotto Motto Field in Kobe. Manabu Mima picked up his fifth win allowing just five hits in his 6-1/3 shutout innings. Shota Imanaga went seven innings and Neftalí Soto slugged a solo home run as the Yokohama BayStars are 9-2 in the month of August after beating the Yomiuri Giants 3-1. Kazuma Okamoto scored the only run for the Kyojin with a solo shot in the second inning, his 23rd homer of the season.
Wednesday, August 17 Marines at Buffaloes was postponed (rain) Boxscores: http://hosted.stats.com/npb/scoreboard.asp?day=20220817
Highlights: Hanshin Tigers at Yakult Swallows Masashi Ito struck out 12 batters over eight complete innings but surrendered two home runs as the Hanshin Tigers dropped a 4-2 decision to the Yakult Swallows 4-2 for their eighth consecutive loss. Munetaka Murakami opened the scoring in the third inning with a three-run blast into the right field bleachers. It was the sluggers' 42nd home run of the year and the 146th of his career. Since he won't turn 23 until next February, it means Murakami will have the remaining 37 regular season games this year to try and equal the record of 147 home runs hit before the age of 23 by Kazuhiro Kiyohara, who ranks 5th all-time with 525 home runs in NPB history. (Sadaharu Oh had 88 home runs by age 23) Hanshin's own home run slugger, Teruaki Sato, blasted a lazy fastball up in the zone with a man on in the sixth off Yakult starter Keiji Takahashi to pull the Tigers within one run, but Tetsuto Yamada homered in the eighth - his 19th of the year - to complete the scoring as Yakult’s bullpen retired the final nine batters with Scott McGough picking up his 30th save.
Ryuhei Matsuyama socked a two-out first-pitch double to center field off Akira Neo's first pitch which allowed Kaisei Sone to score from second base giving the Hiroshima Carp a 1-0 sayonara victory over the Chunichi Dragons in 11 innings. The extra-inning affair meant neither starting pitcher figured into the decisions despite impressive outings. Chunichi's Hiroto Takahashi allowed just two hits and one walk while fanning 10 over seven innings, and Hiroshima's Aren Kuri completed nine full allowing four hits and one walk with five strikeouts. Out of action since July 19 due to covid and an injury, Go Matsumoto returned to the Nippon-Ham Fighters lineup on Tuesday and went 0-for-3. But on Wednesday, although the Fighters lost to the Rakuten Eagles 8-2, Matsumoto was a welcome sight as he had his first multi-hit performance, going 2-for-5 with a run scored. Despite missing nearly a month of action, Matsumoto continues to lead NPB in batting average and average with runners in scoring position, ranks second in the Pacific League in OPS and stolen bases, and ranks third in the P.L. in on-base percentage.
Rain has delayed the start of the Quarterfinals of 'Summer Koshien', Japan's annual high school baseball tournament.. First pitch for the first game has been pushed back to 8:45am JT (7:45pm ET / 4:45pm PT) All four games are still scheduled to take place today (Thursday in Japan). Each succeeding game is expected to start roughly 30 minutes following the conclusion of the previous game. Aikodai Meiden (Aichi) 2-6 Sendai Ikuei (Miyagi) Takamatsu Commercial (Kagawa) 6-7 Ohmi (Shiga) Osaka Toin (Osaka) 4-5 Shimonoseki International (Yamaguchi) Seiko Gakuin (Fukushima) 10-5 Kyushu Gakuin (Kumamoto) The second game will feature pitcher Haruto Yamada of Ohmi (#1 jersey) and Takamatsu's lead off slugger Shogo Asano (#8 jersey). We've already talked about Yamada, who hit a grand slam in Ohmi's 7-1 win over Kaisei on Sunday. In his team's two games, Asano is 4-for-6 with 2 home runs, 4 RBIs and 2 runs scored with 2 walks. His 2 homers came in Takamatsu's 14-4 win over Sakuchosei on August 11. https://sports.yahoo.co.jp/livestream/vk/hsb/games/live https://vk.sportsbull.jp/koshien/
Thrilling game that saw Shogo Asano win the head-to-head battle against Haruto Yamada, going 3-for-3 in his first three at-bats including a double and a two-run homer. But Yamada contributed two RBIs from the plate as Ohmi won the war over Takamatsu 7-6 to advance to Saturday's semifinals. On the mound Yamada went 7-1/3 innings, throwing 136 pitches against 36 batters, allowing 9 hits while striking out 10. He came on for the 8th inning but looked dead tired and was finally relieved after facing three batters. Perhaps the biggest talking point of the game came In the top of the 7th inning with Ohmi leading 5-3. Takamatsu had runners on first and second with one out and Asano coming to bat. With everyone anticipating Round 4 of Asano vs Yamada, Ohmi decided to load the bases by issuing Asano a free pass to first which left Koshien buzzing. Takamatsu would go on to score thrice in the inning to take a 6-5 lead before Ohmi retook the lead for good in the bottom of the frame. Video of Asano's home run off Yamada. Looking forward to seeing these two facing each other again in the professional ranks. ⚾️#第104回全国高校野球選手権大会⚾️#高松商 × #近江山田と浅野の注目対決💥第2打席！真っ向勝負を制したのは、浅野翔吾！#バーチャル高校野球 で🔴ライブ中継中❗️📲💻PC・スマホでも視聴する▼https://t.co/b6vu58Pk51#高校野球 #甲子園 #浅野くん #ホームラン pic.twitter.com/XcAGMlJ2d8— バーチャル高校野球 (@asahi_koshien) August 18, 2022
Shimonoseki (Yamaguchi) pulled off a shocker over tournament favorites Osaka Toin that saw them score twice in the 9th inning to advance to the semifinals 5-4. Shimonoseki were aided in the 7th inning when they pulled off a triple play from an attempted Toin sacrfice bunt. ⚾️#第104回全国高校野球選手権大会⚾️#大阪桐蔭 × #下関国際下関国際がトリプルプレー完成💥ノーアウト1・2塁のピンチを切り抜ける！#バーチャル高校野球 で🔴ライブ中継中❗️📲💻PC・スマホでも視聴する▼https://t.co/b6vu597tj9#高校野球 #甲子園 pic.twitter.com/WIi8OghGgq— バーチャル高校野球 (@asahi_koshien) August 18, 2022 ⚾️#第104回全国高校野球選手権大会⚾️#大阪桐蔭 × #下関国際下関国際、9回表 4番・賀谷の一打でついに逆転💥甲子園の空気を変える！#バーチャル高校野球 で🔴ライブ中継中❗️📲💻PC・スマホでも視聴する▼https://t.co/b6vu597tj9#高校野球 #甲子園 pic.twitter.com/fuO6QOKUgJ— バーチャル高校野球 (@asahi_koshien) August 18, 2022 Saturday's semifinal lineup: Sendai Ikuei (Miyagi) -v- Seiko Gakuin (Fukushima) Ohmi (Shiga) -v- Shimonoseki International (Yamaguchi)