The Yomiuri Giants continued to hold on to third place in the Central League with a slim 2-1 win over the DeNA BayStars in Yokohama. Sho Nakata put the visitors in front 1-0 in the top of the first inning, driving in Naoki Yoshikawa with a single to centerfield. The BayStars tied it on Toshiro Miyazaki's solo home run to left in the fourth. In the fifth inning, Akihiro Wakabayashi, pinch-hitting for starting pitcher Matt Shoemaker, came good with a ground out to second allowing Gregory Polanco to score what turned out to be the final and winning run of the game. The Kyojin bullpen allowed just three Yokohama base runners the rest of the way with closer Taisei Ota retiring the side in the ninth for his 36th save. The two teams face off again on Thursday. A huge six-run 11th inning gave the Hiroshima Carp a vital 10-4 victory over the Hanshin Tigers to remain one game behind the Giants in fourth place. Ryoma Nishikawa went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored while Ryan McBroom added three RBIs to help lead Hiroshima offensively. The Carp have just four games remaining but all will be at home beginning on Friday with another crucial game against Hanshin. This was the final home game of the campaign for the Tigers who need a miracle to reach the post-season. Although just two games behind Yomiuri, they also only have four games remaining (three at the Swallows) while the Giants have six games to go, also all on the road.
Koki Yamaguchi slugged three home runs as he went 4-for-4 with eight RBIs in leading the Lotte Marines to a 13-5 destruction over the Orix Buffaloes who fall half-a-game behind the idle SoftBank Hawks in the fight for the Pacific League pennant. Katsuya Kakunaka added three RBIs and two runs scored in helping Lotte to pull within 2-1/2 games behind the third place Rakuten Eagles in a last-ditch effort to claim third place in the P.L. The Buffaloes played catch-up from the start when the Marines took a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Lotte were leading 10-1 when Orix scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh in attempt to get back into the game but Yamaguchi ended those hopes with his third homer of the game, a three-run blast in the eighth inning.
The Yokohama BayStars did a favor for the Hiroshima Carp and Hanshin Tigers by beating the Yomiuri Giants 3-0 as the race for third place in the Central League intensifies. A first inning RBI single by Shugo Maki was enough support for the BayStars pitching staff to work with led by southpaw starter Kenta Ishida who allowed three hits over six innings. Toshiro Miyazaki homered in the sixth for his 13th of the year while closer Yasuaki Yamasaki worked a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 36th save. An infield single by Yakult Swallows pitcher Hikaru Yamashita in the third inning was the only base hit allowed by the Chunichi Dragons in their 3-0 win over the first place Swallows. In hindsight, many believe that had the base hit occurred in the ninth inning of a no hit no run game it likely would have been ruled an error. (45 seconds into this 'highlight' video released by the Swallows pr department.) With a Magic Number of 4, the Swallows are poised to clinch the Central League pennant as they host the second place BayStars over the next three days. Two victories by Yakult would end matters.
A ninth inning solo home run by Shogo Nakamura and a three-run tenth inning gave the Lotte Marines a 6-3 win over the SoftBank Hawks to keep alive their hopes of post-season play while denying the Pacific League-leading Hawks from opening a gap atop the standings. Akito Takabe's two-RBI triple in the tenth was the game-winning hit while a bloop single into shallow centerfield by Katsuya Kakunaka scored Takabe for another insurance run. Reliever Roberto Osuna closed out the game in the bottom of the tenth to raise his record to 4-0. SoftBank continue to be in first place via percentage points over the Orix Buffaloes and they do have a Magic Number of 7 to clinch the P.L. pennant. And yet, incredibly, no team has officially clinched a playoff berth in the Pacific League as five of the six teams are jockeying for the three post-season slots. Only the Nippon-Ham Fighters have been eliminated from any post-season contention in the Pacific League but they played the role of spoiler on Friday. Their 6-3 victory in 10 innings over the Rakuten Eagles put a dent in Rakuten's chance to gain a foothold on third place, the Eagles holding on to the final playoff spot by just a half-game over the Seibu Lions who were idle. The Marines are a further game back in fifth place. Go Matsumoto's pinch-hit two-RBI double down left field ultimately became the game-winning hit for the Fighters who, despite being eliminated from the playoffs, still have six make-up games to play and will have a significant say on which teams do qualify for the playoffs. There will be a lot of scoreboard watching throughout the Pacific League over the next week or so. And just another reminder that For The Fans (FTF) streams same-day delayed coverage of the Pacific League every gameday, usually at 1pm ET/10am PT. The regular season is winding down and EVERY GAME MATTERS if you want to make the playoffs. Join us for #pacificleage⚾ #BaseBall: #chibalotte Marines VS #softbankHAWKS. Watch it at 1PM ET on #FTFSports: https://t.co/2XhzhBzapt. @bailey_k15 is on the call🎙️🔊. pic.twitter.com/zGpll0Qugo— FTF Sports (@WatchFTFSports) September 23, 2022
The Yokohama BayStars survived a five-run ninth inning by the Yakult Swallows to win their rainy Friday encounter 8-6 to clinch a spot in the Central League Climax Series for the first time in three years. The Swallows Magic Number to clinch the C.L. pennant remains at 4. Toshiro Miyazaki was the offensive Hero for Yokohama going 3-for-4 including two home runs that produced five RBIs and two runs scored. Haruhiro Hamaguchi pitched eight innings allowing just one run on four hits and no walks while fanning seven in a stellar performance on the mound. Since hitting home run #55 on September 13, Munetaka Murakami has had just two hits in 22 at-bats, striking out nine times with eight walks. Naoki Yoshikawa had three RBIs and two runs scored in leading the Yomiuri Giants to a crucial 9-3 victory over the Chunichi Dragons to maintain their hold onto third place in the Central League. Hayato Sakamoto went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. The three hits marked the 178th 'modasho' achieved for the 33 year old veteran who's in his 16th professional season, placing him tied for fifth all-time (Yutaka Fukumoto, Kazuo Matsui) on the list in the statistic that is unique to Japanese yakyū. Friday's game was the first of three make-up games the two teams will play over the weekend in Nagoya. Highlights in the link: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/game/2021011390/video/player/8225064 Fumihito Haraguchi and Teruaki Sato each homered as the Hanshin Tigers defeated the Hiroshima Carp 7-3 at Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium. The two teams are now tied for fourth place with identical records in the C.L., 1-1/2 games behind the Giants for the final playoff spot. Each team has three games remaining while the Giants have four. Hanshin are idle until Tuesday while the Carp won't play again until Thursday. 広島3-7阪神(9/23)ハイライトです⚾J SPORTSオンデマンドでは広島東洋カープ全主催試合LIVE&見逃し配信➡https://t.co/HjxWwVW8RL#jsports#carp #カープ pic.twitter.com/6xAiJ2i6Tm— J SPORTS 広島好き【公式】 (@jsports_carp) September 23, 2022
Yugo Bandoh allowed just five hits and one walk in a complete game shutout performance as the SoftBank Hawks blanked the Lotte Marines 6-0 to reduce their Magic Number at winning the Pacific League pennant to 6. Masaki Mimori led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run while Akira Nakamura hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning to help lead the Hawks to victory. The loss means the Marines can no longer win the P.L. pennant although they still have a chance at a post-season berth. Saturday's game was the second of four consecutive meetings between the two teams. Yoshinobu Yamamoto outperformed Masahiro Tanaka as the Ortix Buffaloes kept pace with the Hawks at the top of the Pacific League standings following their 9-1 over the Rakuten Eagles. Yamamoto allowed just two hits and three walks while striking out seven over seven innings to pick up his NPB-leading 15th win of the year. Masataka Yoshida went 3-for-5 with six RBIs off two doubles and a home run to continue his great form since the All-Star break. Tanaka took the loss after allowing four runs on nine hits and a walk, dropping his record to 9-11. Takumi Kuriyama went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored as the Seibu Lions took advantage of Rakuten's defeat by beating the Nippon-Ham Fighters 6-2 to regain third place in the Pacfic League dogfight.
The Yakult Swallows reduced their Magic Number to 2 following a convincing 8-1 win over the second place Yokohama BayStars. Rain delayed the start of the game but once first pitch was thrown the defending Central League champions wasted no time by scoring in the first three innings to take a 4-0 lead. Two more runs in both the fifth and seventh innings made it 8-0 before the BayStars finally scored a consolation run in the eighth. Cy Sneed went seven innings to pick up his ninth win of the year. José Osuna went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored which came from his solo home run in the second inning. Yuhei Nakamura also homered while Kotaro Yamasaki and Takeshi Miyamoto had four hits each. The Chunichi Dragons kept alive their slim playoff hopes by beating the Yomiuri Giants 2-1 in Nagoya. Shinnosuke Ogasawara struck out ten over seven innings in a stellar outing on the mound for the Dragons. The only run he conceded was a second inning solo home run by Kazuma Okamoto who has now hit at least 30 home runs for the third consecutive season. Yariel Rodríguez and Raidel Martínez each pitched one perfect inning of relief with Martínez earning his 37th save. The loss cuts the Giants lead over the Hiroshima Carp and Hanshin Tigers to just one game in the battle for third place in the Central League. The Dragons are four games back of Yomiuri as they cling to any hopes of post-season play.
Rookie outfielder Kazuya Maruyama slapped a one-out opposite field liner into the left-center alley scoring Yasutaka Shiomi from second base to give the Yakult Swallows a tough and tense 1-0 victory over a game Yokohama BayStars and earned the defending league champions their second consecutive Central League title. It's the 9th C.L. pennant for the Swallows and the first time they have won back-to-back pennants since 1992-1993. Both starting pitchers gave excellent performances in shutting out their opponents. Yakult's Yasuhiro Ogawa allowed just two hits and three walks over six innings while Yokohama's Shota Imanaga allowed three hits and struck out 11 in seven innings of work. José Osuna began the bottom of the ninth inning with an infield hit off BayStars reliever Edwin Escobar. Shiomi pinch-ran for Osuna and was sacrificed to second by Yuhei Nakamura. Maruyama then lined a 1-0 pitch into the left-center gap for the walk-off win. Thus, Maruyama became the first rookie in NPB history to produce a pennant-clinching sayonara hit that gave his team the League Championship. By winning the League, the Yakult Swallows gain a couple of perks during the Climax Series post-season: They receive a first phase bye into the final phase, and in the final phase they will host the entire series while starting off with a one-win advantage (best-fo-seven series, first to four wins advances to the Nippon Series). The defending NPB champions will be looking to become the first Central League team to repeat as Japan Series champions since the 1979-1980 Hiroshima Carp.
The Yomiuri Giants, in pole position to take third place in the Central League just two days ago, suffered their second consecutive loss against the Chunichi Dragons following their 7-1 defeat at the Valentin Dome and now hold just a 1/2-game advantage over the Hiroshima Carp and Hanshin Tigers having played one game more. Takuya Kinoshita was the Dragons Hero on Sunday going 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs. Yudai Ohno pitched 5-1/3 to pick up his eighth win of the year. Chunichi will have Monday off before beginning a four game series at the Yokohama BayStars. The Giants will have until Saturday to collect their thoughts and will then close out their schedule with a two-game set at Yokohama next weekend. Until then they can only sit and watch what the Tigers, Carp and Dragons do.
Akira Nakamura went 2-for-3 with a walk and a three-run homer while Kodai Senga pitched six shutout innings as the SoftBank Hawks crushed the Lotte Marines 10-0 at the PayPay Dome in Fukuoka. The result reduced the Hawks' Magic Number to 5 as they look to regain the Pacific League crown they basically owned during the 2010s. Senga allowed five hits and four walks while striking out five in earning his 11th victory of the season. Catcher Takuya Kai also had a three-run home run and Kenta Imamiya hit a two-run blast in the seventh inning to close out the day's scoring. Monday's finale of this four game series will feature Nao Higashihama and Roki Sasaki in a matchup between two pitchers who have thrown no-hit no-run games this season. For Sasaki, who tossed a Perfect Game back on April 10, it could be his last outing of the year. A fourth inning double by Kensuke Kondo was the only hit the Rakuten Eagles allowed in their 6-0 win over the Nippon-Ham Fighters. Wataru Karashima pitched seven innings allowing the one hit with one walk and a hit batsman. Relievers Sung Chia-hao and Tomohiro Anraku each pitched a perfect inning in the shutout performance. The victory pulled the Eagles up to third place, even with the Seibu Lions on winning percentage although Rakuten have two games in hand over the Lions. The two teams face off head-to-head on Wednesday.
An eighth inning two-out single to centerfield by Kenta Imamiya drove in Yuki Yanagita from second base with the game winning run to give the SoftBank Hawks a hard fought 2-1 victory over the Lotte Marines. The win in their final home game of the regular season gives the Hawks a one game lead over the second place Orix Buffaloes and reduces their Magic Number at clinching the Pacific League pennant to 4. Lotte's 20 year old ace Roki Sasaki pitched six innings in what was likely his final outing of the season, allowing just two hits and three walks with strikeouts. But in the fifth inning while facing Taisei Makihara he threw a wild pitch that allowed Masaki Mimori to race home from third for the first run of the game. In the top of the sixth Shogo Nakamura hit a one out double to left field which chased SoftBank's starting pitcher Nao Higashihama. Two batters later Seiya Inoue singled to center off reliever Keisuke Izumi to tie the score at 1-1. The run was charged to Higashihama who finished with a line of 5-1/3 innings pitched allowing the one earned run off four hits and one walk. He fanned four Lotte batters. Liván Moinelo earned his 23rd save and the Hawks now have five games remaining (all on the road) while the Buffaloes only have three. The Marines fell to three games behind the Seibu Lions for third place with both teams having four games to play. The Rakuten Eagles dropped to a half-game behind Seibu following their difficult 3-2 loss to the Nippon-Ham Fighters. Takayuki Katoh pitched a gen for the Fighters allowing just five hits and two walks over eight innings. The two runs he allowed came off a two-out two-RBI single by Hiroaki Shimauchi which pulled the Eagles to within one run but Katoh then fanned Ryosuke Tatsumi to end the Rakuten rally. Hiromi Itoh took down the Eagles in order in the ninth as Nippon-Ham continue to relish their role of playing spoiler in the final days of their campaign.
BATTING Average .322 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .317 - Yohei Ohshima (Dragons) .304 - Keita Sano (BayStars) .298 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .297 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) On-Base Percentage .462 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .376 - Yohei Ohshima (Dragons) .369 - Yoshihiro Maru (Giants) .362 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .360 - Keita Sano (BayStars) OPS 1.185 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .864 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) .862 - Yoshihiro Maru (Giants) .850 - Keita Sano (BayStars) .828 - Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) Home Runs 55 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) 30 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 27 - Yoshihiro Maru (Giants) 24 - 3 players tied RBIs 132 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) 86 - Yusuke Ohyama (Tigers) 83 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) 84 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) 81 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) AVG with RISP .353 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .344 - Ryosuke Kikuchi (Carp) .331 - Ryan McBroom (Carp) .328 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) .313 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) Stolen Bases 29 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 24 - Yasutaka Shiomi (Swallows) 22 - Yuki Okabayashi (Dragons) 22 - Takumu Nakano (Tigers) 20 - Kairi Shimada (Tigers) PITCHING ERA 2.07 - Koyo Aoyagi (Tigers) 2.18 - Yuki Nishi (Tigers) 2.37 - Shota Imanaga (BayStars) 2.46 - Yudai Ohno (Dragons) 2.65 - Shosei Togo (Giants) WHIP 0.958 - Shota Imanaga (BayStars) 0.959 - Koyo Aoyagi (Tigers) 1.04 - Yudai Ohno (Dragons) 1.07 - Yuki Nishi (Tigers) 1.10 - Tomoyuki Sugano (Giants) Innings pitched 173.0 - Masato Morishita (Carp) 166.2 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 157.0 - Yudai Ohno (Dragons) 156.1 - Koyo Aoyagi (Tigers) 150.1 - Yasuhiro Ogawa (Swallows) Strikeouts 147 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 133 - Shinnosuke Ogasawara (Dragons) 132 - Hiroto Takahashi (Dragons) 130 - Masato Morishita (Carp) 128 - Koyo Aoyagi (Tigers) Wins 12 - Koyo Aoyagi (Tigers) 12 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 11 - Shinichi Ohnuki (BayStars) 10 - Shota Imanaga (BayStars) 10 - Masato Morishita (Carp) Holds 40 - Atsuki Yuasa (Tigers) 38 - Hiromu Ise (BayStars) 37 - Yariel Rodriguez (Dragons) 34 - Edwin Escobar (BayStars) 30 - Tatsuya Shimizu (Dragons) Saves 37 - Raidel Martínez (Dragons) 37 - Scott McGough (Swallows) 36 - Yasuaki Yamasaki (BayStars) 36 - Taisei Ota (Giants) 31 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp)
BATTING Average .349 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) .337 - Masataka Yoshida (Buffaloes) .301 - Hiroaki Shimauchi (Eagles) .295 - Kenta Imamiya (Hawks) .291 - Keita Nakagawa (Buffaloes) On-Base Percentage .448 - Masataka Yoshida (Buffaloes) .400 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) .377 - Hiroaki Shimauchi (Eagles) .372 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Lions) .368 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) OPS 1.012 - Masataka Yoshida (Buffaloes) .944 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Lions) .836 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) .835 - Hiroaki Shimauchi (Eagles) .814 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) Home Runs 39 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Lions) 27 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) 22 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) 21 - Masataka Yoshida (Buffaloes) 17 - Kotaro Kiyomiya (Fighters) RBIs 87 - Masataka Yoshida (Buffaloes) 86 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Lions) 84 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) 75 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) 74 - Hiroaki Shimauchi (Eagles) AVG with RISP .429 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) .371 - Masataka Yoshida (Buffaloes) .331 - Yuma Mune (Buffaloes) .320 - Kenta Imamiya (Hawks) .311 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) Stolen Bases 42 - Akito Takabe (Marines) 21 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) 20 - Hiroto Kobukata (Eagles) 20 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) 19 - 2 players tied PITCHING ERA 1.65 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 2.01 - Takayuki Katoh (Fighters) 2.24 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 2.965 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 2.967 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) WHIP 0.908 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 0.914 - Takayuki Katoh (Fighters) 1.11 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 1.158 - Masahiro Tanaka (Eagles) 1.1620 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) Innings pitched 186.0 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 168.2 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 158.0 - Masahiro Tanaka (Eagles) 154.2 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 148.0 - Naoyuki Uwasawa (Fighters) Strikeouts 195 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 173 - Roki Sasaki (Marines) 147 - Koudai Senga (Hawks) 125 - Masahiro Tanaka (Eagles) 124 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) Wins 15 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Buffaloes) 13 - Koudai Senga (Hawks) 11 - Kona Takahashi (Lions) 11 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 10 - 4 players tied Holds 31 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 30 - Yoshinobu Mizukami (Lions) 30 - Naoto Nishiguchi (Eagles) 28 - Taiki Tojo (Marines) 27 - Shinya Kayama (Hawks) Saves 32 - Yuki Matsui (Eagles) 30 - Tatsushi Masuda (Lions) 28 - Yoshihisa Hirano (Buffaloes) 25 - Naoya Masuda (Marines) 23 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks)
Hotaka Yamakawa hit a two-run home run in the first inning and Kona Takahashi struck out eight batters over seven innings in leading the Seibu Lions to a crucial 4-1 win over the SoftBank Hawks in Saitama on Tuesday. For Yamakawa, it was his 40th home run of the year as well as his 87th and 88th RBIs to place him back in the lead in the Pacific League RBI race. Aito Takeda's double in the fifth inning added two more runs for Seibu who continue to hold on the third place in the P.L. standings with just three games remaining on their regular season. Cuban gaijin Alfredo Despaigne scored SoftBank's lone run with a solo blast in the seventh inning as the Hawks missed a golden chance to take a further step towards the league pennant. Despite the defeat, the Softbank Hawks Magic Number was reduced to 3 after the Orix Buffaloes were beaten 6-1 by the Rakuten Eagles who chased the Buffaloes young southpaw pitcher Hiroya Miyagi in the third inning en route to the convincing win. Eagles nine-year veteran Takahiro Norimoto pitched a brilliant complete game allowing just three hits and one walk while fanning five. Chris Gittens knocked in two runs and Ryosuke Tatsumi went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored to help lead Rakuten to the key win. The Eagles will look to even their record with the Lions on Wednesday when they return home to face the Hawks who will look to reduce their Magic Number even more. The Buffaloes and Lions and idle on Wednesday. Following the game, umpire Fuji Iizuka was given a retirement ceremony following 26 years of service. The Lions win over the Hawks eliminated the Lotte Marines from playoff contention. In Sapporo the Marines were demolished by the Nippon-Ham Fighters 14-0. Kotaro Kiyomiya led the Fighting brigade by going 4-for-5 with a grand slam, six RBIs and three runs scored.
At Meiji Jingu the Hanshin Tigers beat the Central League champion Yakult Swallows 4-1 to pull even with the idle Yomiuri Giants for third place in the standings. The incredible race for the final C.L. playoff spot also has the Hiroshima Carp a half-game behind with a game in hand. Koyo Aoyagi went six innings to (finally) pick up his 13th win at the seventh attempt, his 12th win coming back on August 2. Suguru Iwazaki earned save number 27. Munetaka Murakami's slump at the plate continued as he went 0-for-3 against the Tigers. His quest at the batting Triple Crown is now in jeopardy as his batting average has dipped to .321, just above the .319 by Yohei Oshima of the Chunichi Dragons.