Kōki Kitayama hurled a complete game shutout to lead the Nippon-Ham Fighters to a 2-0 victory over the Lotte Marines at Es Con Field Hokkaido on Saturday. Kitaayama's gem saw him allow just four hits and a walk while striking out 7 to earn his second win of the year. Gō Matsumoto led the Fighters on offense going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Marines starter Kazuya Ojima also pitched deep into the game going 7-2/3 innings without registering a strikeout in a tough decision loss. The Hiroshima Carp scored four runs in the first inning and Koki Ugusa added a pinch hit home run in the 7th in the team's 6-2 win over the Yomiuri Giants at Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium. Masato Morishita struggled with command allowing 12 hits over 6-1/3 innings yet allowed just one run to pick up his first victory of the campaign.
Sunday 21 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-04-21 Carp-Giants was called after 5 innings (rain) Tigers-Dragons was called in the 7th inning (rain/field conditions)
Hiroya Miyagi went the distance allowing just five hits while striking out 11 to lead the Orix Buffaloes to a 3-1 win over the SoftBank Hawks at the PayPay Dome in Fukuoka. The southpaw Miyagi allowed a solo home run to WBC Samurai Japan teammate Kensuke Kondoh in the 4th inning but was otherwise in complete command in his sixth career complete game performance. Shuhei Fukuda went 2-for-4 with a walk and scored all three runs for Orix as the two teams that are expected to fight for the Pacific League crown split their three-game weekend series 1-1-1. Rain halted two games in the Central League that were recorded as official results since they both lasted at least 5 innings. While the Hiroshima Carp and Yomiuri Giants ended scoreless (after 5 innings) for the second time in three days, Teruaki Sato's three-run home run in the bottom of the 6th were the only runs at Koshien as the Hanshin Tigers beat the Chunichi Dragons 3-0. The win completed a three-game sweep by the Tigers and lifts them over the Dragons into first place atop the C.L. standings.
BATTING Average .318 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .316 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) .315 - Leandro Cedeño (Buffaloes) .304 - Atsuki Tomosugi (Marines) .299 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) On-Base Percentage .458 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .442 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .398 - Leandro Cedeño (Buffaloes) .391 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) .384 - Kenta Imamiya (Hawks) OPS .988 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .973 - Leandro Cedeño (Buffaloes) .891 - Kenta Imamiya (Hawks) .860 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .785 - Gregory Polanco (Marines) Home Runs 5 - Leandro Cedeño (Buffaloes) 4 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 4 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) 3 - 4 players tied RBIs 22 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) 15 - Leandro Cedeño (Buffaloes) 13 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) 12 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 12 - Yuma Tongu (Buffaloes) AVG with RISP .471 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .417 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) .364 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .364 - Go Matsumoto (Fighters) .364 - Hiromi Oka (Marines) Stolen Bases 8 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) 5 - Hiromi Oka (Marines) 5 - Hiroto Kobukata (Eagles) 4 - Yuya Ogo (Eagles) 4 - Ryota Isobata (Fighters) PITCHING ERA 0.64 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) 0.87 - Yuji Nishino (Marines) 1.48 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 1.71 - Koki Kitayama (Fighters) 1.73 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 1.73 -Liván Moinelo (Hawks) WHIP 0.71 - Koki Kitayama (Fighters) 0.73 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 0.73 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 0.89 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 0.95 - Roki Sasaki (Marines) Innings pitched 30.1 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 28.0 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) 26.2 - Kazuya Ojima (Marines) 26.0 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 26.0 -Liván Moinelo (Hawks) Strikeouts 34 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) 32 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 27 - Koki Kitayama (Fighters) 26 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 23 - Roki Sasaki (Marines) Wins 3 - Yuki Tsumori (Hawks) 3 - Anderson Espinoza (Buffaloes) 2 - 11 players tied Holds 11 - Yuki Matsumoto (Hawks) 7 - Tomohito Sakai (Eagles) 7 - Hirokazu Sawamura (Marines) 6 - Shoma Kanemura (Fighters) 6 - Andrés Machado (Buffaloes) 6 - Sung Chia-hao (Eagles) Saves 8 - Roberto Osuna (Hawks) 5 - Albert Abreu (Lions) 5 - Yoshihisa Hirano (Buffaloes) 4 - Seigi Tanaka (Fighters) 3 - Takahiro Norimoto (Eagles)
BATTING Average .328 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .328 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .321 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .313 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .310 - Takayoshi Noma (Carp) On-Base Percentage .488 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .413 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .397 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .391 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .371 - Taiki Sekine (BayStars) OPS 1.019 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .9164 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .9159 - Jose Osuna (Swallows) .844 - Takayoshi Noma (Carp) .835 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) Home Runs 4 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) 4 - Jose Osuna (Swallows) 4 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) 3 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 3 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) 3 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) RBIs 14 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) 13 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 13 - Jose Osuna (Swallows) 13 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) 10 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) 10 - Sho Nakata (Dragons) AVG with RISP .571 - Takayoshi Noma (Carp) .533 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .438 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .438 - Kaito Kozono (Carp) .417 - Yuhei Nakamura (Swallows) Stolen Bases 4 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 3 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) 2 - 12 players tied PITCHING ERA 0.38 - Rei Takahashi (Giants) 0.44 - Tomoyuki Sugano (Giants) 1.04 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 1.29 - Hiroki Tokoda (Carp) 1.69 - Yuki Nishi (Tigers) WHIP 0.58 - Rei Takahashi (Giants) 0.87 - Shinnosuke Ogasawara (Dragons) 0.88 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 0.885 - Tomoyuki Sugano (Giants) 0.890 - Yuki Nishi (Tigers) Innings pitched 26.2 - Aren Kuri (Carp) 26.0 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 26.0 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 25.0 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 24.0 - Rei Takahashi (Giants) 24.0 - Koyo Aoyagi (Tigers) Strikeouts 27 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 22 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 22 - Kojiro Yoshimura (Swallows) 21 - Aren Kuri (Carp) 20 - Shoki Murakami (Tigers) 20 - Koyo Aoyagi (Tigers) Wins 3 - Miguel Yajure (Swallows) 2 - 10 players tied Holds 9 - Yuhi Nishidate (Giants) 6 - Tatsuya Shimizu (Dragons) 6 - Koki Saito (Dragons) 6 - Taichi Ishiyama (Swallows) 6 - Akiyoshi Katsuno (Dragons) Saves 7 - Raidel Martínez (Dragons) 4 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 4 - Taisei Ota (Giants) 4 - Kohei Morihara (BayStars) 3 - 3 players tied
Tuesday 23 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-04-23 Eagles-Fighters went 12 innings BayStars-Tigers finished tied after 12 innings
Kohei Arihara outdueled Roki Sasaki by pitching a complete game in helping to lead the SoftBank Hawks to a 4-2 victory over the Lotte Marines at ZOZO Marine Stadium off Tokyo Bay. Although two of the three hits allowed by Arihara were solo home runs (by Koki Yamaguchi and Gregory Polanco), he allowed just 1 hit and 1 walk the rest of the night while recording 9 strikeouts. It's his ninth consecutive win against the Marines dating back to 2019 when he was with the Nippon-Ham Fighters Sasaki pitched into the 8th inning and allowed three runs (two earned) on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4. His fastball hovered around 159 kmh over seven innings while he topped out at 161 kmh, his first 100 mph heater thrown this season. Kensuke Kondoh, whose RBI single in the 4th inning was his first base hit off Sasaki in 19 career at bats, left the game in the bottom half of the 6th after feeling discomfort in his knee. The contest marked two milestones: It was the 10,000th game for the Marines going back to 1950 when they began as the Mainichi Orions, and it was the 1,500th career game for Hawks infielder Kenta Imamiya becoming the 206th player in NPB history to reach the mark. 140 km (87 miles) northeast of Tokyo the Yomiuri Giants snapped a six-game winless streak by defeating the Chunichi Dragons 2-0 at Hitachinaka Municipal Stadium. RBI singles by 35 year old veteran Hayato Sakamoto (1st inning) and 23 year old rookie Masaya Hagio (4th inning) were all that was needed to hand Chunichi their fifth consecutive defeat. Leaders of the Central League until last Sunday, the Dragons have now gone 23 straight innings without scoring a run and have not hit a home run for 13 consecutive games which ties a club record.
Wednesday 24 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-04-24 Swallows-Carp postponed (rain) Eagles-Fighters postponed (rain) Marines-Hawks called after 6 innings (rain) Buffaloes-Lions went 10 innings
Kotaro Kurebayashi singled home Kenya Wakatsuki with the sayonara run as the Orix Buffaloes avoided an embarrassing defeat by beating the Seibu Lions 4-3 in 10 innings. Orix took a 3-0 lead into the top of the 9th when veteran closer Yoshihisa Hirano was rocked for three runs to tie the score. Takeya Nakamura began the rally by slugging the 473rd home run of his career. Seibu's comeback denied Buffaloes starting pitcher Anderson Espinoza his fourth win in as many starts despite a stellar performance going 7 shutout innings allowing just 2 hits and 1 walk with 7 strikeouts. The Hanshin Tigers scored four runs in the 9th inning to overturn a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 win over the DeNA BayStars at a rainy Yokohama Stadium. Hanshin's southpaw starting pitcher Masashi Ito took a no-hitter into the 7th inning following a 40 minute rain delay and proceeded to give up three runs (two earned) on four hits as the BayStars took a 3-1 lead into the 9th. But the normally reliable Yasuaki Yamasaki could not shut the door, allowing three hits and a hit batsmen and the Tigers scored four runs before the first out was made.
A wild game at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo ended with Domingo Santana crushing a Ryoji Kuribayashi fastball into the right field bleachers to give the Yakult Swallows a dramatic 9-8 sayonara victory over the Hiroshima Carp on Thursday night. 21 year old rookie Shoichi Futamata's first career home run (his second career hit) put Hiroshima up 2-0 in the second inning but the Swallows hit back with six runs in the bottom of the frame capped by Jose Osuna's second grand slam of the season. The Carp chipped away with a brace of runs in the 3rd, 4th and 6th innings to lead 8-6. But Yakult answered with single runs in the 6th and 8th to set up Santana's bomb off the Central League's best closer who had allowed just one hit with 14 strikeouts in 8-1/3 innings and began the 9th by striking out Munetaka Murakami. SportsNavi highlights https://sports.yahoo.co.jp/video/player/13960109 Pro Yakyu highlights Takeya "Second helpings" Nakamura contributed an RBI and became the first player in NPB history at least 40 years old to hit a double in five consecutive games as the Seibu Lions beat the Orix Buffaloes 3-1 in Osaka. Venezuelan fist baseman Jesús Aguilar knocked in Seibu's two other runs while outfielder Yūji Kaneko went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Brazilian-born Bo Takahashi, in his third season with the Lions, picked up his first career NPB win after working 5-1/3 innings allowing one earned run on three hits, one walk and one hit batsman.
Only two games were scheduled for Friday, both in the Central League. In Yokohama the DeNA BayStars erupted for six runs in the 8th inning to score a 7-2 come-from-behind victory over the Yomiuri Giants. Rookie outfielder Ryuki Watarai, who has struggled since late-March when he homered twice in the opening weekend of the season, finished off the late-inning rally with a grand slam that capped a 3-for-4 performance at the plate. Keita Sano added two RBIs to share in the Hero of the Game honors. The Yakult Swallows collected 12 hits while the Hanshin Tigers committed four errors as the visitors romped to an 8-2 win at Koshien Stadium. Seiya Kinami had 3 of the fielding miscues, 30% of the amount he made all season last year. Swallows starting pitcher Yasuhiro Ogawa went 7 innings in his first appearance of the season to pick up the win and he also aided his cause with two RBIs including a walk with the bases loaded. The Tigers' Shota Morishita hit the game's only home run, his fifth of the year. A full slate of games will be played over the weekend including Monday afternoon as the country prepares for its annual Golden Week (ゴールデンウィーク) celebrations.
Saturday 27 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-04-27 Hawks-Lions went 10 innings
Hikaru Kawase, who entered the game in the 8th inning as a pinch runner, singled home Ukyo Shuto in the 10th to give the SoftBank Hawks a 2-1 sayonara victory over the Seibu Lions at the newly renamed Mizuho PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, the first ballpark in Japan to feature two sponsorships in its name. The anticipated pitching matchup between the SoftBank's Livan Moinelo and Seibu's Tatsuya Imai lived up to its billing as each starter went 7 innings in stellar performances. Moinelo allowed 1 earned run on 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 5 but conceded a home run to Yuji Kaneko in the 3rd inning. It was Kaneko's first homer of the season and just his second bomb since 2020. Just as remarkable was the stolen base achieved by 40-year-old Takeya Nakamura in the 6th inning. It was the 28th swipe of his career and just the second steal since 2020 for the big man nicknamed 'Second Helpings'. For his part, Imai pitched 6 shutout innings before the Hawks finally broke through with an earned run on a pinch hit RBI single from Akira Nakamura in the 7th. Imai fanned 6 batters while giving up 5 hits and 2 walks. Koki Ugusa hit a two-run home run in the second inning and Kaito Kozono went a modasho 3-for-4 at the plate with 3 RBIs to help give the Hiroshima Carp a 6-4 win over the Chunichi Dragons at the Vantelin Dome in Nagoya. Masato Morishita struck out six batters over 7 innings to pick up his second win of the year. Former SoftBank Hawk outfielder Seiji Uebayashi, in his first seasons with the Dragons, hit his first home run for his new club and Seiya Hosokawa slugged his fifth round-tripper of the year as the Dragons fell short in a valiant comeback attempt in the 8th inning.
Sunday 28 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-04-28 Hawks-Lions went 12 innings Dragons-Carp finished tied after 12 innings
A sacrifice fly from Kenya Wakatsuki scored pinch runner Tomoya Noguchi with two outs in the 8th to give the Orix Buffaloes a comeback 5-4 win over the Nippon-Ham Fighters at Es Con Field Hokkaido on Sunday afternoon. The latest gem in a recent line of talented pitchers for the Buffaloes, 19-year-old right-hander Kyosuke Saito made his NPB debut and was perfect in his first 3 innings. But he was removed with two outs in the 4th when, despite still not allowing a base hit, he gave up 2 runs (one earned) on 4 walks to finish with a very unusual line that included 4 strikeouts over 75 pitches. The Fighters actually scored three runs before recording their first and only base hit of the game when Ariel Martinez's two-out double off reliever Taito Takashima to put the home team up 4-2 in the 5th inning before the Buffaloes gradual comeback with single runs in the 6th, 7th and 8th innings. Orix collected 10 hits while the game featured a combined 9 walks and 5 errors. A two-out bloop fly from Yusuke Ohyama landed in front of a diving Domingo Santana in shallow left field to score two runs in the 7th inning and hand the Hanshin Tigers a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the Yakult Swallows at Koshien. Shota Morishita, running full speed from first base with two outs, crossed home plate behind Takumu Nakano to score the game winning run. Tigers third baseman Teruaki Sato hit a modasho 3-for-4 with one RBI. After opening the year working his mechanics and having a 0.93 ERA in four tune-up starts on the farm, Chunichi Dragons ace hurler Hiroto Takahashi was impressive in his season debut going 7 strong innings allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5 but took a no-decision in the team's 0-0 tie with the Hiroshima Carp in Nagoya. Takahashi threw 108 pitches.
BATTING Average .329 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .307 - Takayoshi Noma (Carp) .305 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) .304 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .295 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) On-Base Percentage .425 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .402 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .396 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .391 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .365 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) OPS .896 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .865 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .855 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .849 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) .846 - Jose Osuna (Swallows) Home Runs 5 - Jose Osuna (Swallows) 5 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) 5 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) 4 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 4 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) RBIs 17 - Jose Osuna (Swallows) 16 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) 14 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 14 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) 13 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) AVG with RISP .500 - Takayoshi Noma (Carp) .450 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .429 - Yuhei Nakamura (Swallows) .421 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .400 - Kaito Kozono (Carp) Stolen Bases 4 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) 4 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 4 - Makoto Kadowaki (Giants) 3 - Takayoshi Noma (Carp) 3 - Yasutaka Shiomi (Swallows) 3 - Shinnosuke Shigenobu (Giants) PITCHING ERA 0.93 - Hiroki Tokoda (Carp) 0.95 - Rei Takahashi (Giants) 1.03 - Tomoyuki Sugano (Giants) 1.73 - Iori Yamasaki (Giants) 1.74 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) WHIP 0.78 - Rei Takahashi (Giants) 0.80 - Shinnosuke Ogasawara (Dragons) 0.97 - Hiroki Tokoda (Carp) 0.98 - Aren Kuri (Carp) 0.99 - Tomoyuki Sugano (Giants) Innings pitched 33.2 - Aren Kuri (Carp) 33.0 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 32.0 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 31.0 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 29.1 - Kotaro Otake (Tigers) Strikeouts 31 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 27 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 26 - Kojiro Yoshimura (Swallows) 24 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 24 - Aren Kuri (Carp) Wins 3 - Tomoyuki Sugano (Giants) 3 - Kotaro Otake (Tigers) 3 - Miguel Yajure (Swallows) 2 - 14 players tied Holds 10 - Yuhi Nishidate (Giants) 8 - Alberto Baldonado (Giants) 8 - Koki Saito (Dragons) 7 - Tatsuya Shimizu (Dragons) 7 - Javy Guerra (Tigers) Saves 8 - Raidel Martínez (Dragons) 7 - Taisei Ota (Giants) 6 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 5 - Javy Guerra (Tigers) 4 - Suguru Iwazaki (Tigers) 4 - Kohei Morihara (BayStars)
BATTING Average .333 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .305 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) .302 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .298 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .297 - Leandro Cedeño (Buffaloes) On-Base Percentage .482 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .423 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .383 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) .379 - Leandro Cedeño (Buffaloes) .376 - Kenta Imamiya (Hawks) OPS .922 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .895 - Leandro Cedeño (Buffaloes) .888 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .832 - Kenta Imamiya (Hawks) .788 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) Home Runs 5 - Leandro Cedeño (Buffaloes) 5 - Gregory Polanco (Marines) 5 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) 4 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 3 - 3 players tied RBIs 28 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) 18 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) 15 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 15 - Leandro Cedeño (Buffaloes) 13 - Hideto Asamura (Eagles) AVG with RISP .450 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .407 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .400 - Ariel Martínez (Fighters) .400 - Kotaro Kurebayashi (Buffaloes) .385 - Ryusei Satoh (Lions) .385 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) Stolen Bases 8 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) 7 - Hiroto Kobukata (Eagles) 5 - Hiromi Oka (Marines) 5 - Ryota Isobata (Fighters) 4 - 3 players tied PITCHING ERA 0.33 - Anderson Espinoza (Buffaloes) 0.77 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) 1.41 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 1.46 - Kaima Taira (Lions) 1.48 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) WHIP 0.72 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 0.74 - Anderson Espinoza (Buffaloes) 0.76 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 0.84 - Nao Higashihama (Hawks) 0.88 - Kohei Arihara (Hawks) Innings pitched 35.0 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) 33.2 - Kazuya Ojima (Marines) 33.0 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 32.0 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 31.1 - Chihiro Sumida (Lions) Strikeouts 40 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) 34 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 32 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 27 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 27 - Koki Kitayama (Fighters) 27 - Roki Sasaki (Marines) Wins 4 - Yuki Tsumori (Hawks) 3 - Anderson Espinoza (Buffaloes) 3 - Ryosuke Ohtsu (Hawks) 3 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 2 - 13 players tied Holds 12 - Yuki Matsumoto (Hawks) 8 - Tomohito Sakai (Eagles) 8 - Andrés Machado (Buffaloes) 8 - Sung Chia-hao (Eagles) 7 - 3 players tied Saves 8 - Roberto Osuna (Hawks) 7 - Yoshihisa Hirano (Buffaloes) 6 - Albert Abreu (Lions) 4 - Takahiro Norimoto (Eagles) 4 - Seigi Tanaka (Fighters)
Monday 29 April - 昭和の日 (ゴールデンウィーク) Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-04-29 Carp-Tigers postponed (rain)
The offense scored early and often and Miguel Yajure tossed a complete game shutout as the Yakult Swallows beat up on their cross-town rival Yomiuri Giants 9-0 Monday afternoon at the Tokyo Dome. Yakult scored runs in each of the first 4 innings including four runs off five hits in the 1st. Munetaka Murakami led the onslaught going 3-for-5 including his fifth home run of the year. Tetsuto Yamada also homered for the visitors, his first of the campaign. Yajure faced just three batters over the minimum, allowing three hits and no walks on only 94 pitches the entire game. Seiya Hosokawa slugged his NPB-leading sixth home run in grand slam fashion helping the Chunichi Dragons overwhelm the Yokohama DeNA BayStars 11-1 at the Vantelin Dome.
The Rakuten Eagles scored three runs in both the 6th and 7th innings to score a come-from-behind 8-6 win over the Lotte Marines in Chiba. 13-year veteran Hiroaki Shimauchi drove in three runs to aid in the Eagles' victory while second year pitcher Kosei Shoji picked up his first win of the season despite giving up four earned runs. The SoftBank Hawks swept the Seibu Lions in Fukuoka with all three wins arriving via sayonara walk offs. - On Saturday Hikaru Kawase provided the heroics with the game-winning single in the 10th inning. - On Sunday Lions catcher Takeru Furuichi was charged with a passed ball that allowed Riku Ogata to race home with the game ending run. - And on Monday ageless wonder Yuki Yanagita cracked a two-out three-run home run in the 9th inning to overturn a 4-2 deficit and complete Seibu's weekend misery.