Today (April 10) marks the 2 year anniversary of Roki Sasaki's Prefect Game against the Orix Buffaloes. Sasaki was aged 20 years, 5 months and it was just his 14th NPB appearance. . It was the first NPB Perfect Game in 28 years (Hiromi Makihara, Yomiuri Giants vs Hiroshima Carp) He tied the single game NPB Record for strikeouts (19). He set the world professional record for consecutive strikeouts (13). The third out of each inning was via strikeout. He threw 105 pitches (82 for strikes). His fastball average was 160.1 km/h (99.5 mph) and topped out at 164 km/h (102 mph), Masataka Yoshida (currently with the Boston Red Sox) struck out in all three of his at bats. The previous year (2021) he struck out just 26 times, lowest among all qualified batters for that season. Sasaki's battery mate was Kō Matsukawa, an 18-year-old rookie catcher fresh out of high school. Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rōki_Sasaki's_perfect_game All 27 outs. The final out.
Wednesday 10 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-04-10 Lions-Marines went 10 innings Buffaloes-Eagles went 10 innings
The consensus pick to finish last in the Central League for a third straight season, the Chunichi Dragons are off to a flying start following their 6-1 victory in Yokohama against the DeNA BayStars. It's the fifth consecutive win for the Dragons who have also won 7 of their last 8. Leading the CL with a .700 winning percentage, Chunichi's start is all the more impressive given that key players Hiroto Takahashi, Takaya Ishikawa and Yuki Okabayashi have yet to see action this season as they still recover from various injuries. On Wednesday the visiting Dragons chased Baystars starting pitcher Kenta Kozono in the third inning after he conceded 5 earned runs off 7 hits and 3 walks. On the night Chunichi collected 15 base hits total led by Hironori Miyoshi and Shuhei Takahashi who each went 3-for-5 with 1 RBI and a run scored. Takeya Nakamura tied the game with a 9th inning home run but it was in vain as the Lotte Marines outlasted the Seibu Lions 3-2 at the Belluna Dome in Saitama. It was career home run #472 for the 40 year old girthy player nicknamed 'Second Helpings' who has now hit at least one home run for 21 consecutive seasons. But the Marines were able to come away with the win when Neftali Soto singled to centerfield scoring Atsuki Tomosugi in the 10th inning to earn the Marines their third consecutive victory.
Kotaro Kurebayashi lined a one-out double into the right-centerfield gap that scored an exhausted Yutaro Sugimoto from first base to give the Orix Buffaloes a sayonara 2-1 win over the Rakuiten Eagles at the Osaka Kyocera Dome on Thursday night. Leandro Cedeño launched his third home run in two days and has been an incredible find by the Buffaloes who signed the Venezuelan last year. Spending his first six professional years with the affiliatesw of the St Louis Cardinals and Arizona Diamondbacks he failed to reach MLB when Orix came calling. The 25 year old is fairly young for being an NPB gaijin and if his success continues it will be interesting to see if he decides to stay in Japan if and when MLB teams seek his return across the Pacific. Orix's rising pitching star Shunpeita Yamashita tossed 5 shutout innings which included his fastball consistently hitting 156-157 km/h (97-98 mph), an average that tops Roki Sasaki's so far this season Regarding the Eagles, 35 year old former New York Yankee Masahiro Tanaka has yet to make an appearance with the ichi-gun top team. He had elbow cleaning surgery late last year and accepted a 50% pay cut to stay with Rakuten this season. Naoki Yoshikawa drove in two runs while veteran pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano pitched 6 scoreless innings to lead the Yomiuri Giants to a 5-0 blanking of the crosstown rival Yakult Swallows at Meiji Jingu Stadium. The Giants now have 5 shutout victories through 11 games, the fastest to that mark from Opening Day in NPB history, besting the previous record of 5 shutout wins after 12 games held by the 1969 Hanshin Tigers. After pitching 7 scoreless innings in his first outing of the year against the Hiroshima Carp, Swallows starter Keiji Takahashi went 6 more innings on Thursday before surrendering his first run on a two-out single from Seiji Kobayashi that scored Shunsuke Sasaki from second base. Yakult Swallows slugger Munetaka Murakami has now gone 45 consecutive plate appearances from Opening Day without a homerun or RBI although he has been walked on 13 occasions. Link to SportsNavi highlights https://sports.yahoo.co.jp/video/player/13774922 Pro Yakyu version
Friday 12 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-04-12 Dragons-Tigers finished tied after 12 innings
2023 began very well for Hotaka Yamakawa. He was in his tenth season with the only professional club he had known, the Seibu Lions, and he played a key part for Samurai Japan against Mexico in the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic when his sacrifice fly in the 8th inning reduced the deficit to 5-4 before Japan scored twice in the 9th to advance to the final. After defeating the United States in the final, Yamakawa's image filled newspapers and television screens as he paraded his daughter around Marlins Park in triumph. His popularity was not only sky high with Lions fans but also with many throughout the country for his play on the field, his humor and his dedication as a family man off the field. That world came crashing down last May 11 when he was being investigated for sexually assaulting a female acquaintance at a hotel in Tokyo in November 2022. Reports stated that the female acquaintance had suffered bleeding injuries in parts of her body including her private area. Yamakawa admitted that he had relations with the female and that everything was consensual. In response, the Lions removed Yamakawa from their active roster indefinitely and he was forced to sit out the rest of the campaign. Yamakawa's image and popularity nosedived despite not facing any charges as a result of the allegations. During the off-season there were rumors that the Lions would bring back their cleanup hitter but in the end they released him. In swooped the SoftBank Hawks, looking to return to their glory years of the 2010s and who already have the controversial Roberto Osuna as their star closer. They signed the 32 year old Yamakawa to a 4-year deal and he immediately paid dividends, homering on Opening Day against the reigning Pacific League champion Orix Buffaloes. During his presentation press conference, Yamakawa once again apologized to those he affected as well as to Seibu fans for the series of scandals he had caused for the team. On Friday Yamakawa returned to Saitama to face his former team, and the home fans let it be known that all was not forgiven. He was roundly and loudly booed and jeered by the Seibu crowd during every plate appearance, a public display of negativity rarely seen at Japanese sporting venues. And to the delight of the home support, Lions ace Tatsuya Imai struck out Yamakawa on five pitches in their fist matchup in the first inning (video above). Yamakawa would end the night going 1-for-4 with three strikeouts, three of the 10 punchouts registered over 7 innings by Imai who failed to get the decision. Hawks starter Nao Higashihama also shined, taking a no-hitter into the 7th inning before Shūta Tonosaki ended the bid with a single to left field. Tonosaki would then score on Ryūsei Satō's double to right to open the scoring. But the Hawks ended up with the win by scoring twice in the 8th to remain in first place in the PL standings. Rookie Ryuki Watarai and Keita Sano each collected three hits and an RBI to help lead the Yokohama BayStars to a 3-1 win over the Yakult Swallows. Katsuki Azuma gave up one earned run in 6 innings to pick up his second win in as many starts
Saturday 13 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-04-13 Giants-Carp went 12 innings Eagles-Marines finished tied after 12 innings
Takumi Ohshiro hit a one-out single into the right-centerfield alley scoring pinch runner Shinnosuke Shigenobu from second base to give the Yomiuri Giants a 3-2 sayonara win over the Hiroshima Carp in 12 innings Saturday afternoon at the Tokyo Dome. Shigenobu was running for Kazuma Okamoto who had doubled to set up the game-winning situation. Okamoto had driven in Yomiuri's two other runs in a modasho 3-for-6 performance at the plate. Hiroshima's ace pitcher Masato Morishita made his first start of the year and allowed one earned run while striking out five over 6 innings. Takayoshi Noma had given the Carp a 2-1 lead in the 7th with a two-run double. Hotaka Yamakawa silenced the jeering home fans at the Belluma Dome by slugging two grand slams in helping the SoftBank Hawks to an 11-2 drubbing of the Seibu Lions. The former longtime Lions slugger is the third player in NPB history to hit two grand slams in one game and the second player to achieve the feat in consecutive plate appearances. Former reliever Liván Moinelo put in an excellent outing in his third career start allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7 over 8 solid innings. Jesus Aguilar homered in the 9th off Kenichi Murata to produce Seibu's two late runs.
Roki Sasaki allowed his first home run since June of last year but that did not stop him from pitching another solid outing as the Lotte Marines easily dispatched the Rakuten Eagles 9-2 in Sendai. Hideto Asamura tagged a two-out 156 km/h (97 mph) fastball into the left field bleachers but only after the visiting Marines had tacked on 5 runs in the top of the first. Sasaki, whose velocity has been down this season, hovered around the 94-96 mph mark, topping out at 99 mph in 7 innings. His final line included 2 runs allowed (1 earned) off 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 7. The Lotte offense pounded out 15 hits including four doubles. Kōki Yamaguchi led the way going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Neftali Soto only went 1-for-5 but the single he delivered in the second inning extended his hitting streak from Opening Day to 13 consecutive games. A pop single to shallow centerfield from Takumu Nakano in the 7th inning allowed Ukyo Maegawa to race home from second base with the game winning run as the Hanshin Tigers salvaged the third game of their weekend series with a 2-1 win over the Chunichi Dragons at the Vantelin Dome in Nagoya. It was a tough loss for Dragons starter Kodai Umetsu who has been held back by injuries, having only made 19 appearances in four years coming into this season. But on Sunday he showed why he has earned the number 18 jersey by striking out 13 batters in 8 strong innings having allowed 2 runs off 4 hits and 3 walks. After registering his first RBI of the season on Saturday, Munetaka Murakami finally slugged his first home run of 2024, coming in his 54th plate appearance of the.campaign.
BATTING Average .381 - Atsuki Tomosugi (Marines) .368 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) .3404 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .3400 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .327 - Neftalí Soto (Marines) On-Base Percentage .467 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .441 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .431 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) .408 - Kenta Imamiya (Hawks) .386 - Atsuki Tomosugi (Marines) .386 - Hiromi Oka (Marines) OPS 1.027 - Kenta Imamiya (Hawks) .983 - Leandro Cedeño (Buffaloes) .977 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) .941 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) .863 - Atsuki Tomosugi (Marines) Home Runs 4 - Leandro Cedeño (Buffaloes) 3 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) 2 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 2 - Kenta Imamiya (Hawks) 2 - Jesús Aguilar (Lions) 2 - Chusei Mannami (Fighters) RBIs 16 - Hotaka Yamakawa (Hawks) 12 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) 9 - Leandro Cedeño (Buffaloes) 7 - 5 players tied AVG with RISP .500 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) .462 - Ryosuke Tatsumi (Eagles) .444 - Tatsuki Mizuno (Fighters) .429 - Hiromi Oka (Marines) .421 - Yuki Yanagita (Hawks) Stolen Bases 7 - Ukyo Shuto (Hawks) 5 - Hiroto Kobukata (Eagles) 4 - Hiromi Oka (Marines) 3 - Kensuke Kondoh (Hawks) 3 - Yuya Ogo (Eagles) PITCHING ERA 0.43 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) 0.82 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 0.95 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 1.29 - Natsuki Takeuchi (Lions) 1.29 - Nao Higashihama (Hawks) WHIP 0.50 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 0.57 - Natsuki Takeuchi (Lions) 0.68 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 0.71 - Nao Higashihama (Hawks) 0.947 - Roki Sasaki (Marines) 0.952 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) Innings pitched 22.0 - Liván Moinelo (Hawks) 21.1 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 21.0 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) 19.0 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 19.0 - Roki Sasaki (Marines) 19.0 - Kazuya Ojima (Marines) Strikeouts 25 - Tatsuya Imai (Lions) 23 - Roki Sasaki (Marines) 22 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 21 - Hiroya Miyagi (Buffaloes) 20 - Koki Kitayama (Fighters) Wins 2 - Ryuji Kitaura (Fighters) 2 - Yuki Tsumori (Hawks) 2 - Anderson Espinoza (Buffaloes) 2 - Hiromi Itoh (Fighters) 2 - Ryosuke Ohtsu (Hawks) 2 - Roki Sasaki (Marines) 2 - Chihiro Sumida (Lions) Holds 8 - Yuki Matsumoto (Hawks) 6 - Tomohito Sakai (Eagles) 5 - Takahiro Nishimura (Marines) 5 - Andrés Machado (Buffaloes) 5 - Hirokazu Sawamura (Marines) Saves 7 - Roberto Osuna (Hawks) 5 - Yoshihisa Hirano (Buffaloes) 4 - Albert Abreu (Lions) 4 - Seigi Tanaka (Fighters) 3 - Takahiro Norimoto (Eagles)
BATTING Average .389 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .341 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .321 - Jose Osuna (Swallows) .304 - Shota Dobayashi (Carp) .302 - Hideki Nagaoka (Swaqllows) On-Base Percentage .483 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .468 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .400 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .390 - Jose Osuna (Swallows) .377 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) OPS 1.153 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .864 - Munetaka Murakami (Swallows) .862 - Jose Osuna (Swallows) .792 - Sho Nakata (Dragons) .790 - Masaya Hagio (Giants) Home Runs 3 - Seiya Hosokawa (Dragons) 3 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 3 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) 2 - 6 players tied RBIs 12 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) 10 - Sho Nakata (Dragons) 9 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) 8 - Shota Morishita (Tigers) 7 - Ryuki Watarai (BayStars) 7 - Teruaki Sato (Tigers) AVG with RISP .667 - Takayoshi Noma (Carp) .615 - Domingo Santana (Swallows) .500 - Kazuma Okamoto (Giants) .500 - Toshiro Miyazaki (BayStars) .500 - Kaito Kozono (Carp) Stolen Bases 2 - Makoto Kadowaki (Giants) 2 - Takayoshi Noma (Carp) 2 - Shugo Maki (BayStars) 2 - Shunsuke Sasaki (Giants) 2 - Koji Chikamoto (Tigers) 2 - Yasutaka Shiomi (Swallows) 2 - Yoshihiro Akahane (Swallows) PITCHING ERA 0.47 - Rei Takahashi (Giants) 0.47 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) 0.64 - Hiroki Tokoda (Carp) 0.69 - Keiji Takahashi (Swallows) 1.42 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) WHIP 0.47 - Rei Takahashi (Giants) 0.84 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) 0.89 - Humberto Mejía (Dragons) 0.93 - Shinnosuke Ogasawara (Dragons) 1.00 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) Innings pitched 20.2 - Aren Kuri (Carp) 20.0 - Katsuki Azuma (BayStars) 19.0 - Rei Takahashi (Giants) 19.0 - Yūya Yanagi (Dragons) 19.0 - Hiroto Saiki (Tigers) 19.0 - Kojiro Yoshimura (Swallows) Strikeouts 22 - Kojiro Yoshimura (Swallows) 22 - Shosei Togo (Giants) 19 - Kōdai Umetsu (Dragons) 16 - Miguel Yajure (Swallows) 15 - 3 players tied Wins 3 - Miguel Yajure (Swallows) 2 - 7 players tied Holds 7 - Yuhi Nishidate (Giants) 6 - Koki Saito (Dragons) 6 - Akiyoshi Katsuno (Dragons) 5 - 4 players tied Saves 5 - Raidel Martínez (Dragons) 4 - Taisei Ota (Giants) 3 - Suguru Iwazaki (Tigers) 3 - Ryoji Kuribayashi (Carp) 3 - Yasuaki Yamasaki (BayStars) 3 - Kohei Morihara (BayStars)
Tuesday 16 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-04-16 Tigers-Giants was called after 9 innings (rain/lightning) Marines-Lions went 11 innings
Hiromi Oka lined a two-out single into the corner of left field to bring home Toshiya Satoh from second base and give the Chiba Lotte Marines a sayonara 4-3 victory in 11 innings over the Seibu Lions at ZOZO Marine Stadium on Tuesday night. Takayoshi Yamamura had given the Lions the lead with a three-run home run in the top of the 7th, but Gragory Polanco answered with a two-run shot in the bottom of the frame to tie it at 3-3. Lotte's starting pitcher Yuki Karakawa struck out seven over six shutout innings but did not feature in the decision. The loss is the 12th consecutive extra inning defeat suffered by the Lions, a streak that stretches back to June 15 and ties the Pacific League record jointly held by the 1994-95 Kintetsu Buffaloes. The Chunichi Dragons scored three runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to overturn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win against the Yakult Swallows at the Nagoya Dome. Second baseman Mikiya Tanaka went 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored as the Dragons maintain first place in the Central League. Orlando Calixte also hit a madasho 3-for-4 for Chunichi to raise his batting average to .333
Not NPB-related for THIS season, but since he was with the BayStars last year... I'm not much of a BayStars fan but I'd welcome his return just so he can make more videos about Japan and NPB, which I enjoyed viewing last season.
Wednesday 17 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-04-17 Fighters-Hawks finished tied after 12 innings
Shota Morishita popped a 2-RBI double over Shunsuke Sasaki in centerfield in the third inning to lead the Hanshin Tigers to a 2-0 win over the Yomiuri Giants at Koshien. With two outs Koji Chikamoto and Takumu Nakano each singled to right off Giants starter Yuji Akahoshi to set up Morishita's double that would hold up as the game winning hit. They were the only three hits the Tigers manged throughout the evening while the Giants stranded 11 runners on base. Masashi Ito pitched 6 shutout innings to pick up his second victory of the season. Yuki Nishino hurled his third quality start of the young season as the Lotte Marines beat the Seibu Lions 2-0 in Chiba. Ninshino went 7-2/3 innings allowing 5 hits and 2 walks to earn his second win against one loss. Reliever Hirokazu Sawamura stranded the tying run in scoring position and Shota Suzuki worked the 9th to earn his first save. After the game Sawamura revealed that his Grandmother had passed away earlier in the day. Lions starter Wataru Matsumoto also pitched into the 8th inning but had already allowed the Marines to take the lead in the first inning on Koki Yamaguchi's single that scored Hiromi Oka with the game winning run. After the SoftBank Hawks scored twice in the top of the 11th inning, closer Roberto Osuna retired the first two Nippon-Ham Fighters batters but then Chusei Mannami singled and Ariel Martinez hit a dramatic home run and the two teams ended the night deadlocked at 2-2.
Only three games were scheduled on Thursday. At Koshien Stadium the Hanshin Tigers scored in the 8th and 10th innings for a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over the Yomiuri Giants. In his third impressive outing of the year Giants veteran Tomoyuki Sugano took a shutout into the 8th inning when the Tigers finally touched him up for a run: Shota Morishita singling to left field driving in Koji Chikamoto from second base. It's the first run allowed by the 35 year old Sugano in 18-1/3 innings this year. The long time Yomiuri ace struck out nine batters on the night. Hanshin roughed up star closer Taisei Ota in the 10th, loading the bases with no outs when Teruaki Sato closed out the game with a single to right scoring Takumu Nakano with the game winning sayonara run. The Yakult Swallows salvaged the final game of their series against the Central League-leading Chunichi Dragons with an 11-5 win in Nagoya. Jose Osuna had the big night with two home runs (including a grand slam in the 9th) in a 4-for-6 performance at the plate while Munetaka Murakami connected for his second homer of the year. Masahiro Nishino went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored as the Orix Buffaloes took the rubber match of their series with the Rakuten Eagles with a 7-0 win in the only Pacific League game played.
Friday 19 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-04-19 Carp-Giants finished tied after 12 innings
In recent years there has been speculation that NPB baseballs, made by Mizuno, have been deadened to reduce the number of home runs. Players are beginning to talk about it including Munetaka Murakami, who hit 56 home runs in 2022: “I’ve been noticing it, too. The exit velocity of the ball doesn’t feel proportional to the distance it’s going.” Friday games went against this thinking as 12 home runs were belted throughout NPB. Murakami himself was part of the onslaught, slugging an 8th inning solo bomb that gave the Yakult Swallows a 4-3 victory over the Yokohama DeNA BayStars at Meiji Jingu Stadium. It was Murakami's second homer of the year and he went 3-for-4 on the night to raise his batting average to .333 following a slow start the past three weeks Shugo Maki drove in all three runs for the BayStars. SportsNavi highlights https://sports.yahoo.co.jp/video/player/13860356 Pro Yakyu version Two home runs were hit at the Belluna Dome in Saitama but it was Tatsuya Imai who took Hero of the Game honors, striking out 9 batters in 7 innings as the Seibu Lions held off a late rally to defeat the Rakuten Eagles 5-4. The 25 year old Imai, who is establishing himself as an elite pitcher in Japan and has MLB aspirations, has a 0.64 ERA over 28 innings in his four starts so far this year. Eagles infielder Hideto Asamura, who was part of Japan's Olympic gold medal-winning team in 2021, played in his 1,181st consecutive game to move into sole possession of 6th place all time. The NPB record is 2,215 consecutive games held by Japan's Tetsujin Sachio Kinugasa, the former Hiroshima Carp third baseman who began his career in 1965 and broke Lou Gehrig's MLB then-record of 2,130 consecutive games in 1987.
Saturday 20 April Boxscores: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/schedule/?date=2024-04-20 Hawks-Buffaloes finished tied after 12 innings