After downing the Swallows 8-0 on Friday night, then sitting around for two days (plus the day off Monday) because of a Covid explosion in the Yakult camp, the Tigers were raring to go on Tuesday. Donning arguably the ugliest uniforms they have worn in ages, they laid a (goose) egg, completely unable to push…
Tuesday’s tilt was called on account of the threat of typhoon-influenced weather. It never materialized. Well, the very next day, Yuki Nishi took the mound and performed like a boss. And the Tigers willed their way to 3 runs against a guy who had owned us all season until this one! Unfortunately, the game I…
Yes, you read that headline correctly… only you can erase the question mark from the end. We’re simply in disbelief is all. As can be expected, these games were pitchers’ duels for the most part. The odd thing is that home runs helped dictate the final score in all three games, despite the dome being the least generous ballpark in Japan…
Everyone who has followed the Tigers for the past 10 (or fewer) years knows that Yokohama Stadium is the team’s favorite ballpark to play at, even more than Koshien. Their record there is outstanding, year in and year out. This season appears to be different, though, and this series in particular showed us that wins…
The Hiroshima series in the first half of the week left a sour taste in our mouths. We were coming home tired (LONG games) and defeated (0-2-1), and their aces (Ohno and Yanagi) were slated to face us. Somehow, though, we figured them both out enough to score some runs. While we did not hang…
Oh, the ways we choose to lose. On Sunday, it was disappointing to not sweep the Baystars, but the team was just getting started with letdowns. Tuesday saw them create a huge chance (down two in the ninth, runners on first and second with no outs) but not make it. Wednesday saw them fight back…
Coming off the successful interleague session (12-6), the Tigers were looking to continue their push back to respectability. All that stood in their way were two pitchers who have extremely good track records at Koshien Stadium: Shota Imanaga and Haruhiro Hamaguchi. They were no match for our guys, particularly Yusuke Ohyama who went yard on…
After two straight shutout losses in Fukuoka, it wasn’t hard to imagine this team having troubles scoring against the defending Sawamura Award (Yamamoto) and Rookie of the Year (Miyagi) winners over the weekend. However, they were up to the task, taking the opener comfortably while riding Yusuke Ohyama and his hot bat. They scrapped for…
Weeknights simply have not brought out the best in our bats. For the 15th time this season (11 in night games), the Tigers have ended a game with no runs to show for their 27 outs (or more in the case of 2 games) at the plate. On this night, the team struggled to get…
Back in April when the Tigers were struggling worse than any team in NPB, my friend Steve said this series would be a battle between the two worst teams in NPB. He wasn’t wrong. In fact, I distinctly told him that by June 3, the Tigers would not be worse than the Fighters, at the…