You heard all the talk after the sweep at the hands of the Giants. The Tigers have the worst start to a season in CL history. They could have won at least five of the nine games they lost. Manager Akihiro Yano looks tired and could get sent to pasture early. Well, a return to…
All I’ve got to say is that the Tigers have now set the Central League record for most consecutive losses to start a season. When you give up seven home runs combined in the first three innings of games, you won’t win too often. Either the pitching needs work or the game-calling does. Or there…
The sting of the opening series sweep to the Swallows looked to be alleviated in Hiroshima. The team actually started scoring runs again, and even held the lead in each of these contests. Unfortunately, the bullpen (and in the final game, the starter) could not hold the slim leads down, and the bats were unable…
Rookie Takuma Kirishiki looked good for the game’s first five innings (much like third-year Ippei Ogawa did yesterday), but the bats were silent again today. Just five hits, and despite having three decent scoring chances, the scoreless inning streak extended to 23 and will need to come to an end in Hiroshima on Tuesday.
Yesterday after the fourth inning, the Tigers managed just one hit, and that lack of production hurt as the bullpen imploded. Today, the batting woes continued, with just a double and single in nine innings of hard-to-watch baseball. That’s being a bit harsh, actually. Ippei Ogawa was splendid for five innings. Two relievers (Taiki Ono…
The 2022 season started with a ton of uncertainty for Hanshin Tigers fans. Can we trust Shintaro Fujinami to start the year well? Is he worthy of the Opening Day starter role? Is Teruaki Sato ready to hit cleanup after a disastrous second half last season? Why is Kento Itohara batting 5th? Can 40-year-old Yoshio…
Akihiro Yano looked every bit the inexperienced manager in Game 1, leaving two of his power bats on the bench and calling for a hit-and-run that backfired in the fifth. The result was that the Tigers needed a win (or tie) in this one, or the season would come to a premature end. And this…
And so it begins. October was a good month for the Tigers, despite not taking home the pennant. On the other hand, the Giants had a historically bad month, finishing below .500 but secured the third spot. In the playoffs, none of that matters, other than the Tigers being able to host the entire best-of-three…
Minoru Iwata had a closing ceremony after this game ended, as the Hanshin Tigers and their fans celebrated a wonderful 16-year career. He did not make a mound appearance during the game itself, but he could have… the team played with very little urgency. Only one base runner advanced past first base, and that was…
The Tigers cannot afford to lose or tie, anymore. Heading into this, their second-last game of the season, they needed a big win and big production from a lineup that was once again absent of Koji Chikamoto and Yusuke Ohyama. Who stepped up? Teruaki Sato did. His first at-bat sent a message to Carp, Dragons,…