Now, don’t get me wrong. You don’t win games in which you do not score. This is a universal truth in sports. So it is not entirely our starter Yuki Nishi’s fault that we lost. However, he has definitely looked like a shell of his former self ever since he got career win #99 over…
Shintaro Fujinami has been trying for much of this season to prove that he is worthy of a spot in the rotation. He did little to win over the coaching staff on this night, giving up two runs in the first, loading the bases in the second, and giving the lead right back to the…
Masashi Itoh continued his dominant form against the Baystars, going 8 strong innings and making just a few mistakes with pitch locations. Meanwhile, Mel Rojas Jr led off the scoring with a line-drive, solo home run into the front row of the right-field bleachers. Later in the game, he put the Tigers ahead for good…
For the ninth time this season, the Tigers were in danger of dropping out of first place. And for the ninth time this season, the Tigers ended the night still on top. On this night, not only did the Swallows pulverize the Giants, but Teruaki Sato damaged a few balls pretty badly. His first plate…
This was an important game to win once again, as the Giants completed their sweep of the Dragons earlier in the day. Well, all three imports did their jobs well today. Jerry Sands brought home the second run of the game with a single, Raul Alcantara pitched a clean 8th, and Mel Rojas Jr gave…
With the Giants winning earlier in the day, the Tigers needed a W to stay at the top of the standings. Starter Akira Niho did not get things off to a very good start with a couple of walks and an RBI hit… but he settled in, and the bats took over from the second…
The Hanshin Tigers were slumping when we hit the all-star break, and everyone agreed that the month off would do them some good. If it did, the results did not show any of those benefits. Sure, baseball is a game of inches, and the near-double play in the top of the first meant 4 runs…
The Tigers have been bad at home of late. I mean, really bad. The last time they won a three-game series at Koshien was May 11-13 against the Dragons, and that was due in part to a rainout. They got swept by the Baystars three weeks ago at home, and wanted so badly to end…
What did Hanshin do as a follow-up act to yesterday’s dramatic, come-from-behind, escape from the jaws of death landmark of a game? They sure didn’t build on the momentum, as the Baystars scored three early runs against Raul Alcantara and tacked on another in the third inning before he was chased. Meanwhile, the batters looked…
Koyo Aoyagi lowered his ERA even further, hurling 7 innings of one (earned) run ball. Still, he seemed destined to be the second straight hard-luck loser for the Tigers. After all, it took the Tigers 26 outs to finally come to life. Held off the board for 8 ⅔ innings, and giving up three runs…