This game started like the Tigers were going to run away with it. Home runs in the first two innings by Yusuke Ohyama and Teruaki Sato, and on top of that, Raul Alcantara looked like he was going to Maddux the Buffaloes. But then, it was as though two completely different teams were playing each…
Mel Rojas Jr was sent down to the farm to get more at-bats, which he was not seeing on the top squad, and Fumiya Hojoh got called up to the top squad. After uninspired play from yesterday’s second baseman (who shall remain nameless), Hojoh was given the start, and the move paid dividends immediately. His…
Should I continue to just pin the blame on the umpires for the Tigers’ losses during interleague? As long as the umps call balls strikes in crucial situations (like two Jefry Marte walks turned into strikeouts), giving Buffaloes’ starter Taisuke Yamaoka liberty to widen the strike zone all night… I reserve the right to do…
What on earth happened on Saturday night? How did these two teams, who combined for 34 runs on Friday and Sunday, manage one measly run on a solo homer? That’s baseball for you. Rookie Shoki Murakami did not have the debut he hoped for, but the Tigers fought tooth and nail to make sure they…
After yesterday’s slugfest, fans on both sides of this battle of the felines were looking forward to more long balls and dramatics. Instead, they were treated to a pitchers’ duel that was aided by the umpires calling a very wide strike zone. The result is that Masashi Itoh’s full-count mistake against Hotaka Yamakawa in the…
Games like these leave an indelible mark on fans and could be talked about at season’s end if all continues to go well for these Hanshin Tigers. Teruaki Sato hit his first home run in what felt like ages, and for a follow-up act, he hit two more, including a ninth-inning, go-ahead, rip-the-heart-out-of-the-Lions three-run monster…
My theory about Pacific League players coming to the sacred grounds of Koshien for the first time in two years (or ever) and having the game of their lives… well, it did not quite play out this time. Roki “The Reiwa Beast” Sasaki never made it to the national high school tournament, so this was…
Takumi Akiyama has a bit of a complex. He knows his stuff is not particularly overpowering. But it was more than enough to get him through the first seven innings of the game allowing just one baserunner: Brandon Laird on a fly ball that had no business letting gravity pull it to the ground. The…
Interleague is upon us, and this game started off on a very poor note. It looked like Yuki Nishi was going to continue his month-long struggle. He didn’t. And our import bats (Jefry Marte & Jerry Sands) produced three runs early in the game, which made the outlook quite promising. However, their import bats also…
One night, you have Yuki Nishi and the bullpen serving up walks (11), hitting batters (2) and giving up extra-base hits (9). The next night, you have his distant relative, Junya Nishi serving up walks (4), but nothing else. The 19-year-old threw five innings of no-hit ball, and the bullpen protected the no-hitter for another…