The Tigers were gifted ten free passes, and a crucial error by the usually-reliable Carp shortstop allowed Hanshin to turn the tables in the sixth inning to steal a win in their first game at Koshien Stadium this season. Starting Pitchers: Taiki Ono (1-0, 1.23 ERA) vs. Kazuki Yabuta (1-0, 3.60 ERA) 2 With two…
Today’s game looked really bleak for the Tigers until the bottom of the seventh. Unfortunately, the feeling lasted only a few minutes as things fell apart again the very next inning. Starting Pitchers: Atsushi Nohmi (0-0) vs. Shotaro Kasahara (0-1, 6.00 ERA) 2 Nohmi got bailed out by Yoshio Itoi, who threw out a runner…
After yesterday’s rather frustrating loss to the Dragons, the Tigers were in need of a win on Saturday at Kyocera Dome Osaka. Starting Pitchers: Takumi Akiyama (0-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. Dillon Gee (0-1, 7.50 ERA) 1 Tsuyoshi Nishioka got his first start of the year, and reached base in his first at bat via an…
For the third straight year, Fujinami got the home opener at Kyocera Dome. For the third straight year, he threw himself into all sorts of trouble. Starting Pitchers: Shintaro Fujinami (0-1, 7.20 ERA) vs. Shinnosuke Ogasawara (0-1, 7.50 ERA) 1 Leadoff walk. Stolen base. Fujinami throwing error on sacrifice bunt. Wild pitch. He showed three…
If you like strikeouts, then this was a great game for you to watch. Both pitchers brought their A games, but there was just no beating our ace today. Starting PItchers: Randy Messenger (1-0, 1.29 ERA) vs. Katsuki Azuma (0-0) 4 Our lads gave Azuma a great start to his pro career, letting him strike…
It was our first matchup against the Yokohama DeNA BayStars this season, meaning it was the first chance we got to see Yamato in blue. It also meant a chance at starting the revenge for last year’s playoff elimination. Let’s see how things went down. Starting Pitchers: Taiki Ono (2-7, 4.35 ERA) vs. Satoshi Iizuka…
One thing’s for sure: balls leave the park a lot more frequently at Tokyo Dome than they do at Koshien Stadium. Coming into this one, Hanshin already had three. After this one was done, they added a couple more to the total. Starting Pitchers: Takumi Akiyama (12-6, 3.01 ERA) vs. Ryoma Nogami (11-10, 3.63 ERA)…
The big win on Opening Day was a great sign that our guys could still hit the ball, hit it hard, hit it often, even against top notch pitching. That fun continued in Game 2, but when the tides turned in the sixth, they carried us out of the driver’s seat and into loserland. Starting…
After what has to be the worst preseason in history, the Tigers looked lifeless, and that all the February talk about a pennant was smoke and mirrors. And heading into Tokyo Dome to face the reigning Eiji Sawamura Award winner surely wouldn’t be an encouraging start to the regular season, would it? Starting Pitchers: Randy…
March 16: Stomping on the Eagles in Shizuoka This game started quite slowly, as the two aces showed off their repertoires before helpless bats. Our guys finally got to Takahiro Norimoto in the fifth, when Kento Itohara smacked a 2-run double to the left field corner. T 2-0 E Randy Messenger is just getting warmed…