No CL team has been hotter since mid-May than the Hiroshima Carp. In fact, they broke free from the pack nicely during interleague play, while the Tigers sputtered and found themselves four games underwater. Still, the season is only half over, and manager Kanemoto says he’s in no way aiming for anything lower than a first…
The Tigers combined to win two of nine (one vs. Lions, none @ Marines and one @ Fighters) against quality Pacific League opponents. Their two wins against the then-last place Eagles was barely acceptable, and the same result against the now-last place Buffaloes would also be the bare minimum, though a sweep would definitely be preferred,…
A rainout in the Buffaloes series meant that the Tigers would not end the interleague schedule playing the hardest team in baseball. Many expected this team of loaded bats and arms to plow over the Tigers, who have struggled mightily against the Pacific League. However, this rematch of the 2014 Nippon Series would play out…
The good news is that the Tigers have finished playing in Pacific League parks for another year. The bad news is that they had their worst week of the season and looked terrible in doing so. This series was no different. Other than being able to squeeze out a victory in the middle game. Read…
After practically gift-wrapping the final game of the Lions series at home (bringing the Tigers record at Koshien this season to an atrocious 11-14-1), the Tigers hit the road for two straight series against two of the tougher Pacific League teams. The first of these would be held in Chiba against the Lotte Marines at…
We take two steps forward and one step back. One step forward and then two back. The Hanshin Tigers have been within a game of .500 since May 11 – an incredible stretch in which there has been no winning or losing streak longer than two games. After nine games on the road, the team came…
Last season, the Hanshin Tigers “won” the interleague season… in that they took home the best record of any of the Central League teams. Of course, in a mini-season dominated by Pacific League teams, there was no hope for them to win it outright, but a 10-8 record (including a stellar 8-1 at home) was…
The series at Jingu left a sour taste in the mouths of Hanshin fans, and facing the Yomiuri Giants in Tokyo – where the Tigers won just 2 of 13 in 2015 – had the potential of either lifting our spirits or dashing our hopes heading into interleague play. As it turns out, it was…
There seem to be no favorites this year – except the BayStars. There seem to be no weaknesses this year – except the power hitting and the bullpen. There seems to be no preference between home and away games – except that our record at Koshien so far is a pedestrian 10-12-1. So as the…
After a close series against the Dragons, the Tigers needed to continue their momentum at home before hitting the road for 9 straight. They have not played well against the Carp for much of the last two seasons (8-15-2 last year, 3-3 so far this year). Could they keep things tight atop the Central by vanquishing…