Quick: when was the last time the Hanshin Tigers took all three games in a series against the Giants at Tokyo Dome? The answer, apparently, pre-dates H-TEN by a year. It was 2013! Junya Nishi showed us why he was worth being chosen in the first round of the 2019 draft, going 7 strong innings….
No matter that the Tigers defeated Giants’ ace Tommy Smugano last time around… he’s still not one to be taken lightly. When he helped us load the bases in the top of the second with no outs, I thought we could get him good again. But… we scored none. Our leadoff hitter in the third,…
OK calm down. Take a deep breath. The Tigers have won 4 of their last 5 games. They have a three-game winning streak for the first time this year. They defeated both the pitcher who shut them out earlier this year (Katsuno) and the one who no-hit them three years back (Ohno). But calm down….
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…
If you are a new fan and are not particularly familiar with the team, let this be your introduction! We are going to break down the entire roster for you very briefly so you can get a feel for who is whom, what they have done, and what they might do in 2022 and beyond….
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…
There is something about watching Haruto Takahashi pitching that puts fans’ minds at ease. He did not disappoint on this night, either. Everyone expected he would get a shot at another Maddux (complete game shutout with fewer than 100 pitches) but for some reason, he was pulled through 8 innings with just 90 pitches on…
Looking at the starting lineup before the game started, and seeing that the opposing pitcher had a 1.99 ERA against our guys this season, well, let’s just say most fans were not inspired with confidence. But three batters into our attack, the blowout was on. Koyo Aoyagi threw seven effective innings (3 hits, 4 walks,…
The night belonged to the Hiroshima Carp and their solo home run hitting batters. They got four, including a pair out of Seiya Suzuki (oh please won’t you just go to the majors already?). While Mel Rojas Jr hit a big fly in the bottom of the seventh to bring the Tigers to within one,…