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…
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…
March 9: Let’s just say that Randy Messenger didn’t get off on the right foot. The first inning saw him give up 5 hits and 4 runs. He said after the game that it was his first time facing live hitting this year, and that a lot of his pitches were right over the plate…
Camp is over! The team packed up late this morning and are on their way back to mainland. Exhibition season up here starts on March 3 (in Fukuoka, where they’re selling “open seating” all-you-can-eat tickets for ¥2500) and runs through the 25th. Looking forward to see how the field and mound start to take shape!…
Instead of risking a retirement game in the rain on October 6, the club elected to postpone the last game of the season until the 10th. The result could be that the anticipated starting rotation for the Climax Series against the BayStars could have to be shifted. But either way, ending the season on a…
Though the Tigers’ place in the standings is already set, this next-to-last game was still important. 1) The team had not scored at Koshien in 29 innings heading into this series; 2) It was riding a 7-game winless streak at home; 3) This was a great chance to give the young guys more playing time….
After struggling to score runs against the Yakult Swallows (but still winning all three games), the Hanshin Tigers hosted the Chunichi Dragons over the weekend. It was a much needed six-game home stand after a 27-game trip away from Koshien Stadium. For the most part, this one went down as expected, although Sunday’s game left fans…
Typically, Nagoya Dome is not a friendly place for the Hanshin Tigers. In fact, in the team’s first two trips to face the Chunichi Dragons in their home park this season, the Tigers went 1-4 (with another loss coming in a countryside park). But the start of the “Road of Death” at the end of…
Could the annual “Road of Death” road trip start anywhere worse than Nagoya Dome? Our boys have NEVER fared well there, except perhaps the last time we won the pennant, back in 2005. Having been completely humiliated the last time we faced the Chunichi Dragons in their territory, Hanshin needed to take at least two…