After last week’s sweep at the hands of the Giants, the club was on a 7-game home losing streak, with its last Koshien win coming June 28 against the BayStars. A six-pack at home against the other lower teams in the Central would be a chance for the Tigers to show their mettle. Summer break was…
Did you know the Hanshin Tigers have not won two consecutive games since defeating the Rakuten Eagles back-to-back at the start of June? Since those two wins, the team has gone: LWL-LLL-LWL-WL-WLL-W-LLL-WL-LWL-LLW. That’s right. One series win (a split series against the Orix Buffaloes) and a combined record of 8-18. Not the way you want…
The way the team has been playing lately has not inspired a lot of confidence in fans. In fact, this fan (who tries to stay positive and objective as much as possible) has made the decision to write less until the team starts to perform better. For the record, since June 3 the team has…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Myth: The BayStars have a terrible pitching staff and a dynamite hitting order. The opposite has been true more often than not this season so far. Though the Tigers entered this one 6-2 against the last place team so far, they would need their best pitching and hitting just to stay competitive in this one. Game…