With the Hiroshima Carp’s loss to the Swallows tonight, the Central League Standings look like this: That’s right, the Tigers are tied for second place! Keep in mind the importance of second over third: that team gets to host the entire best-of-three “1st Stage” playoff series. With that in mind, here is the schedule for…
Not another September meltdown. Not a repeat of last year. That’s all fans, players and management alike have talked about since the middle of this season, as the Tigers started to contend for first place. A six-game losing streak earlier this month gave everyone nightmares and it felt like the Tigers were simply going through…
They wanted a sweep. They needed a sweep. They didn’t get it. The basement-dwelling Yakult Swallows pulled off a come-from-behind win in the second game, 5-3. Starter Minoru Iwata looked to have this one under control, but with a one-run lead in the sixth, he gave up a hit to leadoff hitter Kawabata, then served…
When it rains, it pours. Even when the weather is nice, as it was all week, it still felt rather gloomy at Koshien. The Tigers got swept by the Giants at home for the first time since 1999. The slump has been well documented, including my own analysis (click here), so I will not talk…
Another week, another .500 record. After wasting a chance to gain ground by losing 2 of 3 to the Swallows last week, the Tigers repeated the feat again this week. They then took the first two against the Carp in convincing fashion, but fell way short in the series finale. You would have thought this…
It seems like some weeks the Tigers get you excited for the playoffs, while others make you wonder if they even deserve to make it. This week had a little of both. Not terribly surprising when you go 2-2, winning in exciting fashion twice and losing badly to inferior opponents twice. This was supposed to…