It’s always a little alarming when people start talking about a perfect game before it’s half over, but Shoki Murakami was dealing. No one reached base against him through four innings, conjuring up images of his first start in 2023 against the Yomiuri Giants (April 12, 7 perfect innings). The perfect game vanished against the…
The Tigers had a long layoff from competitive baseball, having most recently played on October 4. That said, they clinched the CL pennant on September 14, so one could argue that it had been 5 weeks since their last important game. Despite just one hit in the game’s first three innings, they did put good…
From these scores, it should be clear to all that Meiji Jingu Stadium is a hitters’ park, and that Vantelin Dome Nagoya is a pitchers’ park. It is also true that the Dragons actually have a pretty good pitching staff, while the Swallows, at least on that day, did not. OK, it’s not just that…
The Hanshin Tigers had their homecoming over the long weekend. Clinching the pennant at the home ballpark on September 14 was special, but having to play on the road the day after meant that fans did not get a chance to see their champs live for a few days. Unfortunately, the bats were almost completely…
Say goodbye to the September swoons of our team’s past! This team is a perfect 8-0 this month after completely controlling the action at Koshien Stadium against the second-place Carp! The three starting pitchers – Shoki Murakami / Koutaro Ohtake / Masashi Itoh – combined to throw 22 innings of three-run ball (two earned), walking…
Ironic, isn’t it, that the first full series that I was able to watch after being away from Japan most of August wasn’t even on network TV! Nevertheless, the Tigers were able to take advantage of a weakened Swallows lineup. On Friday, rookie Shota Morishita hit two bombs at a stadium he played in often…
Note: I did not watch these games and am doing this recap (along with the rest of the August scorecards) retrospectively for the purpose of having them on record. Enjoy the scorecards for what they are worth, but I do not have anything insightful to say about this series. However, with the two wins in…
Note: I did not watch these games and am doing this recap (along with the rest of the August scorecards) retrospectively for the purpose of having them on record. Enjoy the scorecards for what they are worth, but I do not have anything insightful to say about this series. It is great, though, to see our…
Note: I did not watch these games and am doing this recap (along with the rest of the August scorecards) retrospectively for the purpose of having them on record. Enjoy the scorecards for what they are worth, but I do not have anything insightful to say about this series, except SWEEEEEEEEP and a 10-game win streak…
The Hiroshima Carp entered this series on a 10-game winning streak. Because of this, the Tigers found themselves on the outside looking in for just the second time since May. And just like last time, the team that took over first only stayed there for one game. Starting pitching held the Carp to a minimum…