The Tigers ended interleague on a downer, having lost four straight series to Pacific League opponents. Meanwhile, the Baystars caught fire during that stretch. The six-game lead once held by the Tigers was down to 2.5… and then they proceeded to completely give it away, as the Baystars swept them in Yokohama back in June….
Trips to Hiroshima have been hard for this team in the past decade, and this trip was no exception. One of our players made the trip but then left without even setting foot on the field. (No, not Yangervis Solarte – that was 4 years ago already!) Koji Chikamoto took a fastball to the ribs…
To say the Tigers were in a slump was an understatement. Ever since that Monday make-up game against the Chiba Lotte Marines on June 5, the team found itself unable to put together a three-game series win: they dropped 2 of 3 to the Eagles, Fighters, Buffaloes and Hawks, before getting swept by the Baystars…
Interleague has taught us an important lesson. Our relievers are good, but they aren’t invincible. For the third time in 10 days, Atsuki Yuasa came into the game with a lead, and left the field with the loss (or tie). On the whole, it was a good series (pitchers’ duel on Tuesday, big production from…
Interleague play started smoothly enough for our guys, as they stretched their winning streak to 9 thanks in large part to another stellar performance from Shoki Murakami (8 IP 4 H). However, even in that game, the bats did not even do a whole lot after the first inning. The second and third games were…
Not only did the Hanshin Tigers bats pulverize the Swallows pitchers to the tune of 19 runs at Jingu Stadium, but they did so late in games to: The winning streak is now at five, and the team has won 12 of its last 13 games. Look at that record, folks… let’s push for another…
The end of the pandemic (for all intents and purposes) means not only cheering at baseball games, but also the return of countryside-hosted games! The Tigers headed to Toyohashi on Tuesday, where the Dragons hosted them and allowed 9 runs. Seems like the Tigers would fare much better there than at hollow, cavernous Vantelin Dome….
After two straight rainouts in Hiroshima, our boys came home to face the suddenly weak Yakult Swallows, whose pitchers got absolutely demolished over the weekend at the hands of the Baystars. They must have been saving all their best performances for Koshien, as our bats suddenly froze up and did not score in the first…
The Tigers came off their biggest shutout win of the two-league era on Thursday night at Koshien (where they defeated the Yomiuri Giants 15-0). The good times continued at hitter-friendly Jingu Stadium, as they kept the home team off the board for 20 straight innings. Koutaro Ohtake was effective on Friday for 5 innings, and…
I could just copy and paste any of my Nagoya series recaps from the past 8 years and you would hardly know the difference. Our team simply does not perform well at Vantelin Dome Nagoya. Our pitchers are fine, but our hitters struggle to put up multiple runs. That being the case, winning games is…