One red-hot #3 hitter and his bat were enough for the win again. Jefry Marte hit a home run for the third straight game, and that was the only run scored in this one, despite chances from both teams. Joe Gunkel pitched outstanding, allowing only two runners into scoring position in 6+ innings of work,…
Koyo Aoyagi has not been the same since the Olympics. He has now given up 17 runs in his last five starts after giving up just 24 (21 earned) in his first 16 starts. That said, the bats once again came up short when they had chances. Two straight innings of bases-loaded situations yielded two…
The Tigers got hold to just 4 hits on this day, but it was not all that important, given that they were handed 8 free passes in the first five innings. Two of their hits produced the runs they needed, and three of the walks scored those runs. The Giants made it close at the…
The Tigers got off to a good start, though the 3-0 score was a deceptive one – it could have (and should have) been much greater of a lead than that. And then, it vanished. Yuki Nishi walked a batter with two outs in the bottom of the third and came completely unraveled… single, home…
Coming from behind to win games feels good, but falling behind early game in and game out, well, does not feel so good. Once again, the Tigers’ starter – in this case, Masashi Itoh – surrendered three runs in the game’s first three innings… and our bats only really came to life in the fifth…
We’re back in first! This was a true nail-biter, as the teams exchanged blows from the fourth inning on. Both teams also had bases-loaded chances that came up short, and both teams got big home runs from last year’s two biggest home run hitters. Kazuma Okamoto’s sixth-inning bomb was a dagger through the hearts of…
Nothing went well for the Tigers on this night, outside of the bottom of the fifth inning. The pitchers gave up a season-worst 17 hits to the worst-hitting team in the Central in one of the most pitcher-friendly parks in the Central. Many of the defenders, though not charged with errors, did not make plays…
There really is no such thing as a good time of year to slump, but the Hanshin Tigers really have looked lame since the All-Star break. Despite getting to play 15 games against the bottom half of the Central League, they have come up with just a 7-8 record, and have looked quite a bit…
Shintaro Fujinami has been trying for much of this season to prove that he is worthy of a spot in the rotation. He did little to win over the coaching staff on this night, giving up two runs in the first, loading the bases in the second, and giving the lead right back to the…
With the Giants winning earlier in the day, the Tigers needed a W to stay at the top of the standings. Starter Akira Niho did not get things off to a very good start with a couple of walks and an RBI hit… but he settled in, and the bats took over from the second…