The original article can be found here 元の記事はこちらです (Written by Shinya Komatsu) Opening Game? Of course! Hanshin pitcher Randy Messenger (33) returned to Kansai from the athletes’ dorms in Tokyo on the 19th. He kind of put dibs on being the Game 1 pitcher of the Japan Series (against the SoftBank Hawks at Kosher Stadium), which…
Starting with manager Tatsunori Hara, I’m sure there are many Yomiuri Giants shaking their heads today, still wondering how and why they got swept in their home park against a seemingly weaker Hanshin Tigers team. I offer you three simple reasons, none of which really answer any questions but all of which show just how…
Before the Giants could even get out of the first inning, Tigers fans were partying like it was 1999 2005. If they keep this up, the party may turn into something circa 1985 in a week or so. The Tigers rode three early home runs to a 8-4 victory over the Giants, sweeping them for the…
The Tigers are just a win away from their first trip to the Japan Series in nine years. With tonight’s 4-2 win over the Giants, the series now sits at 3-1 in favor of the road team, which needs just one win in its next three to advance. Tonight’s win was slightly different from their…
On paper, the series leans in the Giants’ favor considerably. There’s a reason they take things to the diamond, though. The Hanshin Tigers stormed out to a 5-0 lead and never really looked back. With closer Seung-hwan Oh on the mound in the 9th, the atmosphere in Tokyo Dome was subdued, as fans were left to…
Eight pitches. That’s all it took to bring the Tigers bats out of their postseason slumber. A leadoff hit by Nishioka, sacrifice bunt by Uemoto, RBI double by Toritani and a 2-run HR by Gomez put the Tigers in the lead — one they would not relinquish all night as they cruised to a 4-1…
Scheduled Games & Possible Starters*: Wednesday, October 15, 6pm: Shintaro Fujinami (10-7) vs. Tetsuya Utsumi (7-9) Thursday, October 16, 6pm: Minoru Iwata (9-8) vs. Hirokazu Sawamura (5-3) Friday, October 17, 6pm: Randy Messenger (13-10) vs. Toshiya Sugiuchi (10-6) Saturday, October 18, 6pm: Atsushi Nohmi (9-13) vs. Yuki Koyama (6-2) Sunday, October 19, 6pm: Suguru Iwazaki (5-4) vs. Kan Otake (9-6) Monday, October 20, 6pm: Shintaro Fujinami…
Walkoff tie? Never heard of such a thing? You have now! Because the Hiroshima Carp failed to score in the top of the 12th inning, the bottom of the inning was not played and the score remained 0-0 as the game entered the record books. Why, you might ask? For those unaware of Japanese baseball…
Winning pitcher Randy Messenger said it all: “Any time I pitch a 1-0 game, it seems like he (Fukudome) is the one hitting the home run.” The big righty more than did his part too, shutting out the Carp hitters for eight innings, allowing just five base runners and retiring 21 of the last 23 batters…
The Tigers’ batting order has remained mostly unchanged this season, as long as all the players were healthy. On a typical night, it looked something like this: 1 – Uemoto (2B) 2 – Yamato (CF) 3 – Toritani (SS) 4 – Gomez (1B) 5 – Murton (LF) 6 – Fukudome (RF) 7 – Imanari / T…