Koyo Aoyagi did not look like himself tonight. Strike out the side? Finish the night with 9 Ks? And just one (intentional) walk? A single that led to a five-run rally? Not sure what to make of it. But hey, the three-game losing streak is over and the sun shines brightly on the team once…
The Tigers had a seven-game lead over the Giants heading into this weekend tilt. They put seven runs up on the scoreboard in the first one-third of the game, pushing their winning streak to seven and shoving the Giants down into third place. But we all know that there is still plenty of season left,…
A solid outing from starter Raul Alcantara ended prematurely with a single to the shin, but he still threw six shutout innings and the bats came through at a fairly constant pace. Takumu Nakano led the way with two hits, including the opening RBI single in the fifth. The Tigers won all three against the…
Takumi Akiyama did not look like himself again. He now has as many walks in his last two outings (5) as he had in his first seven. Still, he kept the damage to a minimum, thanks in large part to UZR king Koji Chikamoto’s superior range in center. Meanwhile, the bats found all the gaps,…
There were not a whole lot of hits in this one for our Tigers. As for our pitchers, they simply weathered the “storm” of singles and bunts. While not a Koshien walk-off win (as he did in 2019), Fumihito Haraguchi provided the late-game heroics with an RBI double in the top of the ninth that…
After yesterday’s slugfest, fans on both sides of this battle of the felines were looking forward to more long balls and dramatics. Instead, they were treated to a pitchers’ duel that was aided by the umpires calling a very wide strike zone. The result is that Masashi Itoh’s full-count mistake against Hotaka Yamakawa in the…
Interleague is upon us, and this game started off on a very poor note. It looked like Yuki Nishi was going to continue his month-long struggle. He didn’t. And our import bats (Jefry Marte & Jerry Sands) produced three runs early in the game, which made the outlook quite promising. However, their import bats also…
One night, you have Yuki Nishi and the bullpen serving up walks (11), hitting batters (2) and giving up extra-base hits (9). The next night, you have his distant relative, Junya Nishi serving up walks (4), but nothing else. The 19-year-old threw five innings of no-hit ball, and the bullpen protected the no-hitter for another…
Some games, the hitting just does not seem to be there. When the other team’s pitcher brings his A-game, fans just need to be patient and wait for the batters to do things later in the match. Takumi Akiyama kept the Dragons at bay, save for a long ball from their catcher, and Koji Chikamoto…
The Tigers put men on base in the first three innings, only to snuff out chances with double plays each time. It was beginning to look like the Swallows would win their first day game of the season, while the Tigers lost theirs, as starter Yuki Nishi sputtered in the middle innings. However, a clutch…