Despite the dramatic win in Game 4, the Tigers still needed to win this one in order to head back to Kyocera Dome with some momentum and the pressure squarely on the Buffaloes. Their two best pitchers await, so forcing them into two must-win games was the only option. In spite of this, the Tigers’…
Before the Japan Series started, pretty much everyone predicted a low-scoring series. However, that surely has not been the case. Starter Hiroto Saiki labored through five innings but held the Buffaloes to a single run despite 8 base runners, and the relievers allowed the tying run to cross home (they were helped by a Tigers…
In some ways, this series was doomed from the start. Under normal circumstances, the previous series against the Marines would have ended on Sunday late afternoon and the team would have had nearly 48 hours between the end of that series and the start of this one. Instead, because of a Friday night rainout, there…
When attending a baseball game in Japan, one must experience the food in tandem with the action on the field! Japan is world-renowned for putting a lot of thought, effort, and quality into its cuisine… and the ballparks are no exception! There is a lot of great food besides what we have for you here,…
Let’s just forget about what happened on Tuesday, shall we? OK, just one sentence. It was our fourth straight game of putting up just a single run. And Wednesday, we were close to doing the same, as it took until extra innings for our run total to break the barrier. On Thursday, the bats finally…
The Yokohama DeNA Baystars thought that lining up 8 lefties against Hanshin starter Koyo Aoyagi might help them generate some offense. They were wrong. In fact, they collected just two hits and a walk during Aoyagi’s time on the mound, which was 5 ⅔ innings when all was said and done. He got pulled with…
If you are a new fan and are not particularly familiar with the team, let this be your introduction! We are going to break down the entire roster for you very briefly so you can get a feel for who is whom, what they have done, and what they might do in 2023 and beyond….
Going back to Game 1 of this series, the Hanshin Tigers hadn’t scored a run in 13 straight innings heading into this one. The Baystars took a two-run lead after three innings (which included 2 Tigers errors, plus a wild pitch). The momentum was completely in their favor. It looked like our season would be…
People can look at all the regular season stats they want and try to make predictions about the postseason. The Baystars were 11-2 against the Tigers at Yokohama Stadium this year. (BUT… that includes 10-0 in night games and 1-2 in day games!) Koji Chikamoto was 1-12 against ace Shota Imanaga in 2022. (BUT… he…
Pretty much every game in the past two weeks has been “must win” for the Tigers, but it is only recently that they have started taking those words literally. Tonight was no different. It took until the eighth inning for the team to put together a good chance, and our clutchest bat of late –…