Yakyu Baka

Kawasaki moves into 4th place tie on franchise single season hit list

Gen — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:30:59 +0000

Munenori Kawasaki (SOF) went 3-for-5 last night against the Eagles and now has 175 hits on the year. That's good for a 4th place tie with Tadahito Iguchi on the Hawks' all-time single season hit list.

Dandy House to sponsor Tigers CS games

Gen — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:25:00 +0000

The Hanshin Tigers announced on Wednesday that they signed a sponsorship deal with Dandy House (a "beauty day spa" for men) for any Climax Games they might play at Koshien Stadium.

Rakuten Eagles vs Softbank Hawks (September 9, 2010)

Gen — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:04:13 +0000

Rakuten Eagles vs Softbank Hawks @ Yahoo Dome - 18:00
Potential Starters: Shingo Matsuzaki (RAK) 1-0, 4.09 - Shinsuke Ogura (SOF) 4-8, 5.49

Nippon Ham Fighters vs Seibu Lions (September 9, 2010)

Gen — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:03:56 +0000

Nippon Ham Fighters vs Seibu Lions @ Seibu Dome - 18:00
Potential Starters: Brian Wolfe (HAM) 2-3, 3.70 - Masamitsu Hirano (SEI) 3-3, 4.47

Chunichi Dragons vs Hanshin Tigers (September 9, 2010)

Gen — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:02:34 +0000

Chunichi Dragons vs Hanshin Tigers @ Koshien Stadium - 18:00
Potential Starters: Maximo Nelson (CHU) 3-2, 3.05 - Atsushi Nomi (HAN) 3-0, 3.62

Yomiuri Giants vs Yokohama Bay Stars (September 9, 2010)

Gen — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:01:15 +0000

Yomiuri Giants vs Yokohama Bay Stars @ Yokohama Stadium - 18:00
Potential Starters: Shugo Fujii (YOM) 6-3, 4.29 - Hitoshi Fujie (YOK) 2-3, 6.75

Hiroshima Carp vs Yakult Swallows (September 9, 2010)

Gen — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:00:30 +0000

Hiroshima Carp vs Yakult Swallows @ Jingu Stadium - 18:00
Potential Starters: Kenta Maeda (HIR) 12-6, 2.28 - Masanori Ishikawa (YAK) 10-8, 3.82

Eagles struggling to score: 21 scoreless innings and counting

Gen — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:37:08 +0000

The Eagles were shutout tonight for the second time in as many days. Throw in the three scoreless innings that ended Sunday's game and the Eagles' offense has not scored a run over 21 innings. And tonight, their inability to push a run across the plate was magnified even more when Randy Ruiz ruined a chance to break the scoreless inning streak:

With the bases loaded and 1 out in the 7th, Daisuke Kusano hit a ball to right that may have been deep enough to score Ruiz at third, but for some reason Ruiz was off the bag at third when the ball was caught and momentarily froze before scurrying back to the bag.

But that's really just the tip of the iceberg. Here's a list of all their missed scoring opportunities:

From 9/5 vs Seibu

Bottom of the 7th
Naoto Watanabe leads off the inning with a double and tags up to third on a fly ball to right. With only 1 out, neither Ruiz (strikeout) nor Takeshi Yamasaki (ground out) can drive Watanabe home.

From 8/7 vs Softbank

Top of the 2nd
Ruiz leads off the inning with a double and is stranded there after Yamasaki (strikeout), Norihiro Nakamura (strikeout), and Akihisa Makida (fly out to right) fail to get the job done.

Top of the 5th
With runners on first and second and 2 out, Ryo Hijirisawa strikes out swinging.

Top of the 7th
With the bases loaded and 1 out, Kensuke Uchimura hits into a double play.

Top of the 9th
With a runner on second and 2 out, Kusano flies out to end the game.

From 8/8 vs Softbank

Top of the 1st
With a runner on third, Ruiz strikes out to end the inning.

Top of the 6th
With runners on first and second, Teppei flies out to center.

Top of the 7th
With the bases loaded and one out, Ruiz fails to tag up on a fly ball to right. Makida ends the inning by grounding out to short.

Mizuno MVP Farm Awards for August

Gen — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:34:51 +0000

The Ni-gun Mizuno MVP awards for the month of August.

Eastern League

Kenjiro Tanaka - Shonan Searex
4 G, 3-1, 28 IP, 16 SO, 4 ER, 1.29 ERA

Tanaka led the league in innings pitched for the month of August.

Western League

Yao-Hsun Yang - Softbank Hawks
3 G, 1 CG, 1 ShO, 2-0, 21 IP, 18 SO, 1 ER, 0.43 ERA

Yang led the league in strikeouts and ERA for the month of August.

Takahiro Okada leaves the game early with an injury

Gen — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:17:00 +0000

Takahiro Okada (ORI) was taken out of the game in the bottom of the 2nd inning with an injury to his left hamstring.

Okada drove a ball to right and was heading to second when he came up lame, slowed down, and was tagged out while sliding into second. Okada limped off the field after the play and was replaced by Shintaro Yoshida in left beginning in the top of the 3rd inning.