Japanese Baseball Oct 1, 2013

Eagles' Tanaka improves to 23-0 in magical season

As if on cue, the Pacific League pennant winner Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles came through for right-hander Masahiro Tanaka — and big. After being held scoreless in three consecutive games since clinching the PL title on Sept. 26, the Eagles erupted with a six-run ...

Japanese Baseball Sep 23, 2013

Eagles move closer to Pacific League pennant

Rookie Sho Miyagawa allowed just one hit in seven innings Monday as the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles beat the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 5-0 and Japan’s newest franchise moved closer to its first Pacific League pennant. The Eagles, who began playing as an expansion ...

Japanese Baseball Sep 6, 2013

Tanaka tosses complete-game victory, raises record to 20-0

Masahiro Tanaka equaled the mark for Japan’s longest winning streak within a single season as he improved to 20-0 on Friday in the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles’ 3-2 win over the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. The 24-year-old Eagles ace has won 24 consecutive decisions ...

Japanese Baseball Sep 5, 2013

Obiki, Fighters clobber Hawks

by Jason Coskrey

Keiji Obiki helped erase a four-run deficit with a come-from-behind grand slam in the second inning, and the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters went on to rout the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 11-5 on Thursday night at Tokyo Dome. The Fighters were behind 4-1 in the ...

Japanese Baseball | NPB NOTEBOOK Aug 4, 2013

Fighters pitcher Wolfe not ready to give up on season

by Jason Coskrey

Brian Wolfe’s confidence is not shaken. His Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters may be struggling and stuck in the Pacific League cellar, but Wolfe is not waving the white flag on the season just yet. The Fullerton, California, native won’t guarantee some miraculous run to ...

Japanese Baseball Aug 3, 2013

Tanaka stretches winning streak to 19 decisions

Tohoku Rakuten ace Masahiro Tanaka tied the Japan pro baseball record with his 15th consecutive win to start a season in a 12-strikeout effort as the Pacific League-leading Eagles rallied to beat the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 4-1 on Friday night. Kazuya Fujita and ...

Japanese Baseball Jul 31, 2013

Fighters end six-game slide with offensive outburst

by Jason Coskrey

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters rookie Shohei Otani wasn’t very good on Tuesday night, and the Chiba Lotte Marines’ Tomohisa Otani didn’t fare much better. Neither of the dueling Otanis went home with a decision, but Shohei Otani’s teammates made sure he left QVC Marine ...

Japanese Baseball | SPORTS SCOPE Jul 22, 2013

Otani's presence hard to ignore during NPB All-Star Series

by Jason Coskrey

If this year’s NPB All-Star Series was about anything, it was about Shohei Otani. Media and fans couldn’t get enough of the 19-year-old Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters rookie, and it was a good thing too, because he was everywhere. He pitched, he hit, and ...

Japanese Baseball Jul 15, 2013

Yang leads way as Fighters punch out Lions

Taiwan international Yang Dai-kang blasted two home runs and drove in four runs to pace the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters to a 14-3 clubbing of the Seibu Lions on Monday afternoon. Fighters lefty Masaru Takeda (6-5) allowed a run on two hits over six ...

Japanese Baseball Jul 12, 2013

Kawai, Akaminai provide heroics against Fighters

Lefty Takashi Kawai (3-0) threw seven scoreless innings and Ginji Akaminai opened the scoring with a two-run triple on Thursday as the Pacific League-leading Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles defeated the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 3-0. The victory in the PL’s only game of the ...

Japanese Baseball Jul 9, 2013

Tanaka blanks Fighters, improves to 12-0

Eagles hurler Masahiro Tanaka scattered four hits, all singles, in another brilliant outing en route to winning his 12th consecutive decision since the beginning of the season and recorded his second shutout this year. Tohoku Rakuten defeated the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 5-0 on ...

Japanese Baseball Jun 30, 2013

Kisanuki tosses complete game; Fighters cruise to fifth straight win

Hiroshi Kisanuki went the distance on one-run ball, Keiji Obiki hit a bases-clearing triple in a five-run sixth inning and the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters routed the Seibu Lions 9-1 to win their fifth game in a row on Saturday afternoon. The rejuvenated Fighters ...