Japanese Baseball Sep 26, 2013

Eagles clinch first Pacific League title

In a game of high drama, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles clinched their first Pacific League pennant on Thursday night in a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the Seibu Lions.

Japanese Baseball Sep 24, 2013

Lions rally past Eagles

Shogo Akiyama and Takeya Nakamura hit back-to-back RBI singles as the Seibu Lions came from two runs down to beat rookie right-hander Takahiro Norimoto and the Pacific League-leading Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 4-3 on Tuesday night. Facing a 2-0 deficit in the eighth, Seibu ...

Japanese Baseball Sep 9, 2013

Furuya capitalizes on second chance to beat Lions

A night after having a dreadful start mercifully aborted by rain, Chiba Lotte lefty Takuya Furuya (7-1) allowed two runs in seven innings in the Marines’ 4-3 win over the Seibu Lions. By winning the game, a makeup of Sunday’s contest that ended with ...

Japanese Baseball Sep 3, 2013

First-place Eagles rally past Lions

A trio of former big leaguers led the Pacific League-leading Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles to a come-from-behind, 4-3 victory over the Seibu Lions on Tuesday. Andruw Jones trimmed the deficit to 3-1, when he led off the fifth inning with his 20th home run. ...

Baseball | SPORTS SCOPE Aug 19, 2013

German giving master class in fine art of stealing bases

by Jason Coskrey

Esteban German is looking for a sign. Not one of a divine nature, but something — anything from the movement of a shoulder to the shifting of weight — that can serve as his cue to leave the safe haven of first base and ...

Japanese Baseball Aug 18, 2013

Lions pull off great escape to sink Eagles

The Seibu Lions overturned a three-run, ninth-inning deficit to beat the Pacific League-leading Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 12-11 on Sunday. Takumi Kuriyama’s two-run sayonara single off Eagles closer Darrell Rasner (1-2) capped a wild slugfest at Seibu Dome. Trailing by a run with two ...

Japanese Baseball Aug 11, 2013

Lions' Kishi slams door on Buffaloes

Takayuki Kishi throws a three-hit shutout en route to winning his sixth consecutive decision as the Seibu Lions beat the Orix Buffaloes 1-0.

Japanese Baseball Aug 7, 2013

Asamura's sayonara blast saves Seibu

Hideto Asamura, the Pacific League’s player of the month for July, saved some magic for August, belting a three-run sayonara home run as the Seibu Lions pulled out a 7-6 victory over the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters on Wednesday. Trailing by two runs with ...

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 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 ...

Japanese Baseball Jun 24, 2013

Lions' Kikuchi emerging as one of NPB's top pitchers

by Jason Coskrey

Yusei Kikuchi might be in the major leagues right now if he’d chosen differently. He drew a lot of interest from MLB clubs while at Iwate Prefecture’s Hanamaki Higashi High School in 2009, but decided to begin his career in Japan. Now just a ...