Japanese Baseball

Round one goes to the Central League and, of all teams, the Chunichi Dragons. Interleague play kicked off across NPB last week, and the Dragons, who were in fifth place in the CL after the first-half of intraleague competition, are at the top of the ...

Justin Smoak homered and drove in three runs to lift the defending Central League champion Yomiuri Giants past the Pacific League's Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 4-3 on Sunday in interleague action. Smoak singled in two first-inning runs off Tsuyoshi Wada (3-3), and after Kazuma Okamoto broke ...

Wheeler gave the Giants the lead with a three-run home run against the Eagles.

If Pacific League fans and teams look happier and more upbeat than usual, it's probably because it's that time of year again. Tuesday marks the start of interleague season, a period PL teams probably anticipate as much many in Japan look forward to Golden Week. ...

The 24-year-old, unbeaten in nine starts this season, has said he won't cut his hair until he suffers his first defeat on the mound.

Shogo Nakamura did the bulk of the damage against Masahiro Tanaka and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles' bullpen on Saturday, paving the way for a 3-1 Chiba Lotte Marines win that knocked their opponents off the top of the Pacific League standings. Nakamura doubled in ...

Zach Neal delivered a vintage performance, allowing one run over six innings.

The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks will play their home games behind closed doors while Fukuoka Prefecture remains under a state of emergency to curb coronavirus infections, the Pacific League club said Tuesday. The reigning Japan Series champions have decided to shut spectators out of Fukuoka's PayPay ...

The "monster" finally made landfall on May 16. Pitcher Roki Sasaki was Japan's most-hyped rookie in some time when the Chiba Lotte Marines won his rights in the 2019 draft. He didn’t pitch on the top team in 2020, but that didn’t slow the swell ...