Six players to watch in the Pacific League in 2020
From Hawks outfielder Yuki Yanagita to aspiring Rakuten starter Yuki Matsui, there's plenty of stellar talent to look forward to from the Pa League.
Fighters pound out 11 hits, take 10-0 lead in first inning in rout of Marines
Pitcher Kohei Arihara threw eight shutout innings and the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters backed him with a 10-run first inning in Tuesday afternoon's 14-1 win over the Chiba Lotte Marines. Nippon Ham had 11 hits in the first inning alone against Marines starter Ayumu Ishikawa ...
Ayumu Ishikawa overcomes early struggles, leads Marines past Lions
Ayumu Ishikawa pitched out of early trouble, allowing the Chiba Lotte Marines to come from behind in a 5-2 win over the Seibu Lions on Tuesday. The Marines snapped the Lions' season-opening, eight-game winning streak. Ishikawa, coming off a nightmare 2017 season, improved to 2-0. The ...
Teams makes preparations for second round
Tokyo Dome was mostly silent, with only the sounds of practice ricocheting off thousands of empty seats at the Big Egg, as the 2017 World Baseball Classic took a day off to prepare for the final push to the championship round. Japan and Cuba, who ...
Matsuda, Tsutsugo carry Japan past Cuba in WBC opener
The fans waited as Nobuhiro Matsuda rounded the bases and exchanged high-fives with his teammates. They knew what was coming, and when Matsuda pumped his fist and let out a guttural yell, as is his custom after home runs, the Japanese fans packed in ...
Japan fills out team for World Baseball Classic
Samurai Japan mostly filled out its roster for the 2017 World Baseball Classic on Tuesday, adding eight players, but no major leaguers, to the 19 names released in December. The new players bring the roster up to 27, leaving one spot to be filled. "My tension ...
Underdog Marines embrace challenge of dethroning Hawks as postseason gets underway
The Chiba Lotte Marines find themselves in a familiar position, in third place and staring at a best-of-three playoff challenge on the road. The Marines have been here in three of manager Tsutomu Ito's four years at the Lotte helm. In 2010, under former skipper ...
Ishikawa tosses shutout to send Hawks to sixth straight loss
Ayumu Ishikawa shut out the Pacific-League leading Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on two hits and tagged them with their season-worst sixth straight defeat on Friday, while tying Hawks starter Tsuyoshi Wada for the league lead in wins. Ishikawa (12-3) walked one and fanned six in his ...
