Tag - hit-and-run

 
 

HIT AND RUN

Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Jun 22, 2015
Central League clubs currently wallowing in mediocrity
There's a decent chance that at some time this week no Central League team will have a winning record.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Jun 15, 2015
Carp outfielder Schierholtz adjusting to life in Japan
There wasn't much time for Nate Schierholtz to really prepare himself for Japanese baseball. He'd opted out of his deal with the Texas Rangers on March 28. By April 19, he was already on the other side of the world in a red No. 57 jersey and hitting third for the Hiroshima Carp.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Jun 8, 2015
Sarfate continues to pitch at high level for Softbank
Dennis Sarfate doesn't seem to be very complicated. Sarfate wears his heart on his sleeve and says what he feels. He works hard, he plays hard, he throws hard. The way he pitched during his first three NPB seasons was similarly without complexity; he threw a really good fastball and got really good results.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
May 25, 2015
Matsui finds comfort zone in ninth
When Yuki Matsui burst on the scene as a second-year player for Toko Gakuen at Summer Koshien in 2012, he was a sight to behold. He looked like one of the smallest players on the field, but the diminutive lefty's stature belied the fact that he was a giant with the ball in his hands.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
May 18, 2015
BayStars defy sorry reputation with strong start to season
The surprising Yokohama BayStars are 26-16 after 42 games and owners of both the best record in Japan and a three-game cushion over the Yomiuri Giants atop the Central League. The BayStars have also won seven consecutive series, which they haven't done since 1964, and each victory makes more fans wonder if the team can beat the other CL clubs to the finish line in the pennant race for the first time since 1998.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
May 11, 2015
Lions cub Mori beginning to show tremendous potential
In his last nine games, Tomoya Mori, the Seibu Lions' 19-year old sensation, has 14 hits (and at least one in nine straight contests), four home runs and has driven in seven runs. For the young season, he's hitting .325 with seven home runs and 20 RBIs.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
May 4, 2015
Giants still looking for more power from cleanup hitters
Hall of Famer Shigeo Nagashima was the 25th player in the history of the Yomiuri Giants to hit fourth in the Kyojin's starting lineup, according to the team's records. Sadaharu Oh was the 28th, and Hideki Matsui the 62nd. Taishi Ota, in the cleanup role for the past four games, is the 81st.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Apr 20, 2015
Saito stumbles again in quest to find success as pro
Yuki Saito has spent most of the past two seasons off the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters' ichi-gun roster and with the farm team. His poor showing so far this year makes one wonder just how many days he'll spend with the top team going forward.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Apr 13, 2015
Swallows pitchers off to hot start on mound this year
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows' pitchers were unlikely candidates to flirt with history, the good kind at least, when the season began March 27. Not when they were coming off a 2014 in which they posted the worst ERA in Japan among starters, relievers, and, unsurprisingly, overall as a team.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Apr 6, 2015
Abe serves as security blanket after Giants' slow start
It seemed, on the surface at least, to be with a palpable sense of early-season panic that Shinnosuke Abe was back behind the plate for the Yomiuri Giants during their series against the Hanshin Tigers over the weekend.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Apr 3, 2015
Releasing stubborn Gourriel best move for BayStars
The lasting image of Yulieski Gourriel's 62-game tenure with the Yokohama BayStars may have come after the Cuban star's very first ichi-gun game in the team's pinstriped uniform.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Mar 21, 2015
Fighters' Hermida excited about new challenge
Jeremy Hermida hit a grand slam the very first time he stepped in the batter's box in the major leagues, becoming the first player since Bill Duggleby in 1898 to achieve that particular feat. That day, Aug. 31, 2005, has been followed by a series of ups and downs, a winding career path that has led the 31-year old to Japan, where he hopes to have the same type of immediate impact for his new team, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Mar 14, 2015
Japan still building for Premier 12, WBC
Atsunori Inaba knows a thing or two about the highs and lows of international competition.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Mar 7, 2015
Tigers' Fujinami may be ready to roar
Shintaro Fujinami was included on Samurai Japan's roster for next week's games against Europe probably because the Hanshin Tigers can give the ball to Randy Messenger, coming off an excellent 2014, or stalwart Atsushi Nomi on opening day. Fujinami is probably the biggest name on the Japan pitching staff, a group made up of good players, though none who might be considered the ace of his club's staff, or in line for the opening day start.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Mar 2, 2015
Milledge on comeback trail after losing most of 2014 season to injury
Lastings Milledge wasn't looking for results this past weekend at Tokyo Dome, though he did have a booming home run, a double and two walks in two spring games against the Yomiuri Giants. More importantly, it was a step forward on the long road back from the injury that cost him virtually the entire 2014 season.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Feb 21, 2015
Iwase, Dragons may be in tough spot
Every athlete in every sport eventually declines with age. It's just more noticeable in the greats. For the stars who have reached amazing heights, the fall from grace can be long and painful to watch — or as in the case of slugger Michihiro Ogasawara, sudden and confusing.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Feb 14, 2015
Eagles need young duo to soar in '15
Earlier this year, 24-year-old Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles pitcher Wataru Karashima said he'd retire if he failed to reach 10 wins this season. Karashima has pitched in NPB for five seasons, and was used out of the bullpen over the first two, making 14 appearances as a reliever. Since becoming a starter in 2012, Karashima has won eight games twice, in 2012 and 2014, and three games in 2013. He's a decent pitcher, not a particularly hard thrower but a player who will show flashes of good command and had a great showing for himself in the 2013 postseason. So a double-digit win season isn't out of the question. Still, it's probably for the best he laid his cards on the table in a tongue-in-cheek fashion.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Feb 7, 2015
Dice-K could face rocky transition
Video of Daisuke Matsuzaka pitching in the bullpen on Thursday, posted online by the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, revealed nothing spectacular or particularly revelatory. If anything, Matsuzaka resembled the pitcher he's always been.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Jan 31, 2015
Ichiro's move to Marlins can generate results for both
Ichiro Suzuki's introductory news conference with the Miami Marlins was held at a Tokyo hotel on Thursday, in a large room filled with media members — no fewer than 20 television crews, dozens more photographers and even more writers. There was an MC on hand to push the proceedings forward, and the space filled with the frantic sound of camera shutters whenever Ichiro so much as shifted in his seat.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Jan 17, 2015
Abe leaves big shoes to fill at catcher's spot in lineup
A few seasons ago, in 2012, the Yomiuri Giants won the Japan Series just a few days after the San Francisco Giants clinched the World Series title. While the two teams already shared a nickname and color scheme, it was the first time they'd reached the pinnacle of their respective leagues in the same season.

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