Sixth-inning home runs by Hotaka Yamakawa and Takeya Nakamura brought the Seibu Lions from three runs down in a 4-3 win over the Pacific League-leading Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on Saturday. With a three-run lead at Sendai's Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi, Eagles lefty Takahiro Shiomi ...
Red-hot Marines riding high after six-game sweep
There was a lot of action on display in the first full week of NPB games.
Hotaka Yamakawa hit a game-winning double and Keisuke Honda had a solid start, as the Seibu Lions beat the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 3-2 on Sunday to clinch their series. Honda scattered four hits, pitching into the sixth inning, after Takeya Nakamura drove in two ...
PL outslugs CL in NPB All-Star Series opener
After watching the home run derby before the game, some Seibu Lions, past and present, put on a power show of their own. Lions catcher Tomoya Mori hit a two-run home run, teammate Hotaka Yamakawa had a solo shot and former Lions star, and current ...
Home run celebrations becoming commonplace in Japanese game
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks infielder Kenji Akashi briefly went viral across baseball late last week when he hit a three-run sayonara home run and celebrated with a backflip onto home plate. Well, near home plate, as he had to go back and actually step on ...
Pacific League MVP Hotaka Yamakawa has signed a new contract with the Seibu Lions, the Saitama club said Wednesday. The 27-year-old first baseman, who led Nippon Professional Baseball in home runs this year, will receive an estimated annual salary of ¥110 million ($973,000), nearly tripling ...
Yoshihiro Maru and Hotaka Yamakawa spent the year putting up career numbers to help propel their clubs to league championships. For their last order of business in the 2018 season, they picked up some hardware for themselves. Maru, the Hiroshima Carp's star outfielder, was named Central ...
Japan home run king Hotaka Yamakawa learning hard lessons against MLB pitching
Hotaka Yamakawa may be Japan's premier home run hitter, but this past week has taught him how much more he has to learn. After leading both of Japan's elite leagues this year with 47 home runs, the 26-year-old Seibu Lions first baseman was looking to ...
Giants' Tomoyuki Sugano receives CL pitching accolade for stellar September
Two days after throwing a no-hitter to clinch the Central League Climax Series' first stage, the Yomiuri Giants' Tomoyuki Sugano was named the league's pitcher of the month for September and October on Tuesday. Although he is a strong candidate to win his second straight ...
Hotaka Yamakawa and Tomoya Mori each knocked in two runs, with Mori driving home Yamakawa with the game winner as the Seibu Lions rallied from six runs down to beat the Orix Buffaloes 7-6 in 10 innings on Tuesday night. Mori, who had doubled in ...
Lions' Shinsaburo Tawata rebounds from loss with six-hit shutout against Buffaloes
Shinsaburo Tawata bounced back from his worst start of the season with a six-hit shutout as the Pacific League-leading Seibu Lions beat the Orix Buffaloes 7-0 on Saturday. Coming off his first loss of the season, Tawata (7-1) struck out five and walked one but ...
Hanshin Tigers right-hander Randy Messenger won his third monthly MVP award and 12th-year Yomiuri Giants infielder Hayato Sakamoto was one of two first-time winners, Nippon Professional Baseball announced Wednesday. Messenger, the first foreign pitcher in NPB to make four straight opening-day starts, was selected as ...
