Dragons trying to blaze path to A-Class finish in Central League
It's been a long time since there were Chunichi Dragons games worth getting excited about this late in a season. Here we are though, with every Central League team with fewer than 31 games left to play and Chunichi sitting fourth in the standings — ...
Swallows put on show at plate while Masanori Ishikawa dominates on mound against BayStars
Tetsuto Yamada and Keiji Obiki both bagged three-run homers in the first inning, opening the floodgates as the Tokyo Yakult Swallows blew away the Yokohama BayStars 15-2 in the Central League on Wednesday. With their offense clicking into gear from the outset, the last-place Swallows ...
Swallows' Masanori Ishikawa tames Lions en route to 160th career win
Left-hander Masanori Ishikawa pitched six-plus innings Tuesday to help the Tokyo Yakult Swallows defeat the Pacific League-leading Seibu Lions 3-1 and extend their interleague lead. In front of 17,088 at Omiya Park Baseball Stadium, Ishikawa (4-2) gave up a run on three hits and a ...
Fukudome's hot bat sends Tigers past Swallows again
There were fireworks the last time the Hanshin Tigers' Shintaro Fujinami pitched against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Emotions weren't running quite as high on Thursday afternoon, but the Tigers' batters did their best to run up the score. Masahiro Nakatani and Kosuke Fukudome homered during a ...
Tokyo Yakult Swallows ace Masanori Ishikawa allowed just a run in seven innings on Friday in a 3-1 win over the Hiroshima Carp, who lost their third straight game. Ishikawa (2-1) gave up six hits, five of them singles, and a walk, while striking out ...
Ace Masanori Ishikawa allowed three hits over 7⅔ scoreless innings as the Tokyo Yakult Swallows held off the Yokohama BayStars in a 3-2 Central League win on Wednesday. Ishikawa (7-8) walked one and struck out three, and closer Ryo Akiyoshi allowed two runs in the ...
Cruz, Chono carry Giants past Swallows
Luis Cruz thought he had a home run in his first game in a Yomiuri Giants uniform, but had to settle for a double following a replay review. He didn't leave any doubts this time. Cruz connected on a three-run home run, Hisayoshi Chono added a ...
Swallows' veteran pitcher Ishikawa no automatic out in batter's box
Shohei Otani turned heads with his bat during the first portion of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters' spring camp in Peoria, Arizona. While Otani's pitching is what scouts turn up to see, he's pretty good with a bat and is a capable right fielder ...
Ishikawa savors resilient Swallows' rise from cellar to CL champions
Masanori Ishikawa was soaked in beer from head to toe. The white Central League Champions T-shirt clung to the veteran Tokyo Yakult Swallows pitcher as he shuffled onto the makeshift stage in center field after the Swallows' pennant-clinching 11-inning 2-1 victory over the Hanshin ...
Swallows can see finish line as race for pennant nears end
Before the 2015 NPB season, Nippon Television commentator Suguru Egawa, a former Yomiuri Giants pitcher, named the Tokyo Yakult Swallows as his pick to win the Central League pennant. Egawa has always been somewhat of an iconoclast, but picking a team breaking in a new ...
Ishikawa perseveres with Swallows
On a somewhat muggy Friday night in Yokohama, Masanori Ishikawa strode to the center of the diamond at Yokohama Stadium, bent down and bounced the rosin bag around in his hand a few times — seemingly every pitch later that night was accompanied by ...
Left-hander Masanori Ishikawa pitched seven innings of one-run ball, Yuhei Takai homered and drove in five runs, and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows thumped the Chiba Lotte Marines 14-3 as the two clubs wrapped up their final interleague game on Wednesday. Each of the Swallows' starting ...
