Shun Yamaguchi pitched into the seventh inning at his old stomping grounds as the Yomiuri Giants beat the Yokohama BayStars 9-4 to lower their magic number to clinch the Central League pennant to two on Friday. "The guys worked hard to get me runs, starting ...
Race for Sawamura Award going down to wire
With the NPB season nearly over — no team has more than 16 games left — it's almost time for the group of retired pitchers who vote on the Sawamura Award to sit down and have a chat. When they finish lamenting that none of ...
Giants beginning to hit stride ahead of All-Star break
Following a spring training game against the Seattle Mariners in March, Yomiuri Giants manager Tastunori Hara mused that the MLB club's lineup looked similar to his own. Hara was specifically referencing the Mariners using one of their best hitters, Mitch Haniger, in the No. 2 ...
Shun Yamaguchi struck out 12 batters over eight innings, doubled and scored the winning run for the Yomiuri Giants in their 8-4 victory over the Yokohama BayStars on Friday. The right-hander allowed two runs on two hits and three walks to improve to 9-2. With ...
Giants whip Hawks, stay in contention for interleague crown
It'll essentially be winner-take-all for this season's interleague title. The Yomiuri Giants made sure of that. Shun Yamaguchi remained hot on the mound, Yoshihiro Maru remained hot at the plate and the Kyojin remained in contention for the interleague crown with a 7-2 victory over the ...
Giants' Shun Yamaguchi silences Swallows in eight scoreless innings
Shun Yamaguchi tossed eight innings of one-hit ball on Tuesday night as the Yomiuri Giants pounded the Tokyo Yakult Swallows 9-0 in a battle for the Central League's top spot. Yamaguchi (4-0) struck out six and was backed by excellent fielding at Jingu Stadium, while ...
Giants newcomer Christian Villanueva slugs two homers to propel club past Dragons
Christian Villanueva hit his first two home runs in Japan, and Shun Yamaguchi worked seven innings to lead the Yomiuri Giants to a 3-1 victory over the Chunichi Dragons on Tuesday. Villanueva, who hit 20 home runs last season as a rookie for the San ...
Yoshio Itoi smacks go-ahead blast in eighth as Tigers down Giants
Yoshio Itoi capped a solid evening with an eighth-inning, tiebreaking home run that lifted the Hanshin Tigers to a 3-2, come-from-behind victory over the Yomiuri Giants on Thursday. Itoi had twice singled with a runner in scoring position, but some solid defense by the Giants ...
Giants hurler Shun Yamaguchi notches no-hitter against Dragons
Shun Yamaguchi grabbed the brim of his cap and looked downward as if caught up in the moment and trying to fight back tears on the hero interview stage. Then, just as the crowd began to react, the jig was up. He ripped off ...
Pinch hitter Masanobu Fukuda slaps game-winning single in ninth against Giants
Masanobu Fukuda's pinch-hit single capped a three-run, ninth-inning rally, lifting the Chunichi Dragons to a 4-3 triumph over the Yomiuri Giants on Friday. The Giants led 2-1 after eight innings of a scintillating pitchers' duel between veteran right-handers Shun Yamaguchi of the Giants and Kazuki ...
Shun Yamaguchi goes distance for Giants in win over Swallows
Shun Yamaguchi struck out eight over the distance to pitch the Yomiuri Giants to a 7-1 Central League win over the Tokyo Yakult Swallows on Saturday. Yamaguchi (6-5) gave up six hits, walked one batter and hit one. He did not allow a run until ...
Tigers starter Takumi Akiyama tosses first shutout since 2010
Takumi Akiyama homered, drove in two runs and threw a five-hit shutout as the Hanshin Tigers beat the Yomiuri Giants 9-0 on Tuesday. It was the 27-year-old right-hander's first shutout since he was a first-year pro out of high school in 2010, and his second ...
