Summer Olympics / Baseball Jul 31, 2021
Samurai Japan cruises past Mexico at Tokyo Games
by Jason Coskrey
Japan improved to 2-0 at the Tokyo Games. This win, however, was much less stressful than the last.
Japanese Baseball Jun 28, 2020
Tetsuto Yamada goes deep with grand slam as Swallows club Giants
Tetsuto Yamada drove in five runs, including four with a game-breaking sixth-inning grand slam as the Tokyo Yakult Swallows beat the Yomiuri Giants 9-6 in the Central League on Saturday. The loss was the second of the season for the CL champion Giants. The Swallows opened ...
Japanese Baseball Jun 21, 2020
Tetsuto Yamada's bid for history off to good start in short season
Tetsuto Yamada hit a two-run home run and stole his first base to lead the Yakult Swallows to a 6-2 Central League win over the Chunichi Dragons on Saturday afternoon. Playing behind closed doors in a season that was delayed three months due to the ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball | NPB Preview Jun 14, 2020
Six players to watch in the Central League in 2020
by Jason Coskrey
BayStars newcomer Tyler Austin and Tigers pitcher Shintaro Fujinami are among several players who could make a big impact this season.
Japanese Baseball | Sac Bunts Mar 26, 2020
Olympic delay could send Samurai Japan back to drawing board
by Jason Coskrey
One of the common threads in the comments from many of Japan’s top players before spring training was about how much each was motivated by the prospect of trying to win gold on home soil during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. They can still do that, ...
Baseball Nov 16, 2019
Samurai Japan holds off South Korea in last game of Premier12 Super Round
by Jason Coskrey
Samurai Japan did just enough against rival South Korea during what amounted to an entertaining dress rehearsal for the Premier12 final. Now the Japanese will head into the gold-medal game hoping practice makes perfect. Japan scored six runs in the third inning then had to overcome ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Aug 31, 2019
Swallows star Tetsuto Yamada downs Dragons with three-run blast in 10th
Tetsuto Yamada broke a 10th-inning tie with a three-run home run, lifting the Tokyo Yakult Swallows to a 5-2 victory over the Chunichi Dragons on Saturday afternoon. Yamada, who this year became the first player in Nippon Professional Baseball to steal 30 bases and hit ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Aug 14, 2019
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 ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Jun 15, 2019
Takahiro Araki tied the game with a ninth-inning, pinch-hit RBI single, helping the Tokyo Yakult Swallows overturn a late deficit in their 6-5 interleague victory over the Seibu Lions on Saturday. The Swallows salvaged a win by beating Lions closer Tatsushi Masuda (3-1) after blowing ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Apr 25, 2019
Tetsuto Yamada and Wladimir Balentien each hit a pair of home runs, while Norichika Aoki went 4-for-4, as the Tokyo Yakult Swallows hammered the Yomiuri Giants 11-2 on Thursday. Former major leaguer Albert Suarez got the win in his first start for the Swallows. The ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball | Sac Bunts Apr 15, 2019
Swallows' hot-hitting lineup firing on all cylinders
by Jason Coskrey
Anyone who watched the Tokyo Yakult Swallows play this past week probably still has the Tokyo Ondo stuck in their head. When they close their eyes, they might still see a sea of small, mostly green umbrellas bobbing up and down in rhythm to ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball | Sac Bunts Aug 19, 2018
Tokyo Yakult Swallows slugger Wladimir Balentien stays ahead of curve at plate
by Jason Coskrey
Every time Wladimir Balentien hits a home run, and he's hit quite a few since joining the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in 2011, he has to go back to the drawing board and recalibrate his approach. Because he knows in the time it took to jog ...