Swallows' Alcides Escobar gets unexpected silent treatment in return to Japan
The lively atmosphere Alcides Escobar expected for his Tokyo Dome return was silenced by Japan's efforts to counter the spread of the new coronavirus known as COVID-19. In November 2014, the longtime defensive wiz with the Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City Royals got a taste ...
Giants and Swallows compete without familiar sights and sounds at ballpark
The return of pro baseball to Tokyo Dome on Saturday night was greeted by a jarring silence. There were no songs or chants to welcome the players to the plate nor the blaring of trumpets to provide the familiar soundtrack to the NPB experience. Instead, it ...
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows promoted Shingo Takatsu from farm manager to replace Junji Ogawa as the top team manager on Tuesday. The 50-year-old former pitcher, who had been managing the Swallows' Eastern League farm team since 2017, saved 286 games over his career in Japan, ...
Former star closer Shingo Takatsu to manage Swallows, source says
Former major league pitcher Shingo Takatsu will manage the Tokyo Yakult Swallows next season, and a team source said Thursday an official announcement could be made as early as Sunday. Takatsu currently manages the Swallows' Eastern League farm team. The farm team wrapped up its ...
Four pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout on Wednesday for the Chunichi Dragons in a 12-0 Central League win over the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Kodai Umetsu (4-1), the Dragons' second-round draft pick last autumn, allowed three hits, issued three walks and struck out six to ...
Tokyo Yakult Swallows manager Junji Ogawa said Sunday he intends to take responsibility for the Central League club's poor performance this year and retire when his two-year contract expires at the end of the season. The announcement follows Yakult's 10-6 loss to the Yomiuri Giants ...
Swallows slugger Wladimir Balentien looks back on long career in Japan
Wladimir Balentien still remembers all the running. Balentien spent his first day in a Tokyo Yakult Swallows uniform in a constant state of motion. There was so much running, even on Day 1, he almost couldn't believe it. Balentien had arrived in Japan to play ...
Wladimir Balentien singled in two first-inning runs and six pitchers made that lead stand up in the Tokyo Yakult Swallows' 3-1 win over the Chunichi Dragons on Sunday afternoon. Veteran lefty Yudai Ono (7-8) surrendered an infield single to open the game at Nagoya Dome ...
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 ...
BayStars' Takayuki Kajitani atones for fielding miscue with clutch hit against Swallows
Takayuki Kajitani got caught sleeping at the wheel in the outfield during the sixth inning. When he came to the plate in the seventh, however, the Yokohama BayStars veteran was locked in 100 percent. Kajitani hit a tiebreaking two-out single to right to give his team ...
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 ...
Giants' Yoshiyuki Kamei delivers sayonara sacrifice fly in 10th to down Swallows
The Yomiuri Giants got knocked down. The Tokyo Yakult Swallows, however, didn't quite knock the Kyojin out. Kazuma Okamoto hit a game-tying three run homer in the eighth and Yoshiyuki Kamei won it with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the 10th inning as Yomiuri surged late ...
