Swallows' Keiji Takahashi outduels Tigers' Shintaro Fujinami
Unheralded lefty Keiji Takahashi pitched and fielded his position well over eight innings for the Yakult Swallows in a 6-0 Central League win over the Hanshin Tigers on Thursday. Takahashi (1-1) worked around a first-inning leadoff single by making a good defensive play to force ...
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 ...
Tigers could be ready to roar in 2020
The Hanshin Tigers are hoping the additions they made can help them capture the CL pennant this season.
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 ...
