Recap of NPB Games on May 8: Yakult, Giants, Carp, Eagles, and Hawks Win

On May 8, five official professional football games were held.

Of the[2-6]Yakult
Chunichi[1-4]A giant
Hanshin[1-3]Hiroshima
Rakuten[4-1]Orix
Bank Soft[3-1]Nippon Ham

Tokyo Yakult Swallows ran away and won. Yakult took a three-run lead in the first inning with three timely hits. The score was 3-2 in the 6th inning, when they scored two runs to take the lead to 5-2. In the 8th inning, Santana hit a solo home run for the second consecutive game, making it 6-2. Starting pitcher Kojiro Yoshimura picked up his third win of the season. The Yokohama DeNA BayStars were able to grab a one-point lead at one point thanks to Yota Kyoda’s timely strike, but were unable to close the gap.

The Yomiuri Giants won their second straight game. In the top of the first inning, the Giants took the lead with one run on Hayato Sakamoto’s sacrifice fly. In the 8th inning, Hisayoshi Nagano scored 3 runs with a well-timed 3-base hit. Starting pitcher Kenshin Hotta pitched a scoreless game in the 6th inning, marking his first win of the season. The Chunichi Dragons did their best to get one point back in the 9th inning with a timely hit by Koya Ishikawa.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp got their second win in a row. Hiroshima entered the top of the 8th inning with the score tied 1-1, but timely hits by Kaito Kozono and Shota Suekane put them ahead by two runs. Starting pitcher Ryo Daichi Osera celebrated his first win of the season in good fashion, giving up one run in seven innings. With this, Hiroshima is back to a 50% win rate. Just after giving up one run, the Hanshin Tigers tied the score with Takumu Nakano’s timely hit in the bottom of the third inning, but couldn’t hold on.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles ended their three-game losing streak. In the bottom of the third inning, with the score tied at 1-1, Rakuten Ryosuke Tatsumi singled and managed to win the game at 2-1. They scored extra runs in the 4th and 7th innings and ran away with a 4-1 lead. Starting pitcher Hijiri Fujii picked up his second win of the season. The Orix Buffaloes took a one-run lead in the second inning with Cedeño’s home run, but were unable to score any extra points. Starting pitcher Daiya Miyagi gave up 3 runs (1 earned) in 4 innings and suffered his 4th loss.

Fukuoka Softbank Hawks won a close game and extended their winning streak to four. Just after losing by one point, Softbank got hold of Hotaka Yamakawa’s timely hit in the bottom of the first inning to tie the score. In the 4th inning, Daiki Mimori hit a timely hit to take the lead. They added another run in the 6th inning, increasing their lead to 3-1. Starting pitcher Shuta Ishikawa pitched well, giving up one run in six innings, earning his second win of the season. The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters took a one-point lead in the first inning, but were unable to score more points.

●[Bhidio]Fukuoka Softbank Hawks Kohei Arihara becomes 368th person in NPB history to pitch 1,000 innings