Samurai Japan are holding their first day of Autumn Camp in Miyazaki in preparation for the Premier12 tournament. The Baseball Federation of Japan is live streaming the workouts. Nippon Series Game 3 pre-game workouts Live stream 15:00 Japan 2:00am U.S. Eastern 11:00pm U.S. Pacific
Masayuki Kuwahara went 2-for-4 with a double and home run while Katsuki Azuma allowed just one run over 7 innings as the Yokohama BayStars defeated the SoftBank Hawks 4-1 in Game 3 of the Nippon Series. The BayStars still trail in the series 2 games to 1 but victory at the Mizuho PayPay Dome will have given the Central League representatives a confidence boost heading into Game 4 on Wednesday. Azuma made his return to the mound since 12 October when he was diagnosed with a pulled left hamstring following Game 1 of the Climax Series First Phase win over the Hanshin Tigers, and although the BayStars' ace hurler allowed 10 hits to the Hawks potent lineup he also gave up no walks while striking out 4 to help make this series interesting again. Yokohama took their first lead of the Series on Shugo Maki's ground out that scored Kuwahara from third base in the opening inning. Tyler Austin returned to the BayStars lineup and doubled off his American compatriot Carter Stewart Jr. and although he looked in pain with his left foot after arriving at second he remained in the game, striking out twice while drawing two walks. When asked after the game about his foot Austin replied, "To be honest, it's not good but I was looking for a way to play. I'm getting treatment from my trainer and trying to calm the swelling but it's not going down as fast as I expected." The Hawks promptly tied the score in the bottom of the 1st when Kensuke Kondoh singled home Yuki Yanagita from third. The BayStars threatened to re-take the lead over the next three frames but ended up leaving a total of 4 runners on base. This led to Stewart's departure after the 4th having allowed the one run on 3 hits and 3 walks while fanning 4 batters. But in the 5th Kuwahara greeted SoftBank reliever Ryosuke Ohtsu with a leadoff solo home run to put Yokohama back in front, and the visitors proceeded to load the bases with no outs when Yoshitomo Tsutsugo launched a deep fly to right field that Yanagita was able to keep in the park with a jumping grab. Kouki Kajiwara waltzed home on the sacrifice fly to make it 3-1 but they could manage no more as Shunsuke Iwai replaced Ohtsu and managed to get out of the inning without further damage. Yokohama eventually added an insurance run in the 8th when Central League Climax Series MVP Yasutaka Tobashira doubled to right-center scoring Takuma Hayashi from first, and relievers Hiromu Ise and Kohei Morihara worked the 8th and 9th innings to close out the win. After winning the final 4 games of the 2018 Japan Series, the Hawks won both the 2019 and 2020 Fall Classics in 4-game sweeps. Add in the two weekend games of this year's run and Tuesday's defeat put a halt to SoftBank's record 14 game winning streak in Nippon Series play. For the BayStars, they are now 7-2 on the road in 2024 post-season play with two more games appoaching. Official NPB highlights Extended Pro Yakyu News highlights
Sat 26 Oct - Game 1: Hawks 5, BayStars 3 Sun 27 Oct - Game 2, Hawks 6, BayStars 3 Mon 28 Oct - travel day Tue 29 Oct - Game 3 , BayStars 4, Hawks 1 Wed 30 Oct - Game 4, Mizuho PayPay Dome, Fukuoka (18:30) Thu 31 Oct - Game 5, Mizuho PayPay Dome, Fukuoka (18:00) Fri 1 Nov - travel day Sat 2 Nov - Game 6, Yokohama Stadium (18:30) Sun 3 Nov - Game 7, Yokohama Stadium (18:00) Hawks lead Series 2-1
Wednesday 30 October Game 4 Probables SoftBank: Shuta Ishikawa (7-2, 2.56) Yokohama: Anthony Kay (6-9, 3.42 ... PS: 1-0, 0.96)
Samurai Japan Live stream Autumn Camp workouts in Miyazaki Day 2 Nippon Series Game 4 pre-game workouts Live stream 15:00 Japan 2:00am U.S. Eastern 11:00pm U.S. Pacific
Tyler Austin and Toshiro Miyazaki each homered while Anthony Kay pitched 7 shutout innings as the Yokohama BayStars blanked the SoftBank Hawks 5-0 in Game 4 of the Nippon Series Wednesday night in Fukuoka. The result evens the bestof-7 Series at 2-2. Austin, who went 3-for-4 on the night, opened the scoring with a solo home run in the 4th inning. Miyazaki doubled the visitors' lead with his own solo bomb that touched off a 3-run rally in the 7th frame which, as it turned out, broke the game wide open. Masayuki Kuwahara delivered the game-killing hit when he smacked a two-run double off the left field wall that extended Yokohama's lead to 4-0. American southpaw Kay was in complete control allowing just 4 hits with no walks while striking out 7 batters to earn Hero of the Game honors. In his 3 outings this post season Kay faced the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants twice at the Tokyo Dome and the Pacific League champion Hawks at the Mizuho PayPay Dome allowing just 2 runs (1 unearned) over 16 and 1/3 innings. After scoring a run in the 1st inning of Game 3 on Tuesday the Hawks have now gone scoreless in 17 consecutive innings. The BayStars have now won 8 of the 10 playoff road games they have played and Wednesday's victory assures that the Series will return to Yokohama on Saturday for Game 6 in what has now become a best-of-3 tournament. Official NPB highlights Extended Pro Yakyu News highlights
Sat 26 Oct - Game 1: Hawks 5, BayStars 3 Sun 27 Oct - Game 2, Hawks 6, BayStars 3 Mon 28 Oct - travel day Tue 29 Oct - Game 3: BayStars 4, Hawks 1 Wed 30 Oct - Game 4: BayStars 5, Hawks 0 Thu 31 Oct - Game 5, Mizuho PayPay Dome, Fukuoka (18:00) Fri 1 Nov - travel day Sat 2 Nov - Game 6, Yokohama Stadium (18:30) Sun 3 Nov - Game 7, Yokohama Stadium (18:00) Series tied 2-2
Thursday 31 October Game 5 Probables SoftBank: Tomohisa Ohzeki (8-4, 2.50) Yokohama: Andre Jackson (8-7, 2.90 ... PS: 1-2, 3.86)
LIVE STREAMS Samurai Japan Autumn Camp workouts in Miyazaki Day 3 Nippon Series Game 5 pre-game workouts 14:30 Japan 1:30am U.S. Eastern 10:30pm U.S. Pacific
Andre Jackson dominated on the mound for 7 innings and Shugo Maki crushed a game-breaking 3-run home run as the Yokohama BayStars continued their incredible run on the road by defeating the SoftBnk Hawks 4-0 in Fukuoka on Thursday. The Cinderella BayStars lead the Series 3-2 as the scene shifts back to Yokohama following Friday's travel day. Jackson followed Anthony Kay's brilliant performance in Game 4 with a fantastic outing of his own, allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks with 8 strikeouts over 7 shutout innings. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo put Yokohama up 1-0 in the 3rd inning when his single drove in Maki from second base. And it was Maki himself who deflated the Hawks an inning later when his 3-run blast landed in the BayStars supports section behind the left field fence extending the lead to 4-0. Three more insurance runs were added in 9th. Masayuki Kuwahara was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 5-0, and Kouki Kajiwara doubled in the final two runs to complete the 7-0 slaughter for DeNA. The victory was the BayStars 9th in the 11 games they played on the road this post-season, and they will have a chance to reverse what the Hawks did to them 7 years ago. In the 2017 Nippon Series the BayStars won the first two games that were played in Fukuoka but SoftBank swept the next four to win the championship. Official NPB highlights Extended Pro Yakyu News highlights
Sat 26 Oct - Game 1: Hawks 5, BayStars 3 Sun 27 Oct - Game 2, Hawks 6, BayStars 3 Mon 28 Oct - travel day Tue 29 Oct - Game 3: BayStars 4, Hawks 1 Wed 30 Oct - Game 4: BayStars 5, Hawks 0 Thu 31 Oct - Game 5: BayStars 7, Hawks 0 Fri 1 Nov - travel day Sat 2 Nov - Game 6, Yokohama Stadium (18:30) Sun 3 Nov - Game 7, Yokohama Stadium (18:00) BayStars lead Series 3-2 NOTE: If Game 6 is cancelled due to rain (as early weather reports indicate), NPB released the following make up schedule. Sun 3 Nov - Game 6, Yokohama Stadium (18:00) Mon 4 Nov - Game 7, Yokohama Stadium (18:00)
Saturday 2 November Game 6 Probables SoftBank: Kohei Arihara (14-7, 2.36 ... PS: 2-0, 1.29) Yokohama: Shinichi Ohnuki (6-7, 2.85 ... PS: 1-1, 5.00)
Friday 1 November marked the first day that NPB players can officially apply to move to MLB via the posting system. For any NPB player that does not have have the required 9 years of service time to gain international free agency, he can apply to transfer to MLB by asking his NPB club to be posted, at which point the club can agree with his request and allow him to negotiate with MLB teams. If the club denies his request, then he cannot leave and must remain with his Japanese team. At the moment, Shinnosuke Ogasawara (pitcher, Chunichi Dragons) is the only player who is likely to be posted. But all eyes are on Lotte Marines pitcher Roki Sasaki, who supposedly asked to be posted late last December when the signing period was about to end. Many MLB scouts and officials do not believe Sasaki, who turns 23 on Sunday, will be available this off-season because of his age. Players under the age of 25 can only sign amateur deals that caps their signing bonus and limits them to a rookie salary scale. Another player who may ask to be posted is Yomiuri Giants slugger Kazuma Okamoto. At age 28, he would be able to sign any big contract deal that can be negotiated. The posting window lasts 45 days and will end on 15 December. Last winter, pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix Buffaloes/Los Angeles Dodgers) and Shota Imanaga (Yokohama BayStars/Chicago Cubs) used the posting system to move to MLB. Posting is different than players moving to MLB via international free agency, which NPB players gain after having accumulated 9 years of NPB service. Yuki Matsui of the Rakuten Eagles exercised his international free agency rights last winter to sign with the San Diego Padres. In a very rare instance, the Yomiuri Giants - notorious opponents of the posting system - cleared pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano to negotiante with MLB teams in 2020 but the player was unable to reach an agreement despite interest, mainly from the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. Now 35, Sugano has international free agency status and will attempt another move across the Pacific. The Padres and Giants, among others, are expected to return and attempt to lure the veteran ace. The SoftBank Hawks are also fierce opponents of the posting system and have yet to allow any of its players to use the setup Article from MLB website https://www.mlb.com/news/roki-sasaki-japan-korea-players-who-could-come-to-mlb Posting system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_system
LIVE STREAMS Samurai Japan Premier12 workouts in Miyazaki Day 4 Nippon Series Game 6 pre-game workouts Rain has been falling in Yokohama throughout Saturday morning. At the moment, NPB has yet to announce a postponement and no 'upcoming' live stream has been posted. In lieu, here is a Live cam stream of the Kishamichi embankment in Yokohama.
Saturday 2 November Boxscore: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/game/2021020978/top BayStars-Hawks postponed (rain)
"Cancelled" Yokohama BayStars infield/3rd base coach Hiroyasu Tanaka gives the news. Game 6 has been re-scheduled for Sunday 3 November at 18:00. No rain expected according to weather forecasters.
Sunday 3 November Game 6 Probables SoftBank: Kohei Arihara (14-7, 2.36 ... PS: 2-0, 1.29) Yokohama: Shinichi Ohnuki (6-7, 2.85 ... PS: 1-1, 5.00) No change to the starting pitchers. There had been speculation that the BayStars would move Katsuki Azuma up in the rotation to start on Sunday. But you rarely see Japanese pitchers pitching on fewer than 7 days rest. So with Azuma and Anthony Kay having pitched on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, the rainout simply gives them an extra day's rest. Likewise for SoftBank's Kensuke Kondoh and Yokohama's Tyler Austin, both of whom are still nursing foot injuries. Both sluggers were able to DH in Fukuoka but with pitchers batting in the Central League ballpark they no longer have that option. Austin recognized the benefit of the postponement: "My foot is okay. To be honest, I wanted to play but if we're talking about my foot then I guess it's a positive thing." Hawks manager Hiroki Kokubo stated that if the Series extends to a Game 7 Liván Moinelo would start the potential decider. BayStars skipper Daisuke Miura has not made such a commitment and is hoping he won't have to.
LIVE STREAMS Samurai Japan Premier12 workouts in Miyazaki Day 5 Nippon Series Game 6 pre-game workouts 14:30 Japan 1:30am U.S. Eastern 10:30pm U.S. Pacific And a Happy 23rd Birthday to this guy. https://www.marines.co.jp/team/player/detail/2024_00001272.html
In what is considered one of biggest shocks in Nippon Series history, the Yokohama BayStars humiliated the SoftBank Hawks 11-2 in Game 6 to clinch the championship 4 games to 2. It is the club's first Japan Series title in 26 years and their third title overall, having won their first in 1960 when they were known as the Taiyo Whales. The BayStars entered the Series with just a .507 winning percentage, the lowest of any Japan Series participant in history. But the team went 10-4 in the post-season which included 9 wins out of 11 games played away from Yokohama Stadium to capture the crown. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo was the Hero on Sunday, opening the scoring with a solo home run to kick start a 3-run 2nd inning, and his bases loaded-clearing double in the 5th capped a 7 run frame that left the Pacific League champions in the dust. In the 4th inning 35 year old Yuki Yanagita, 4-time of the Japan Series Outstanding Player Award, crushed a two-run home run to dead centerfield to briefly cut Yokohama's lead to 4-2. It broke a string of 29 consecutive innings without scoring a run for the Hawks and were the only runs SoftBank scored from the 1st inning of Game 3 to the final out of Game 6, a span of 35 innings. BayStars centerfielder Masayuki Kuwahara was named MVP of the Series, finishing with a .444 batting average and 9 RBIs which tied a Japan Series record jointly shared with Shigeo Nagashima (1966) and Randy Bass (1985). The Yokohama BayStars are owned by the DeNA Corporation, a provider of mobile portal and e-commerce in Japan. The company was founded in 1999 by Tomoko Namba, making her the first and only female owner of an NBP club. Official NPB highlights Extended Pro Yakyu News highlights
Sat 26 Oct - Game 1: Hawks 5, BayStars 3 Sun 27 Oct - Game 2, Hawks 6, BayStars 3 Mon 28 Oct - travel day Tue 29 Oct - Game 3: BayStars 4, Hawks 1 Wed 30 Oct - Game 4: BayStars 5, Hawks 0 Thu 31 Oct - Game 5: BayStars 7, Hawks 0 Fri 1 Nov - travel day Sat 2 Nov - rain out Sun 3 Nov - Game 6: BayStars 11, Hawks 2 BayStars win Series 4-2
Japan Series Award Winners MVP: Masayuki Kuwahara (BayStars) Outstanding Players: Yoshitomo Tsutsugo (BayStars), Andre Jackson (BayStars), Anthony Kay (BayStars) Fighting Spirit (Best Player on Losing Team): Kenta Imamiya (Hawks) SMBC Fan's Choice Award (online fan voting): Shugo Maki (BayStars)