Series Recaps

Games 40-42 vs Swallows: Third Straight Series Win

Games 40-42 vs Swallows: Third Straight Series Win

The Tigers have been struggling to find themselves this year, and were just three games above .500 earlier this week. However, a nice 4-1 stretch since Tuesday’s loss have improved the outlook. The bats provided good offense on Thursday and Sunday, and Jeremy Beasley made a sparkling season debut on Saturday. Thanks to those two…

Games 32-33 vs Carp: Fans See Red in Sweep

Games 32-33 vs Carp: Fans See Red in Sweep

For the second straight Monday, a game between the Tiger and Carp was called due to inclement weather. For myself, personally, this was a big-time bummer because I was at Koshien Stadium with a crew from CNN (yes, THE CNN) and we were to film footage of fans and so on from the actual game…

Games 29-31 @ Giants: Lots of Mistakes; Series Loss

Games 29-31 @ Giants: Lots of Mistakes; Series Loss

The Tigers have been playing excellent baseball in the past month or so. Losses were few and far between, and series losses were becoming so rare, they were more like mythology than real life. But during this particular weekend, the team had uncharacteristically poor fundamentals. Two errors and two (or three, depending on how you…

Games 27-28 @ Carp: Returning the Favor

Games 27-28 @ Carp: Returning the Favor

After winning the Koshien opener against the Hiroshima Carp on April 9, the Tigers dropped two in a row to the red helmets. So it was only fair that we went into their barn and left their fans feeling ripped off. Monday’s game was rained out, but Tuesday saw the Tigers bats come to life…

Games 24-26 vs Swallows: Building Momentum

Games 24-26 vs Swallows: Building Momentum

A rare mid-week day off and a home series against the last-place Yakult Swallows seemed like a perfect recipe for extending the winning streak from seven to ten. However, four errors cost the team five runs on Friday, ending the hot stretch. Fortunately, the team got back on its horses on Saturday and Sunday, collecting…

Games 19-21 vs Dragons: Sweep, Back Where We Belong

Games 19-21 vs Dragons: Sweep, Back Where We Belong

Heading into this series, the Hanshin Tigers had gone ten straight games scoring 2 or fewer runs (but going 4-4-2 in that stretch), setting a new club record. The Chunichi Dragons were flying high, scoring runs seemingly at will and sitting blissfully in first place. But that’s the thing about April baseball. One bad series…

Games 16-18 vs Giants: Rain Prevented a True Sweep!

Games 16-18 vs Giants: Rain Prevented a True Sweep!

After the rather embarrassing opening series in Tokyo against these same Giants (25 straight innings without a run), the Tigers’ pride was on the line for this, the first home set of 2024 against their longtime rivals. They continued to struggle with run production, but the pitching trio of Shoki Murakami, Masashi Itoh, and Yuki…