The summer uniforms came out in all their glory tonight. You know the ones. They would look great on Osakan old ladies, but what are they doing on your favorite ballplayers? Never mind that. Shintaro Fujinami went 5+ innings of shutout ball, fanning six and getting key outs when he needed them, and he also…
These Hanshin Tigers starting pitchers keep getting the job done. Entering tonight’s game, Takumi Akiyama was the “worst” of the rotation with a 2.75 ERA. All he did was go out and pitch 7 shutout innings to lower that number to 1.80 (which is still just 4th best on the staff). And as for the…
Because of persistent rain on Tuesday night, Hanshin Tigers fans had to wait an extra evening to see a rematch between ace pitchers Masato Morishita and Yuki Nishi. Last time, the sophomore in red did just enough to get the win, as the Tigers dropped a 1-0 decision in Hiroshima. This time, things would be…
Two weekends ago, when the 2021 season began, Hanshin Tigers fans across the globe were elated when the team left the Tokyo region with three straight wins. They were facing the defending cellar-dwellers at that time. This time, they faced the current basement residents in the Yokohama DeNA Baystars. Different team, same result: one tight…
This game was a well-fought battle through eight innings. Koyo Aoyagi was his usual (?) steady (?) self, throwing 7 shutout innings and allowing just 5 base runners. When the Tigers got the chance in the ninth inning, they put this one out of reach with a huge Jerry Sands home run and a bunch…
Anyone who has been a Hanshin Tigers fan in recent years knows that Yokohama Stadium is like our home away from home. (In the past five seasons, the Baystars were 170W 110L = .607 at home against the other 10 NPB teams, but just 18W 39L = .315 against Hanshin.) The trend continued on Friday…
Hosts T-Ray and Sanjay go over the first 10 games of the Tigers’ 2021 regular season, and then give their first impressions of the way the team has been managed, as well as the starters, rotation and bullpen. Who’s overperforming? Who’s underperforming? Who needs to be swapped out, and for whom? Find out here! Also,…
The first two games of this series were simply too good to be true. Our hitters were mercilessly pounding the Giants pitchers, and our pitchers were holding off their big bats. In this one, the tides turned, though our pitching was still quite strong. But those bats… most of the game looked like fielding practice…
As a fan, it is always a nervous proposition seeing a rookie pitcher starting against the orangemen. Whether they are injury- (or corona-) plagued or not, they still have a certain swagger against our men, which often turns them into little boys. On this night, though, the freshman kept his composure despite having a man…
Last season, the Tigers not only started the year 2-10, they also dropped their first three against the Yomiuri Giants. Two of them were not even close. Enter 2021, and the Giants not only have Sugano on the DL, but they have used Togo over the weekend and also got hit with a Covid cluster,…