Baseball

Munetaka Murakami drove in a pair of runs with a sacrifice fly and an RBI single during the Tokyo Yakult Swallows’ win over the Hanshin Tigers at Jingu Stadium on Sunday night. For a player of Murakami’s stature, such a modest line is not normally cause for celebration. After a […]

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – Shohei Ohtani hit his seventh home run of the season and his first in four games as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 on Sunday. The two-way star ripped Colin Rea’s first-pitch cutter high over the center-field wall for a solo run in the […]

Yuto Akihiro, at first glance, looks like an athlete more prone to slam dunks than home runs. Akihiro, who is listed as an infielder but has been patrolling left field for the Yomiuri Giants, is a towering figure at 200 cm. He looked even taller standing next to Giants slugger […]

Osaka – Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a key member of Japan’s World Baseball Classic-winning team, threw six innings of one-run ball as the Orix Buffaloes beat the Chiba Lotte Marines 3-2 on Saturday. Yamamoto (2-2) allowed four hits, walked three and struck out six in a 98-pitch outing at Kyocera Dome Osaka. […]

Fukuoka – Ryoya Kurihara broke a scoreless tie with a sixth-inning grand slam, leading the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to a 5-3 Pacific League win over the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on Thursday. With the bases loaded and one out, Kurihara sent a 2-1 pitch from reliever Sora Suzuki over the […]

Anaheim, California – Two-way star Shohei Ohtani overcame a rocky fourth inning on the mound to earn his fourth win of the season as the Los Angeles Angels pulled off an 8-7 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday. Ohtani (4-0) allowed five runs on three hits — including two […]

Toronto – Yusei Kikuchi continued his impressive start to the season season for the Toronto Blue Jays by striking out eight over 5⅔ innings of four-hit baseball in an 8-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. The 31-year-old southpaw racked up his fourth straight win after combining with […]

Masataka Yoshida smashed two home runs during the eighth inning, one of them a grand slam, to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 12-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. The 29-year-old outfielder, who helped Japan win gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the World Baseball […]

Arlington, Texas – Right-hander Shintaro Fujinami made an early exit and was charged with his fourth straight loss Saturday as the Oakland Athletics were pummeled 18-3 by the Texas Rangers. The 29-year-old former Hanshin Tiger lasted just 2⅓ innings in which he gave up eight runs on seven hits and […]

Seattle – St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar made the most of his chance Friday to quiz former MLB star Ichiro Suzuki in their first meeting. With the Cardinals in town for a weekend series against the Seattle Mariners, who employ Suzuki as an assistant to the club’s chairman, the […]