Baseball

NAHA, OKINAWA PREF. – Canada drew first blood in a two-game exhibition series against Japan on Thursday, jumping on starter Shun Yamaguchi for an early lead before holding on for a 6-5 victory. Canadian starter Phillippe Aumont got the win in the series opener at Okinawa Cellular Stadium after throwing […]

NEW YORK – Ron Fairly, a two-time All-Star during his 21-year playing career and a longtime broadcaster for three teams with a folksy style of calling games, has died. He was 81. The Seattle Mariners announced his death on Wednesday. Fairly spent 50 years in baseball as a player and […]

It’s awards season in Japanese baseball and just like at the end of the actual season, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks are front and center. Four players from the recently crowned three-time defending Japan Series champions, the most of any team, were recognized on Thursday when the winners of the 48th […]

HOUSTON – Almost out of contention in May, champs in October. Howie Kendrick, Anthony Rendon and the Washington Nationals completed their amazing comeback journey — fittingly with one final, late rally on the road. In Game 7 of the World Series, no less. Kendrick and Rendon homered in the seventh […]

HOUSTON – This is Max Scherzer’s shot. Hurting so much over the weekend that it seemed his season might be over, Mad Max instead gets the ball for a final time — in Game 7 of the World Series. “That’s what you live for,” the Washington Nationals ace said. Baseball […]

The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks will change the name of their baseball stadium to the PayPay Dome next season, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. SoftBank Group Corp., the largest shareholder of smartphone payment app provider PayPay Corp., hopes to promote its subsidiary’s cashless services by leveraging the baseball team’s […]

HOUSTON – Alex Bregman knocked a home run into the Crawford Boxes in the first inning of Game 6 of the World Series on Tuesday night to put Houston on top. Then he carried his bat with him all the way to first base. After the Washington Nationals rallied for […]

HOUSTON – It’s been an unconventional road to Game 7 of the World Series for Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals. Seizing the October spotlight he missed out on as a youngster, Strasburg pitched a gem into the ninth inning Tuesday night as the Nationals beat the Houston Astros 7-2 […]

HOUSTON – Stephen Strasburg took a gem into the ninth inning and Juan Soto ran all the way to first base with his bat following a go-ahead home run, the same way Houston slugger Alex Bregman did earlier. Washington has matched the Astros pitch for pitch, hit for hit, win […]

NAHA, OKINAWA PREF. – Seibu Lions outfielder Shogo Akiyama said Tuesday he will file for international free agency in order to pursue a career in the major leagues. The 31-year-old Akiyama declared his intention at the Japan national team’s training camp in Okinawa ahead of the upcoming Premier12 international baseball […]