Baseball

NISHINOMIYA, Hyogo Pref. – Akinobu Okada, who steered the Hanshin Tigers to their last Central League pennant, will return as manager for the 2023 season, the team announced Saturday. The 64-year-old Okada, who played most of his career for the Tigers, managed them for five years starting in 2004. He […]

The Hanshin Tigers have decided to make flamethrower Shintaro Fujinami available to MLB clubs through the posting system in the offseason, a source at the Central League club said Saturday. The 28-year-old right-hander had told Hanshin of his desire to move to MLB during the past offseason before making a […]

The Yakult Swallows completed a sweep of the Hanshin Tigers with a 6-3 victory in Game 3 of the Central League Climax Series’ final stage Friday, earning a second consecutive trip to the Japan Series. The Swallows won the final stage 4-0 after entering the series with a one-win advantage […]

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was named the MLB Player of the Year by influential publication Baseball Digest on Thursday, finishing ahead of reigning American League MVP Shohei Ohtani. Judge, who belted an AL record 62 home runs during the regular season, received 18 first-place votes from the 22-member […]

The MLB Division Series head into the weekend with each matchup, aside from the delayed Yankees-Cleveland series, flipping to the wildcard winners’ respective cities to continue what has been a drama packed round of playoff baseball. The Philadelphia Phillies’ long wait for a home game ends Friday when they play […]

Triple Crown winner Munetaka Murakami and Jose Osuna each hit two-run homers as the Yakult Swallows beat the Hanshin Tigers 5-3 on Thursday to put themselves one win away from their second consecutive Japan Series appearance. The Orix Buffaloes also moved within a win of reaching the Japan Series for […]

Yordan Alvarez blasted another game-winning home run as the Houston Astros defeated the Seattle Mariners 4-2 on Thursday to take a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-five MLB American League Division Series. After breaking Seattle hearts with a walk-off three-run home run in Tuesday’s Game 2, Alvarez once again electrified […]

Los Angeles – Yu Darvish earned his second win of the postseason despite surrendering home runs in each of the first three innings as the San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 in Game 2 of their National League Division Series on Wednesday. The 36-year-old right-hander received plenty […]

Osaka – Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out 10 over eight innings, pitching the Orix Buffaloes to a 5-0 win over the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Game 1 of the Pacific League Climax Series’ final stage on Wednesday. The victory at Kyocera Dome Osaka, combined with the Buffaloes’ one-win advantage as league […]

Yordan Alvarez smashed a three-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning Tuesday to give the Houston Astros an 8-7 fightback victory over Seattle in Game 1 of their MLB playoff series. The dramatic game-winning blast came after the visiting Mariners had seized a four-run lead through seven […]