Baseball

Osaka – Taiki Mitsumata won a David-versus-Goliath battle with Japan’s Tokyo Olympic ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, singling in the go-ahead run in the Chunichi Dragons’ 4-1 interleague win over the Orix Buffaloes on Saturday. The 30-year-old Mitsumata, who has spent the bulk of his 12 pro baseball seasons toiling in the […]

San Diego, California – The Pittsburgh Pirates announced Friday they have placed infielder Yoshitomo Tsutsugo on the 10-day injured list with a lumbar muscle strain. Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said he was unsure whether the Japanese slugger would need more than the minimum 10 days to recover after trying to […]

Anaheim, California – Shohei Ohtani allowed five runs and struck out 10 batters in an uneven outing as the Los Angeles Angels suffered a 6-3 series-opening defeat to the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday. Ohtani (3-3) took the loss against the Blue Jays at Angel Stadium, yielding six hits, including […]

Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture – Haruki Nishikawa threw out a runner at the plate in the eighth and pinch-hitter Ginji Akaminai singled in the only run in the ninth as the Pacific League-leading Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles beat the Central League’s last-place Hanshin Tigers 1-0 in interleague on Thursday. With the […]

San Diego – Yu Darvish turned in another quality start but a lack of run support led to his second loss of the 2022 campaign as the San Diego Padres were defeated by the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 on Wednesday. Darvish (4-2) was tagged with the loss in the series finale […]

Kazuma Okamoto homered for the second straight night and drove in five runs as the Central League’s Yomiuri Giants improved to 2-0 in interleague play with a 5-3 win over the defending Pacific League champion Orix Buffaloes on Wednesday. Okamoto, the Giants’ cleanup hitter, overturned a two-run first-inning deficit at […]

Akira Neo might follow in Shohei Ohtani’s footsteps. At least that was among the prevailing narratives after the Chunichi Dragons outfielder made his pitching debut last week. Neo only pitched in mop-up duty in the eighth inning of a blowout, but that was enough to fan the flames of the […]

Nishinomiya, Hyogo Pref. – The Hanshin Tigers spoiled Masahiro Tanaka’s return to iconic Koshien Stadium outside Osaka on Tuesday as the Central League’s bottom club beat the Pacific League-leading Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 1-0 in the interleague action opener. Former New York Yankee Tanaka (4-3) became a household name in […]

Major League Baseball suspended New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson one game and fined him an undisclosed amount for calling Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson “Jackie,” as in Jackie Robinson, during Saturday’s game. Donaldson is appealing the punishment. He was also placed on the COVID-19 injured list earlier […]

Anaheim, California – Shohei Ohtani launched the 150th home run of his combined major league and Japanese professional baseball career in the Los Angeles Angels’ 4-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday. The two-way superstar led off the first inning with a high fly ball off lefty Cole Irvin […]