Baseball

Offense finally made an appearance in the Japan Series in Game 3 — after two games dominated by pitching — and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows had more of it. Domingo Santana struck the biggest blow of a back-and-forth contest with a two-run home run in the seventh and the Swallows […]

Few expected the Orix Buffaloes to climb far out of the Pacific League cellar this year, but relief pitcher Tyler Higgins said Tuesday that manager Satoshi Nakajima’s leadership has allowed the team to demonstrate its potential, win the league and now be competing for Japan’s pro baseball championship. The Buffaloes, […]

The Baseball Hall of Fame released its 2022 ballot on Monday, and voters from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America will be confronting the sport’s steroid era once again. On the ballot for the final time are all-time home run leader and seven-time MVP Barry Bonds and seven-time Cy Young […]

Los Angeles – Hiroshima Carp outfielder Seiya Suzuki’s plan to play in Major League Baseball moved a step closer to fruition on Sunday when MLB told its 30 clubs they will have until Dec. 22 to sign the 27-year-old through the posting system. Suzuki’s 30-day posting window began on Monday […]

Masataka Yoshida’s game-winning single to center against Scott McGough in Game 1 of the Japan Series was not the first time the Orix Buffaloes star has gotten the best of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows closer this year. Yoshida also helped bring in a run (thanks to an error) late in […]

Osaka – The story of this year’s Japan Series after two games has been starting pitching. A quartet of young stars, all under 25, dominated Kyocera Dome Osaka over the weekend, each making life extremely hard for lineups accustomed to scoring lots of runs. The starters for the Orix Buffaloes […]

Japan floated the idea of presenting a prestigious national honor to Shohei Ohtani after the baseball star won one of the top awards in U.S. Major League Baseball — but he declined, saying it was still “too early.” Ohtani, 27 and a player for the Los Angeles Angels, on Friday […]

Osaka – The Tokyo Yakult Swallows held onto the lead this time. Keiji Takahashi made sure of that himself. Takahashi threw a shutout and got all the support he needed from a pair of late runs as the Swallows edged the Orix Buffaloes 2-0 in Game 2 of the Japan […]

Osaka – Yuma Mune is taking his chance and running with it. Maybe even all the way to a Japan Series title. The Orix Buffaloes third baseman was in the thick of the action in Game 1 of the Japan Series on Saturday night, helping his team rally from a […]

Osaka – Orix Buffaloes manager Satoshi Nakajima is not usually a man of many words during postgame interviews and that was a good thing after Game 1 of the Japan Series. Because it might have been hard to find the right words to describe what he had just seen. Masataka […]