An unlikely team put together an all-around strong performance on Monday in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league.
Here are the most notable moments from Monday’s slate of games.
Nippon-Ham Comeback Falls Short
The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters fell to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 6-5 on Monday, but the ending wasn’t without drama.
Entering the top of the ninth inning, the Fighters trailed the Golden Eagles 6-3. Nippon-Ham earned a walk and three hits to score two runs but eventually fell short.
The loss didn’t do much for the Fighters position in the Pacific League playoff race, as the Chiba Lotte Marines also lost, but the win for Rakuten was substantial for the same reason.
Late Seibu Home Run Gives Lions Win
The Saitama Seibu Lions defeated the Chiba Lotte Marines 1-0 on Monday thanks to an eighth-inning home run from center fielder Manaya Nishikawa.
Nishikawa was one of the only players in the game that consistently got on base. Even before his home run, Nishikawa had already registered two hits in three at-bats. The home run pushed Nishikawa to three hits in four at-bats.
Nishikawa’s home run provided a somewhat rare win for Seibu, as the Lions have only won 43 games all season.
Seibu’s Natsuki Takeuchi Pitches Complete Shutout
Nishikawa wasn’t the only Lion to have a good game. The only reason Nishikawa’s home run ended up being the game-winning hit was because Seibu’s pitcher, Natsuki Takeuchi, wouldn’t let a Marine get on base.
Takeuchi pitched a complete game shutout and only allowed three hits and a walk. In fact, Takeuchi was pitching a perfect game until the eighth inning, when Lotte’s Neftali Soto singled to end the bid, according to the Mainichi.
Although all three of the Marines’ hits, along with the walk, occurred in the final two innings, they weren’t able to score a run.
NPB Standings as of Monday, September 16
Central League
- Yomiuri Giants (70-55-6)
- Hanshin Tigers (69-58-6)
- Hiroshima Toyo Carp (64-59-5)
- Yokohama DeNA BayStars (64-61-2)
- Chunichi Dragons (54-71-8)
- Tokyo Yakult Swallows (54-72-4)
Pacific League
- Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (81-45-3)
- Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (67-53-8)
- Chiba Lotte Marines (65-60-6)
- Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (62-61-3)
- Orix Buffaloes (58-70-3)
- Saitama Seibu Lions (43-86-2)
Watch every NPB game on DAZN.
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WBN NPB: https://worldbaseball.com/league/japan/
Photo Courtesy of mainichi.jp: Seibu Lions starter Natsuki Takeuchi pitches against the Lotte Marines in a Pacific League baseball game at Belluna Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, on Sept. 16, 2024. (Kyodo)
