Hanshin Tigers Blank Chicago Cubs; Los Angeles Dodgers Overpower Yomiuri Giants

As the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs prepare for their season-opening Tokyo Series, both clubs kicked off their Japan tour with a pair of exhibition games against Nippon Professional Baseball’s premier franchises. Facing off against the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers, the Dodgers and Cubs got their first taste of Japanese baseball culture in front of packed crowds at the Tokyo Dome.

Game 1: Hanshin Tigers 3, Chicago Cubs 0

Flawless pitching by Keito Mombetsu and clutch hitting propelled the Tigers to a shutout victory over the Cubs on Saturday afternoon.

Despite having just seven games of NPB experience, 20-year-old top prospect Keito Mombetsu was marvelous for Hanshin, tossing five perfect innings with two strikeouts. The southpaw effectively mixed speeds and located his pitches well, compensating for the lack of swing-and-miss stuff, which allowed him to cruise through the game on just 59 pitches.

The Cubs went with a bullpen day, deploying nine pitchers, with Julian Merryweather starting. The Tigers broke through in the third inning when Koji Chikamoto lined a two-out RBI double to right field off Caleb Thielbar to plate Ryutaro Umeno.

A Shota Morishita bloop single and Ukyo Maegawa double against Tyson Miller in the fourth made it 2-0. Teruaki Sato added an RBI single in the fifth inning off Porter Hodge to extend the lead to 3-0.

After Mombetsu exited the game, the Cubs finally picked up their first hit with one out in the sixth inning when Miguel Amaya singled off Nick Nelson. However, the rally was quickly stopped with a double play.

Rookie Taisei Kudo struck out the side in the seventh and Yuya Ishiguro threw a scoreless eighth. Superstar Kyle Tucker had a chance to tie things up in the ninth after Michael Busch singled and Seiya Suzuki walked, but Suguru Iwazaki got Tucker to fly out and struck out Justin Turner to pick up the save.

Cubs pitchers used: Merryweather, Pressly, Thielbar, Miller, Hodge, Morgan, Braiser, Pearson, Wicks.

Game 2: Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Yomiuri Giants 1

The Dodgers exploded for five runs, including three home runs, in the third inning and held the lead the rest of the way in a bullpen game on Saturday night.

Yomiuri Giants ace Shosei Togo pitched well early. The 24-year-old got Tommy Edman to ground into a double play after walking Shohei Ohtani to lead off the game and retired the side in order in the second inning.

However, the third inning proved to be his downfall as Michael Conforto, Shohei Ohtani, and Teoscar Hernandez all went deep to quickly plate five runs for Los Angeles. The Dodger stars ambushed Togo as he failed to hit his spots and left several pitches over the heart of the plate.

Giants manager Shinnosuke Abe remained committed to Togo remaining in the game despite his struggles, allowing him to complete six innings with no additional damage. He finished the night with four strikeouts and 92 pitches.

The Dodgers, led by Justin Wrobleski’s two scoreless innings to start the game, kept Yomiuri off the board for the first five innings. In the sixth, Naoki Yoshikawa cut the lead to four with a two-out RBI single off Kirby Yates to bring home Makoto Kadowaki, who had singled and stolen second base earlier in the frame.

However, that was all the Giants could muster, as Blake Treinen, Tanner Scott, and Jack Dreyer combined for three scoreless innings to seal the win for the Dodgers.

Dodgers pitchers used: Wrobleski, Casparius, Banda, Vesia, Yates, Treinen, Scott, Dreyer.

Statcast Notes

These matchups provided fans a rare opportunity to access Statcast data for NPB players, which is not readily available in Japan and is typically only seen during international tournaments like the World Baseball Classic.

Two major Statcast standouts of the day were Hanshin Tigers teammates Teruaki Sato and Taisei Kudo. Sato, one of Japan’s premier sluggers since 2021, displayed exceptional bat speed by logging swing speeds of 76.7, 77.2, and 87.8 mph in his three at-bats, though the last reading may have been incorrect. Given Sato’s consistently high hard-hit rate and sustained power production, it’s safe to assume he boasts world-class bat speed.

Meanwhile, Kudo, drafted from the independent league Tokushima Indigo Socks last year, topped out at 97.0 mph on his four-seam fastball and spun a curveball at over 2,800 RPM. He racked up six total whiffs on ten swings in his inning of work, striking out Ian Happ, Kyle Tucker, and Matt SHaw in dominant fashion.

Outlook

Tomorrow, the Hanshin Tigers will take on the Los Angeles Dodgers at 12:00 JST (March 15, 23:00 EST), with Hiroto Saiki and Blake Snell as the probable starters. Tyler Glasnow is also expected to pitch in the game.

Later in the evening, the Yomiuri Giants will battle the Chicago Cubs at 19:00 JST (March 16, 06:00 EST), featuring Foster Griffin and Jameson Taillon on the mound. Former New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka will likely enter after Griffin for the Giants, while Matthew Boyd will follow Taillon for the Cubs.

Both matchups promise intrigue as fans continue to observe each team adjust to different play styles and see the final exhibitions unfold before the Dodgers and Cubs officially kick off the 2025 regular season on Tuesday.

It is also worth noting that MLB teams used MLB balls while pitching, whereas NPB pitchers employed NPB balls, which are considerably less lively. This contrast in flight paths generated plenty of buzz in Japanese and English communities, as several well-hit balls by MLB batters appeared to lose momentum before reaching the outfield wall. Since 2023, NPB has seen a historically low-scoring environment, highlighted by a league-average OPS that dropped to .648 last season with only 0.57 home runs per game.

AP Photo/Hiro Komae