Chunichi completes unlikely run as repeat CL champion
The Chunichi Dragons completed an unlikely Central League title run in an unusual season, tidily tying a bow on it with a 3-3 10-inning draw at Yokohama on Tuesday.
Their first back-to-back CL titles come in the wake of skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai essentially getting the boot from management, which announced last month the most successful manager in club history would not be offered a contract for next season.
Tony Blanco, who spent a chunk of the season on the farm but caught fire when he returned last month, clubbed a tying three-run homer in the fifth inning, and that was final run in a tie with the last-place Yokohama BayStars.
Ochiai was reflective and uncharacteristically complimentary of his players after the clincher.
“This is the 75th year [of the team], and this is the first time [as repeat league champions], so that's three quarters of a century. With this, I really feel like a door has opened,” the eighth-year skipper said.
“We did it by both chasing down the leaders and hanging on to a lead. The players have improved. The players are wonderful.”
The Dragons -- who were 10 games out of first at one point -- again relied on their arms, getting six scoreless innings from the pen. Super set-up man Takuya Asao tossed a season-high 2.1 innings to close it out.
Asao, who extended his club record for appearances by working his 79th game, got out of trouble in the 10th with closer Hitoki Iwase apparently warming in the bullpen but never getting the call.
Chunichi suffered a sweep last weekend against the Yomiuri Giants at Tokyo Dome and had to wait to clinch the title.
SWALLOWS 4, TIGERS 0
Shohei Tateyama (11-5) fired a four-hitter for his third shutout this season, and Ryoji Aikawa knocked in a pair of runs as Yakult shutout Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
Hanshin’s Matt Murton went 0-for-3, going hitless in his second straight game to drop his average to .312.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 4, FIGHTERS 3
Takeya “Okawari-kun” Nakamura and Jose Fernandez each blasted two-run homers, and 39-year-old Fumiya Nishiguchi (11-7) fired a 140-pitch, eight-inning, 11-strikeout gem as Seibu topped visiting Nippon Ham to clinch third place in the PL playoffs.
Nakamura tied his career best with his 48th longball in the first inning, and Fernandez tagged Mitsuo Yoshikawa (0-5) in the third for his 17th as the Lions built a lead and hung on.
Rookie closer Kazuhisa Makita, who worked three innings the previous day, loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth but got three at-‘em balls to the outfield get the final outs, and the Lions and their fans all watched the end of Orix’s loss on the big screen.
Masataka Nashida is 301-261-14 is four seasons as the Fighters’ skipper.
HAWKS 4, BUFFALOES 1
D.J. Houlton (19-6) held host Orix to a run on three hits, a walk and hit batter over seven innings, and Katsuki Yamazaki’s two-out two-run single in the sixth opened up the game as visiting SoftBank topped the Buffaloes, knocking them from the playoffs.
Orix had ace Chihiro Kaneko (10-4) on the mound, but the righty allowed four runs on six hits and six walks over 5.2 innings to take the loss.
The Buffaloes had one more victory but their .5036 winning percentage was just shy of Seibu’s .5037.
MARINES 5 EAGLES 5
Shintaro Masuda’s sac fly in the fifth inning got Rakuten even and that’s the way things ended after 11 innings against Lotte at The Kleenex Box.
Chunichi completes unlikely run as repeat CL champion
The Chunichi Dragons completed an unlikely Central League title run in an unusual season, tidily tying a bow on it with a 3-3 10-inning draw at Yokohama on Tuesday.
Their first back-to-back CL titles come in the wake of skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai essentially getting the boot from management, which announced last month the most successful manager in club history would not be offered a contract for next season.
Tony Blanco, who spent a chunk of the season on the farm but caught fire when he returned last month, clubbed a tying three-run homer in the fifth inning, and that was final run in a tie with the last-place Yokohama BayStars.
Ochiai was reflective and uncharacteristically complimentary of his players after the clincher.
“This is the 75th year [of the team], and this is the first time [as repeat league champions], so that's three quarters of a century. With this, I really feel like a door has opened,” the eighth-year skipper said.
“We did it by both chasing down the leaders and hanging on to a lead. The players have improved. The players are wonderful.”
The Dragons -- who were 10 games out of first at one point -- again relied on their arms, getting six scoreless innings from the pen. Super set-up man Takuya Asao tossed a season-high 2.1 innings to close it out.
Asao, who extended his club record for appearances by working his 79th game, got out of trouble in the 10th with closer Hitoki Iwase apparently warming in the bullpen but never getting the call.
Chunichi suffered a sweep last weekend against the Yomiuri Giants at Tokyo Dome and had to wait to clinch the title.
SWALLOWS 4, TIGERS 0
Shohei Tateyama (11-5) fired a four-hitter for his third shutout this season, and Ryoji Aikawa knocked in a pair of runs as Yakult shutout Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
Hanshin’s Matt Murton went 0-for-3, going hitless in his second straight game to drop his average to .312.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 4, FIGHTERS 3
Takeya “Okawari-kun” Nakamura and Jose Fernandez each blasted two-run homers, and 39-year-old Fumiya Nishiguchi (11-7) fired a 140-pitch, eight-inning, 11-strikeout gem as Seibu topped visiting Nippon Ham to clinch third place in the PL playoffs.
Nakamura tied his career best with his 48th longball in the first inning, and Fernandez tagged Mitsuo Yoshikawa (0-5) in the third for his 17th as the Lions built a lead and hung on.
Rookie closer Kazuhisa Makita, who worked three innings the previous day, loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth but got three at-‘em balls to the outfield get the final outs, and the Lions and their fans all watched the end of Orix’s loss on the big screen.
Masataka Nashida is 301-261-14 is four seasons as the Fighters’ skipper.
HAWKS 4, BUFFALOES 1
D.J. Houlton (19-6) held host Orix to a run on three hits, a walk and hit batter over seven innings, and Katsuki Yamazaki’s two-out two-run single in the sixth opened up the game as visiting SoftBank topped the Buffaloes, knocking them from the playoffs.
Orix had ace Chihiro Kaneko (10-4) on the mound, but the righty allowed four runs on six hits and six walks over 5.2 innings to take the loss.
The Buffaloes had one more victory but their .5036 winning percentage was just shy of Seibu’s .5037.
MARINES 5 EAGLES 5
Shintaro Masuda’s sac fly in the fifth inning got Rakuten even and that’s the way things ended after 11 innings against Lotte at The Kleenex Box.