Kansas City, Missouri – Right-hander Kohei Arihara made a promising start to his big-league career for the Texas Rangers on Saturday, exiting with his team holding a one-run lead that soon vanished as the Kansas City Royals ran out with an 11-4 win. The 28-year-old former Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters […]
MLB takes All-Star Game out of Atlanta in response to Georgia voting law
Major League Baseball announced Friday that it is moving the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta in response to a new Georgia law that affects voting rights. The announcement comes one day after U.S. President Joe Biden called for the game to be moved out of Atlanta. The All-Star Game […]
MLB returns with COVID-19 still big part of picture
Toronto – Not even the excitement of MLB opening day on Thursday could provide a break from COVID-19 as ballparks across the United States were left mostly empty while the game in Washington, D.C. between the Nationals and New York Mets was postponed after positive tests. Fans, many wearing masks, […]
No decision for Kenta Maeda or Yu Darvish on opening day in MLB
Milwaukee – Pitchers Kenta Maeda and Yu Darvish were not involved in the decision in their opening day starts as Major League Baseball’s return to a full 162-game schedule started Thursday. Every team was scheduled to begin play on the first day of the 2021 MLB season, but the Boston […]
Fumiya Motomae notches first win as Marines blow out Eagles
Chiba – Fumiya Motomae worked five innings in his pro debut to earn the win as the Pacific League’s Chiba Lotte Marines clobbered the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 16-5 on Thursday. Motomae (1-0), a 23-year-old lefty who turned pro on a non-roster developmental contract, allowed four runs on five hits […]
Tokaidai Sagami wins spring Koshien title amid pandemic
Nishinomiya, Hyogo Pref. – Tokaidai Sagami of Kanagawa Prefecture pulled off a 3-2 walk-off victory over Meiho of Oita Prefecture in the final of the spring invitational high school baseball tournament before a limited audience on Thursday. Both the smaller-scale spring version, known as Senbatsu, and the more popular summer […]
Swallows overcome coronavirus hit to beat BayStars
Yokohama – Yasutaka Shiomi and Munetaka Murakami combined to drive in five runs as the Tokyo Yakult Swallows beat the DeNA BayStars 5-3 on Wednesday after the Central League club deactivated six players due to coronavirus issues. Star second baseman Tetsuto Yamada, two-time batting champion Seiichi Uchikawa and former major […]
Biden supports moving MLB All-Star Game in response to Georgia voting restrictions
Washington – U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he would support moving MLB’s July All-Star Game from Atlanta as a protest against Georgia’s new voting restrictions. “I would strongly support them doing that,” Biden told ESPN. “It’s just not right. This is Jim Crow on steroids what they’re doing […]
Yasuaki Yamasaki’s struggles in focus again for winless BayStars
Yokohama – Four pitches was all it took for everything to go bad for Yasuaki Yamasaki. Yamasaki was called on to get the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, leading 4-2 at the time, out of a jam against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows during the eighth inning of their home opener on Tuesday. […]
Carp’s Masato Morishita tames Tigers to first defeat of season
Masato Morishita threw six shutout innings as the Hiroshima Carp won 1-0 to end the Hanshin Tigers’ perfect start to the season on Tuesday in the Central League. Morishita (1-0), who went 10-3 with a 1.91 ERA to win CL Rookie of the Year last season, kept the in-form Hanshin […]