Baseball

Nick Martinez and Kodai Senga are doing everything they can to keep the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the playoff picture. They have been two of the best pitchers in NPB during the second half of the season — Martinez has been one of the best, period — and will be […]

The Hanshin Tigers needed a win and Haruto Takahashi helped give them one and then some. Takahashi threw the first shutout of his career — getting just enough run support to win a pitchers’ duel against Yomiuri Giants ace Tomoyuki Sugano — to help the Tigers earn a 3-0 win […]

ANAHEIM, California – Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani equaled a Major League Baseball record on Friday by drawing 11 walks over a three-game span. Ohtani, third in the majors with 45 home runs, struck out once in Friday’s series opener against the Seattle Mariners but drew four walks. He […]

San Diego – Yu Darvish pitched 5⅓ innings in a no-decision Thursday afternoon and the San Diego Padres snapped a five-game losing skid by defeating the San Francisco Giants 7-6 on a walk-off single. Darvish gave up four runs and three hits, including a two-run homer to Mike Yastrzemski in […]

Chiba – Nick Martinez threw seven scoreless innings in the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks’ 5-0 win over the Chiba Lotte Marines on Thursday afternoon for their second straight win over the Pacific League leaders. The Hawks, who have won the last four Japan Series, are fourth, seven games back of the […]

Anaheim, California – Shohei Ohtani will pitch against the Seattle Mariners this weekend, the Los Angeles Angels said Wednesday, giving him another opportunity to earn his 10th win of the season and achieve a feat not seen in 103 years. If Ohtani, who on Tuesday hit his 45th homer of […]

Anaheim, California – Shohei Ohtani hit his 45th home run of the season on Tuesday night to keep the MLB home run race tight, but the Los Angeles Angels were overpowered by the Houston Astros 10-5. Ohtani hit his first homer in 10 games, driving a solo shot off Cristian […]

Munetaka Murakami ripped his first grand slam of the season Tuesday, his 36th homer propelling the Tokyo Yakult Swallows to a 5-2 win over the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in the Central League. Yakult opened the game with three straight singles off DeNA starter Yuya Sakamoto (4-5) before Murakami pulled the […]

The choice for the 2016 Pacific League MVP was a no-brainer. The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters won the pennant and their best player, Shohei Ohtani, put together a season unlike almost any in NPB history. Ohtani hit .322 with 22 home runs and a 1.004 on-base plus slugging percentage while […]

Cincinnati, Ohio – Yoshitomo Tsutsugo’s hot hitting put the Pittsburgh Pirates in command early before the Cincinnati Reds came back to claim a 9-5 win in their series opener on Monday. Tsutsugo ripped a solo home run in his first at-bat of the game at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, […]