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vs. Lotte Marines, Series Win 2-1
Game 1 - 5/13
Perhaps it was the full moon, but for some reason the cosmos aligned in a reversal of fortunes for the Eagles today. Rather than giving up a run in the first inning as they often do, Kosei Shoji retired the Marines in order with 2 strikeouts and Ryosuke Tatsumi followed up in the bottom of the inning with a 2-run home run! I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Kohtaro Komori led off the inning drawing a 12-pitch walk. It was the kind of start that the Eagles have been searching for.
The game went back and forth with the Marines picking up runs in the 3rd and 4th with Shoji completing 5 innings with 5K and 0BB on 86 pitches. The Eagles regained the lead in the bottom of the 4th on a two-out base hit by Hiroto Kobukata, but Lotte tied things up again in the 6th on a home run by Neftali Soto. Kajiya, Sora Suzuki, and Nishiguchi kept the game tied into the 9th where a one-out walk by Kobukata and a base hit by Daichi Suzuki set the table for a walk-off sac-fly from pinch hitter Yoshiaki Watanabe, his second game winning play at home this season! Walk-off Watanabe!
Hideto Asamura had career hit number 1994 today, inching ever closer (seriously he's been in a major slump) to 2000 career hits. Spencer Howard is announced as the starting pitcher for the Eagles tomorrow, his NPB debut!
Game 2 - 5/14
The Eagles did not capitalize on all of their opportunities today and didn't quite break the game open, scoring just 4 runs on 12 hits, but they didn't need to! Spencer Howard kept the Marines off the scoreboard for 7 innings (90 pitches, only 3K, but no BB!) in his NPB debut and Ren Kajiya and Shoma Fujihira completed the shutout for Rakuten. Despite only putting 4 runs on the scoreboard, the Eagles had 10 hits and 3 walks in the 2nd-5th innings. Hideto Asamura alone accounted for 3 of those 10 hits and moved within 3 hits of reaching the 2000 career hits mark. There was some great hitting on display throughout the lineup including a particularly impressive drag bunt base hit by Kohtaro Komori in the 4th inning.
Howard looked poised on the mound and seemed to have a very good rapport with his battery-mate Hikaru Ohta. Howard, who is recovering from a back injury, looked somewhat uncomfortable in the dugout at times between innings and never sat down in the dugout. I'm not sure if this is just what he does (standing all game) or if he is not yet 100% recovered from his injury. Either way he was able to deliver 90 pitches today and went deeper into the game than most Eagles' starters have this season so he's absolutely an asset moving forward. The Eagles will wrap up this 3 game series with the Marines tomorrow in the Tokyo Dome, looking for a series sweep.
Game 3 - 5/15
Recipe for an Eagles Loss in 2025:
Starter gives up run(s) in the the 1st.
Starter goes 5-6 innings, pitches fairly well, game doesn't get away.
Bullpen keeps the game within reach, maybe gives up a run.
Offense fails to capitalize on opportunities, can't get big hits with RISP.
Cook for about 3 hours until finished.
vs. SoftBank Hawks, Series Loss 1-2
Game 1 - 5/16
Everything came together beautifully in this game. Masaru Fujii blanked the SoftBank offense through five shutout innings and Ryosuke Tatsumi got the Eagles on the board early with a 2-run home run in the first! Rakuten added a run in the 5th on a base hit by Itsuki Murabayashi that scored Kengo Horiuchi from first (I've been telling you this guy has serious wheels for a catcher and a big guy at that). Horiuchi himself put two more runs on the board in the 6th when he homered to right, the very first NPB home run of his 10 year professional career (He has 6 home runs in the minors, but never with the first team, until today)!
Rakuten took a 5-0 lead into the 7th where Shoma Fujihira stumbled a bit and gave up a run on a walk and two hits, all with two outs. Outside of that, the Eagles bullpen kept the Hawks scoreless with Ren Kajiya in the 6th, Naoto Nishiguchi in the 8th, and Sora Suzuki in the 9th. At this point it seems as though Manager Hajime Miki doesn't have a designated closer although I'm not sure if this is a result of progressive thinking on his part or the struggles of previous closers Takahiro Norimoto and Shoma Fujihira.
Game 2 - 5/17
The Eagles lost 2-1 today and you won't believe what happened in the first inning. The Hawks scored a run! Seiryu Uchi, who started for Rakuten, was struggling with his control, a point made clear when he hit the Hawks catcher Minei in the head with a slider in the 2nd inning. This resulted in Uchi being ejected from the game for dangerous pitching and instantly turned the game over to the Eagles bullpen.
Tomotaka Matsui came into the game cold, in relief of Uchi, and actually pitched pretty well with 5K and 3BB over 2 ⅔. He was pulled in the 5th after giving up a one out triple to Naoki Satoh. Ryuta Konno then came into the game and conceded the winning run on a ground ball to first where Abe stepped on the bag and then attempted to throw home, but hit the runner coming down the first base line instead. Post-game, Manager Hajime Miki and the media are preoccupied with the Eagles pitching performance and Abe's decision making on that particular play. That's really only one side to the story of today's game though.
Offensively the Eagles only managed 6 hits and manufactured a single run that came in the 5th on a base hit by Daisuke Nakashima. They struck out 7 times today against Tomohisa Ohzeki who, despite his freakishly consistent stats over the past 3 seasons (see below), is a guy they put up 4 runs against on April 26th.
I find it difficult to solely fault the pitching staff and defense when they ultimately give up just 2 runs in a game, even if they did have the most memorable moments mistakes. Indeed, the fact that the Eagles offensive performance was so forgettable might unintentionally hightlight the true reason whey they are sitting in 5th place in the Pacific League.
Game 3 - 5/18
Another excellent pitching effort squandered by the Eagles today. Miguel Yajure went 7 innings giving up just 3 hits and no earned runs. He only had 3 strikeouts, but that is consistent with his performance in NPB since joining the Yakult Swallows last year and signing with Rakuten this season. Six pitchers in the Eagles bullpen combined to give up just one run over the next 5 innings, the only run being the game winner in the bottom of the 12th.
At this point NPB really needs to do something about either the baseball, the mound, adding a pitch clock, something. These games are brutally boring to watch. There's definitely an argument to be made that this specific team is boring to watch, and seeing Hideto Asamura go 0-5 doesn't help, but the Pacific League only has 6 teams so something needs to be done to make things more interesting. Baseball in Japan is experiencing a moment of resurgence with the popularity of Shohei Ohtani so if they need to find some juiced balls from a manufacturer other than Mizuno, allegedly their balls haven't changed since 2011, they should. I do enjoy a pitchers duel, but not every game and these games are still taking 3+ hours to finish even when no one is getting on base.
Notes
(5/18/25) Called up: P #89 Miguel Yajure Ｍ. ヤフーレ
Sent to the farm: P #45 Tomotaka Matsui 松井 友飛, P #47 Masaru Fujii 藤井 聖
(5/15/25) Called up: P #21 Takahisa Hayakawa 早川 隆久
(5/14/25) Called up: P #15 Spencer Howard Ｓ. ハワード
Sent to the farm: P #11 Takayuki Kishi 岸 孝之, P #19 Kosei Shoji 荘司 康誠
(5/13/25) Called up: P #46 Shoma Fujihira 藤平 尚真
(5/12/25) Sent to the farm: SP #17 Tatsuki Koja 古謝 樹
Box Score Source: NPB English
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