楽(Raku)Report

2025 Season Week 3

vs.  Nippon-Ham, Series Loss 3-0

Game 1 - 4/8

Another rainy night in Sendai, although the drizzling rain let up after the first few innings. Hideto Asamura provided some fireworks early on with a two-run home run to left in the 2nd inning, his first home run of the season. Masaru Fujii started for the Eagles and struggled with his command early on, but he was able to battle his way out of trouble through a scoreless first three innings. The Fighters finally found success in the 4th on a majestic blast waaay back into the left field seats from Mannami to tie the game at 2, but were again stymied by Fujii in the 5th where he escaped a bases-loaded jam.

The Eagles bullpen took over in the 6th and held the Fighters scoreless through 8. Lefty Sora Suzuki stumbled a bit in the 8th and started the inning with two runners on and no one out, but he was able to lock in and work out of it. The Fighters' starter Hiromi Itoh pitched brilliantly and began the 8th inning with just 94 pitches. After he walked Mutoh to start the inning and gave up a base hit to the Eagles' catcher Ohta, Itoh retired Muneyama on a one-pitch lineout and struck out Kobukata looking to end the inning.

The Eagles brought out closer Takahiro Norimoto in the 9th despite it not being a save situation. Norimoto struggled and with two on and two out, he gave up two runs on a flyball to the gap in left-center by Kotaro Kiyomiya. Franmil Reyes followed up with an RBI base hit to give the Fighters a 5-2 lead and Norimoto's night was over. Masaya Nishigami finished off the top of the 9th for the Eagles. 

Leading by three runs in the bottom of the 9th, the Fighters' manager Shinjo left Itoh in to finish the complete game victory. Really impressive effort by Itoh today, unfortunately the Eagles weren't able to get many runs across, hopefully they can get things going tomorrow. Game one goes to the fighters in this three game series.

Game 2 - 4/9

It was a lefty-lefty matchup in today's game with Wataru Karashima taking the mound for the Eagles and Murabayashi and Itoh getting a spot in the lineup against the Fighters' starter Takayuki Katoh. The teams exchanged runs in the first inning and the game remained tied at 1 through the first four innings. Karashima was hit on the leg by a comeback line drive in the 3rd, but he remained in the game. This game got out of hand in the 5th when the Fighters rallied for 3 runs highlighted by an RBI ground-rule double by Franmil Reyes.

The Fighters added 4 more runs in the 8th which put this game out of hand for the Eagles, who lost 8-2, giving up 17 hits to Nippon Ham. One memorable moment came in the bottom of the 9th when Muneyama came in to pinch hit and had an epic 10+ pitch at-bat against the Fighter's Yukiya Saito. Muneyama ended up striking out, but I was really impressed with the rookie's ability to make contact and work the count full. Another tough loss today, the Eagles have now lost this series to the Fighters, Kishi will be on the mound tomorrow as they look to avoid a series sweep.

Game 3 - 4/10

The players of Sendai Ikuei High School were in attendance tonight, winners of the 2023 Summer Koshien Tournament, too bad there wasn't much to see from the Home team in this one. Kishi was able to labor through four innings of work, which is almost a miracle considering he was over 50 pitches in the first two innings. It also could have been a lot worse, he was able to work out of a bases loaded situation in the 2nd inning just giving up one run. Ultimately, none of that matters if the offense fails to score and the Eagles were shutout in this one.

Hats off to the Fighters. Their starting pitching was excellent throughout this series and the offense was really clicking. I'm really impressed with their lineup, BIGBOSS Shinjo seems to have put together something special for this season. The Eagles meanwhile will need to put this series behind them fast, the Pacific League leading Orix Buffaloes will be in town tomorrow for the start of the weekend series with Hayakawa taking the mound on Friday for Rakuten.

vs. Orix Buffaloes, Series Loss 3-0

Game 1 - 4/11

The struggle is very real for the Eagles at this point. Another fairly solid, but not outstanding, effort from Hayakawa and the bullpen and once again Rakuten was unable to deliver on offense with runners in scoring position. The only run of the game came on a sac-fly by Muneyama in the 6th with runners on second and third and one out. The Eagles actually out-hit the Buffaloes 11-10! One run on 11 hits is not going to win you many games. On the plus side, Rakuten is getting players on base, Tatsumi and Yukiya Itoh had 3 hits a piece in this one which is promising, they just need to start stringing those hits together in the same inning to get run across the plate.  Muneyama also had a fantastic diving stop on a line drive up the middle in the 1st inning, he really is fun to watch!

Game 2 - 4/12

Lots of families in attendance for this Saturday matchup at Rakuten Mobile Park, hopefully the parents shielded their kids' eyes from what was happening on the field. The games this week are all starting to blend together in my mind. I think that the 5th inning sums everything up best. In the bottom on the inning, Yoshiake Watanabe led off with a base hit, followed by a double down the right field line by Kobukata. Runners on second and third, nobody out and what happens next? Tatsumi, Abe, and Asamura, the heart of the Eagles' lineup, are retired in order. Inning over, 4-0 Buffaloes.

There were some signs of life in the bottom of the 9th where Muneyama and Daichi Suzuki were able to drive in a pair of runs, but it was too little too late for Rakuten. Once again the pitching wasn't amazing for the Eagles, but Matsui kept his team in the game despite control issues and the bullpen held Orix scoreless. Tatsuki Koja will be back on the mound tomorrow, his return after the complete game shutout of Lotte last week, and it will be up to the Eagles' offense to drum up some run support in order to avoid a second consecutive series sweep at home.

Game 3 - 4/13

If you told me that Sunday’s game was a re-air of the game on Saturday I would’ve been none the wiser. Another multi-run first inning for the opposition and another unproductive afternoon from the Eagles' offense. Rakuten was only able to muster up 6 hits in this one and one run, not nearly enough to equal the 3 run lead that Orix took in the first. A lead that made the game feel out of reach almost immediately given how things have been going recently.

Today’s result is the completion of a three-game series sweep by the Buffaloes, the second consecutive sweep that the Eagles have suffered at home. A long train ride down to Fukuoka for next week’s series with the Hawks might be just what this team needs in order to do some soul searching after this winless homestand.

Notes

(4/12/25) Called up: OF #32 Daisuke Nakashima, C #65 Kengo Horiuchi

Sent to Farm Team: C #20 Tsuyoshi Ishihara, OF #25 Kazuki Tanaka

Box Score Source: NPB.jp (English)