楽(Raku)Report

@ Seibu Lions, Series Win 2-1

Game 1 - 5/27

Another countryside game for the Eagles today, this time Maebashi city in Gunma Prefecture played host to Rakuten and the Seibu Lions. Seiryu Uchi rolled through 5⅓ innings giving up just one run while the Rakuten offense knocked in 3 runs on 12 hits. The Eagles got to Seibu's Trey Wingenter in the 8th (in 5 relief appearances against Rakuten this season across 4⅔IP, Wingenter has given up 3 runs and was the losing pitcher in his last two outings) when Itsuki Murabayashi scored on a wild pitch. Murabayashi added an insurance run in the 9th with an RBI base-hit to turn a 3-1 lead over to closer Sora Suzuki who slammed the door in the bottom of the 9th to secure the victory. It was a great start to this 3-game road series at Seibu, Ryota Takinaka will take the hill for the Eagles tomorrow and hopefully keep things rolling!

Game 2 - 5/28

The Eagles collected 4 hits and 2 errors today which, when added together, equal the 6 runs that the Seibu Lions scored in their shutout of Rakuten. Ryota Takinaka started for the Eagles and gave up 5 earned runs in 5 innings pitched with 5 strikeouts. He gave up two runs in the first and pitched well in-between the 1st and 6th innings, but once again he could've thrown a perfect game and this team would not have won. Hideto Asamura batted cleanup and went 0 for 4.

Game 3 - 5/29

A truly rare occurrence! The Eagles were able to overcome an early lead by their opponent and it wasn't even just a one run deficit today, Rakuten came back from being down 3-0 to win 6-3 in convincing fashion! Starting pitcher Spencer Howard did not have his best stuff today, but he hung around long enough to keep the Eagles in the game through 4⅓ innings. The three runs he surrendered going into the 4th inning seemed like an insurmountable lead for the Eagles to come back from, but Maikel Franco provided a spark in the 4th when he launched a 2-2 pitch on a majestic trajectory into the left field stands to make it a 3-2 game. It was a titanic blast that hung in the air for eons and Franco spun the bat out of his hands as he started his trot around the bases, everyone knew it was gone when it left the bat.

In the 5th inning Hikaru Ohta connected on an unexpected gap shot into left-center that scored the game tying run and in the 6th inning Itsuki Murabayashi plated the go-ahead runs with a timely double. Franco added another run for the Eagles in the 8th and the bullpen shut out the Lions after taking over for Howard in the 5th. This was a much needed road-series win for Rakuten, who will be back home tomorrow with Takayuki Kishi on the mound.

vs. SoftBank Hawks, Series Tie 1-1

Game 1 - 5/30

Tough series opening loss for the Eagles today as they fell 4-2 to the SoftBank Hawks on a rainy night in SohoSendai. Rakuten scored first on an RBI base-hit by, guess who?, Itsuki Murabayashi in the first. The Hawks answered back in the top of the 2nd, scoring one run against Eagles' starter Takayuki Kishi. Kishi limited the damage of the 8 hits he allowed over 5 innings of work and kept the game tied at 1. As the rain began to pour in the 7th Rakuten took the lead on a 2-out triple by Yukiya Itoh, who was registered on the first-team roster today after a stint with the ni-gun farm team.

Things looked good for the Eagles in the 8th with Sora Suzuki taking the mound, but as the rain began to fall more heavily the game quite literally slipped away. Suzuki and Kisaya Nishigaki gave up a combined 5 walks and 3 runs on just one hit as the visiting Hawks strolled into the lead. Two of Rakuten's most reliable relievers could not locate their pitches with the rain-slick ball. The costly 8th inning spelled doom for the Eagles and the 4-2 lead that SoftBank took in the 8th held until the game ended an inning later.

Game 2 - 5/31 🌧️

Rainout.

Game 3 - 6/1

Following yesterday's rainout, Masaru Fujii pitched brilliantly and the offense contributed up-and-down the lineup to score 3 runs and even up the series. Rakuten will start interleague play on Tuesday with a series at home against the DeNA Baystars.

Notes

(6/1/25) Registered: P #45 Tomotaka Matsui 松井 友飛, P #47 Masaru Fujii 藤井 聖

(5/31/25) De-registered: P #11 Takayuki Kishi 岸 孝之, P #52 Taisei Tsurusaki 津留﨑 大成

(5/30/25) Registered: P #11 Takayuki Kishi 岸 孝之, IF #39 Yukiya Itoh 伊藤 裕季也 

De-registered: OF #35 Hiroaki Shimauchi 島内 宏明 (Maybe he'll work on getting another driver's license)

(5/27/25) De-registered: P #21 Hayakawa Takahiro 早川 隆久

Box Score Source: NPB English

⅓ ⅔