Sports
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Shota Imanaga was named the National League's Rookie of the Month for the span from late March when the season began through the end of April, Major League Baseball said Friday. The 30-year-old lefty, formerly of the DeNA BayStars in Japan's Central League, went 4-0 with a 0.98 ERA in five starts during the month in an impressive beginning to his major-league career. Imanaga became the first Japanese player to earn the monthly award since outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who also plays for the Cubs, won it for April 2022. Shohei Ohtani claimed the American League honor tw...
Kyodo News
Yasutaka Shiomi's 11th-inning home run lifted the Yakult Swallows to a 5-3 Central League win Friday over the Chunichi Dragons. With the game knotted 3-3 since Chunichi's Sho Nakata tied it with an eighth-inning solo home run at Tokyo's historic Jingu Stadium, Shiomi ended the game with a two-run homer, his third. The Swallows' regular leadoff man and center fielder, Shiomi had been used off the bench since leaving the Swallows' game last Saturday with lower back pain. He pinch-hit in the eighth and took over in center field before hitting the first pitch he saw in the 11th out to center field...
Kyodo News
Leo Ceara netted a second-half penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw for J-League high flyers Cerezo Osaka against lowly Consadole Sapporo on Friday. The point was not enough, however, to prevent Machida Zelvia from leapfrogging Cerezo back to the top of the J1 standings with a 2-0 home win against Kashiwa Reysol. Ceara got on the scoresheet for the sixth straight J1 game by beating Consadole keeper Takanori Sugeno in the 71st minute at Yodoko Sakura Stadium after Daiki Suga was penalized for bringing down Lucas Fernandes. Having started the day bottom of the table, Sapporo had been on track for the b...
Kyodo News
Right-hander Naoyuki Uwasawa got the job done despite feeling "really nervous" in his Major League Baseball debut for the Boston Red Sox on Thursday. The Japanese reliever struck out one and retired all six batters in the eighth and ninth innings of Boston's 3-1 loss to the visiting San Francisco Giants at Fenway Park. "I thought I wouldn't be nervous, but when I stepped on the mound it was an incredible feeling," said Uwasawa, who was recalled Thursday from Triple-A Worcester to bolster the Red Sox bullpen. The 30-year-old was posted to the majors in the offseason after nine years as a starte...
Kyodo News
Japan look to avenge their semifinal loss in the previous under-23 Asian Cup men's football tournament to Uzbekistan when the two teams meet in Friday's final in Doha. "I clearly remember that," Japan head coach Go Oiwa told a press conference Thursday at the final's venue, referring to the 2-0 June 2022 loss in Tashkent, when he was also at the helm. "This year's final will be completely different. We've analyzed Uzbekistan carefully and want to prepare well," he said. The match will gauge how much the Japanese team has grown since 2022. "I didn't play well two years ago, so I want to win the...
Kyodo News
Livan Moinelo, who for seven years sought to be Japan's best relief pitcher, said he is using the discipline he has learned here to further master his craft in his new role as a starter. The 28-year-old Cuban lefty, who had season-ending elbow surgery last July after feeling inflammation in the joint, spoke recently about how his time in Japan has empowered him to achieve his goals. Speaking to Kyodo News earlier this month before a game at the Seibu Lions' Belluna Dome just outside Tokyo, Moinelo, now in his eighth Japanese season, said adjusting to how baseball is played here was the easy pa...
Kyodo News
Yuta Watanabe, who recently returned to Japan from the NBA, has received a contract offer from a B-League third-division team based in his native Kagawa Prefecture. The Kagawa Five Arrows announced their intent to sign the Japan national team star on Thursday, with team president Naoto Ikuoka calling Watanabe a "treasure" of the western Japan prefecture. "This is an unusual and special occasion for Kagawa Prefecture. We had no hesitation at all about the offer," Ikuoka said. The Five Arrows' offer is one of many the 29-year-old Watanabe is expected to field in Japan, with the former NBA player...
Kyodo News
Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga continued the impressive start to his MLB rookie season by throwing seven shutout innings in a 1-0 win over the New York Mets on Wednesday. Imanaga (5-0) struck out seven and allowed just three hits, all singles, with a walk at Citi Field in New York. The 30-year-old left-hander lowered his ERA to a major league-best 0.78 in six starts. The Mets had a runner in scoring position only twice against the former ace of the DeNA BayStars in Japan. Pete Crow-Armstrong drove in the only run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the fifth off Jose Butto (0-2). In Detroi...
Kyodo News
Boston Red Sox designated hitter Masataka Yoshida has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left thumb strain, retroactive to April 29, the club said Wednesday. Yoshida, who jammed his hand during Sunday's game against the Chicago Cubs, has gone on the IL for the first time since making his major league debut at the start of the 2023 season. "Hopefully, we know what's going on and take care of him in 10 days and he'll be back," manager Alex Cora said. The two-time batting champion in Japan's Pacific League is hitting .275 with two home runs and 11 RBIs in 24 games this season.
Kyodo News
Hisanori Yasuda's two-run ninth-inning double and a hat-trick of fielding errors brought the Lotte Marines from behind against veteran closer Yoshihisa Hirano in a 6-3 Pacific League victory over the Orix Buffaloes on Wednesday. The Buffaloes handed Hirano (1-1) a 3-1 lead at Hotto Motto Field Kobe. But three fumbled grounders at second base by defensive substitute Ryoichi Adachi contributed to the closer not getting his 250th career save in Japan. Lotte's Ryusei Ogawa, who had three singles already in the game, opened the top of the ninth by reaching on a tough grounder that Adachi dropped fo...
Kyodo News
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