Latest news with #RakutenEagles
The Mainichi
24-05-2025
- Sport
- The Mainichi
Baseball: Fighters beat Eagles on Gunji's homer, Kanemura's shutout
SENDAI (Kyodo) -- Yuya Gunji hit a solo home run in the top of the second and Shoma Kanemura pitched a complete-game shutout to give the Nippon Ham Fighters a 1-0 win against the Rakuten Eagles in Pacific League baseball on Friday. Kanemura (4-2) scattered five hits and a walk while striking out six in his 104-pitch outing at Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi. Leading off the second inning, starting catcher Gunji sent his first pitch from Takahisa Hayakawa, a 145 kilometer-per-hour fastball, just inside the left-field foul pole. The go-ahead blast continued a run of improved form following a nine-game hitless streak that ended with an ice-breaking RBI against the Orix Buffaloes on May 15. "Things have gotten better since that at-bat," said Gunji, whose ability to play multiple positions has made him indispensable on defense for the PL leaders. Hayakawa (1-5) struck out nine and allowed four hits and a walk over seven innings. Rakuten slugger Hideto Asamura closed to within one hit of 2,000 for his career after going 1-for-3 with a single in the second.
The Mainichi
13-05-2025
- Sport
- The Mainichi
Baseball: Yoshiaki Watanabe's walk-off sac fly ends Eagles' 4-game skid
SENDAI (Kyodo) -- Yoshiaki Watanabe hit a walk-off sacrifice fly as the Rakuten Eagles ended their losing streak at four games with a 4-3 victory over the Lotte Marines on Tuesday. Watanabe, who came up for a pinch-hit appearance with runners at the corners and one out in the ninth inning, lifted his game-winning sac fly to left at Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi. The Eagles took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run home run by Ryosuke Tatsumi, his first of the season. The Marines came back to tie the game twice but ended up suffering their fourth straight loss. In other action, Cuban left-hander Livan Moinelo (4-0) threw seven innings of one-run ball as the SoftBank Hawks beat the Seibu Lions 6-1. The Chunichi Dragons rallied from an early three-run deficit to edge the Yakult Swallows 5-4.
The Mainichi
11-05-2025
- Sport
- The Mainichi
Baseball: Near-perfect Gu Lin pitches Fighters past Eagles
KITAHIROSHIMA, Japan (Kyodo) -- Taiwanese right-hander Gu Lin Ruei-yang took a perfect-game bid into the sixth inning en route to his first complete-game shutout in Nippon Professional Baseball on Sunday, as he pitched the Nippon Ham Fighters to a 4-0 win over the Rakuten Eagles. Gu Lin (2-1) struck out seven and allowed two hits and no walks at Es Con Field Hokkaido, leading the Fighters to their fourth straight victory and the top of the Pacific League. Kengo Yoshida led off with a home run against Rakuten starter Takayuki Kishi (2-2) in the bottom of the first, and Kazunari Ishii made it 3-0 with his two-run blast in the second. The 24-year-old Gu Lin, who was the MVP of Taiwanese pro baseball last season, used his fastball to great effect in the 98-pitch outing, drawing compliments from one of his victims. "With that fastball, he's not an easy pitcher," said Rakuten slugger Hideto Asamura, who homered off Gu Lin in the flamethrower's NPB debut on April 23. Hiroto Kobukata broke up the bid for perfection when he lined a single to right with two outs in the sixth. In Sunday's other PL action, the SoftBank Hawks overpowered the Orix Buffaloes 7-1 and the Seibu Lions hammered the Lotte Marines 10-0.
Japan Today
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Japan Today
Gu Lin pitches Fighters past Eagles
baseball Taiwanese right-hander Gu Lin Ruei-yang took a perfect-game bid into the sixth inning en route to his first complete-game shutout in Nippon Professional Baseball on Sunday, as he pitched the Nippon Ham Fighters to a 4-0 win over the Rakuten Eagles. Gu Lin (2-1) struck out seven and allowed two hits and no walks at Es Con Field Hokkaido, leading the Fighters to their fourth straight victory and the top of the Pacific League. Kengo Yoshida led off with a home run against Rakuten starter Takayuki Kishi (2-2) in the bottom of the first, and Kazunari Ishii made it 3-0 with his two-run blast in the second. The 24-year-old Gu Lin, who was the MVP of Taiwanese pro baseball last season, used his fastball to great effect in the 98-pitch outing, drawing compliments from one of his victims. "With that fastball, he's not an easy pitcher," said Rakuten slugger Hideto Asamura, who homered off Gu Lin in the flamethrower's NPB debut on April 23. Hiroto Kobukata broke up the bid for perfection when he lined a single to right with two outs in the sixth. In Sunday's other PL action, the SoftBank Hawks overpowered the Orix Buffaloes 7-1 and the Seibu Lions hammered the Lotte Marines 10-0. © KYODO
The Mainichi
24-04-2025
- Sport
- The Mainichi
Baseball: Gu Lin struggles in NPB debut as Eagles beat Fighters
KITAHIROSHIMA, Hokkaido (Kyodo) -- The Rakuten Eagles roughed up Taiwan's 2024 MVP pitcher Gu Lin Ruei-yang on their way to an 8-3 victory over the Nippon Ham Fighters on Wednesday. Rakuten took advantage of a defensive miscue to take a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning. Hideto Asamura's three-run homer off Gu Lin (0-1), who was making his Nippon Professional Baseball debut, capped a four-run sixth that made it 7-0 at Es Con Field Hokkaido. Ryota Takinaka (2-0) carried a shutout into the sixth and limited the damage to a pair of solo home runs in eight innings of work. Rakuten has won four straight games. Gu Lin, a 24-year-old right-hander, gave up seven runs, five earned, in 5-2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked three. In other action, Yusuke Oyama hit a tiebreaking solo home run in the top of the 10th inning as the Hanshin Tigers edged the DeNA BayStars 3-2. The Lotte Marines handed the Seibu Lions their third consecutive loss, winning 5-2.
