Game RECAP April 17 / 2025 Hanshin vs Yakult Swallows | Tora-Ho!
RECAP
Hanshin Survives a Wild Jingu Battle with Extra-Inning Heroics!
Anything can happen at Jingu Stadium—and today’s game was a perfect example.
Hanshin’s starter was Beasley. After giving up the first run, the Tigers quickly tied it up in the top of the 2nd, thanks in part to Beasley’s first hit since coming to Japan! (Beasley himself looked surprised as he sprinted toward first after his liner to right—then shared a laugh with Swallows first baseman Jose Osuna at the bag. 😂)
However, the Swallows immediately regained the lead in the bottom half.
From the middle innings on, both bullpens locked the game down, keeping the score close. Then in the 8th, Hanshin rallied against Swallows setup man Shimizu: Morishita delivered a clutch RBI hit, and Sato followed with a massive blast into the right-center stands to flip the game in Hanshin’s favor.
In the bottom of the 8th, Hanshin’s own setup man Ishii found himself in a bases-loaded jam—but with sheer grit, he escaped without allowing a run.
In the top of the 9th, Morishita struck again with another RBI to extend the lead. All that was left was for closer Iwazaki to shut the door… or so it seemed.
But it wasn’t going to be that simple.
Today marked the return of the Swallows’ powerhouse Munetaka Murakami from injury, and the Swallows weren’t going down without a fight. Domingo Santana narrowed the gap with an RBI, making it a one-run game.
With two outs and a runner on second, Murakami stepped up against Iwazaki’s blazing fastball. He swung hard—and in that moment, reaggravated his injured side. He was immediately replaced and rushed to the hospital before the game even ended, leaving the stadium in stunned silence.
The next batter, Akahane, hit what looked like a routine grounder to shortstop… but the ball took a wicked hop right in front of Kinami, one of Hanshin’s most reliable fielders. The ball skipped past him, and the game was suddenly tied.
Just like that, we headed into extra innings—pure, chaotic Jingu magic.
Finally, in the top of the 11th, Chikamoto launched a go-ahead two-run homer off Mike Baumann, a former MLB pitcher, to put Hanshin back in front for good.
Oyokawa, who has been quietly outstanding this season, slammed the door by retiring all six batters he faced across the 10th and 11th innings.
After more than four hours of battle, Hanshin survived the madness of Jingu Stadium and secured their second straight win.
Next up: back home to Koshien for a three-game series! With Hanshin traditionally winning over 60% of their games at Koshien, we’re looking forward to seeing the Tigers find their true rhythm.
But for now—TORA-HO! 🐯💛
Box
| Order | Pos | # | Name | AB | R | H | RBI | SB | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (CF) | 5 | Chikamoto | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | BB | 1B① | – | – | 1B | – | 1B | – | G4 | – | HR② |
| 2 | (2B) | 51 | Nakano | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | GDP | BB | – | – | K | – | – | 2B | BB | – | G4 |
| 3 | (RF) | 1 | Morishita | 6 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1B | K | – | – | F9 | – | – | 2B① | 2B① | – | 1B |
| 4 | (3B) | 8 | Sato | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1B | – | G4 | – | K | – | – | HR① | F6 | – | IBB |
| 5 | (1B) | 3 | Ohyama | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | K | – | G6 | – | – | F9 | – | G5 | – | K | G5 |
| 6 | (LF) | 58 | Maegawa | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | BB | F9 | – | – | G5 | – | 1B | – | – | – |
| PR,LF | 62 | Ueda | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | K | – | |
| 7 | (C) | 2 | Umeno | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 2B | – | F8 | – | K | – | F7 | – | F4 | – |
| P | #37 | Oyokawa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 8 | (SS) | 0 | Kinami | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | L5 | – | F9 | – | – | K | G4 | – | – | G6 |
| 9 | (P) | 99 | Beasley | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 1B | – | K | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| P | #30 | Mombetsu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| PH | #25 | Watanabe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | CF | – | – | – | – | |
| P | #42 | Guerra | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| P | #13 | Iwasaki | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| P | #54 | Ishii | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| PH | #55 | Kusumoto | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | K | – | – | |
| P | #65 | Yuasa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| C | #12 | Sakamoto | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | BB | |
| TEAM | 44 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| # | Name | NP | BF | IP | H | HR | BB | HBP | K | WP | BK | R | ER | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00 | Beasley | 66 | 18 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |
| 30 | Mombetsu | 28 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 42 | Guerra | 17 | 4 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Iwasada | 3 | 1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| HP | 69 | Ishii | 26 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Iwazaki | 28 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| WP | 37 | Oyokawa | 21 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM | 189 | 47 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | ||
Stats from NPB
👉 April 17, 2025