Playing great

The Carp are playing great in the series. The pitching has been fantastic and Eldred in particular has come up big with his bat. He has a home run in each of the three games making him the first Hiroshima player ever to hit home runs in 3 consecutive Nippon Series games.

The Carp won each of the first two games 5 to 1 and Johnson bested Ohtani in game 1. Kuroda couldn't come away with a win from Game 3 even though he pitched OK (5.2 innings and only 1 run allowed. The Carp led for much of the game but Nippon Ham went ahead in the 8th by a score of 3 to 2. Hiroshima has been scrappy all season and they fought back to tie the game. They lost it 4 to 3 finally but the effort and the pitching were still impressive.

Nippon Series

I certainly didn't expect that the Carp could make it all the way to the Nippon Series without Kenta Maeda. It just goes to show you.

I'm really excited for the series. I know the Carp did well against the Fighters during the regular season in interleague play but I have no idea how this series will play out. The best part is that Ohtani is only one guy and he can't pitch every day. Also, he's not really hitting well in the playoffs.

Anyway, go Carp.

The Carp Stay on Top

The Carp extended their lead to 7.5 games over the Giants today. After letting it drop to 4.5 games only a few days ago, their continued strong pitching and timely hitting have been enough. It seems very unlikely that the Giants can overcome such a large lead with so few games left in the season. If the Carp play even .500 baseball, the Giants would still face the difficult task of going 25-11 just to tie. Anything is possible but more and more, it looks like this is the season for the Carp to capture first place going into the League finals. I never thought they would be able to do this after losing Maeda to the Dodgers. If they pull it off, it has to considered one of the bigger surprises in Japanese baseball in a while.

Rough start

Wow. It doesn't take long for a season to take a wrong turn. The Carp are 2 and 7 at this point and the hitting almost doesn't exist. With Eldred's knee surgery and the loss of Ka'aihue to the Washington Nationals, the Carp are pretty meek at the plate. Maru and Kikuchi have been a little sporadic so far but they will probably get going soon. Still, at 4 games back already, the Carp are in a pretty deep hole. Hope they can turn it around.

Kuroda off to a fast start

Kuroda is already off to a fast start in Hiroshima. He pitched really well the other day and it looks like he will be a valuable addition to the Carp staff. My only complaint so far this year is the loss of Ka'aihue to the Washington Nationals. Also, so far this spring, Ka'aihue hasn't been able to get a single hit in his 4 games. He really doesn't look like a major leaguer. He should have stayed where he was productive. But I guess he may return if he doesn't make the roster for Washington.

Kuroda Returns

Unbelievable! It really happened. Hiroki Kuroda decided to finish out his career in Hiroshima. He is truly a man of honor. I'm sure he has just enough gas left in the tank to help push the Carp toward a championship. Maeda can only benefit by working on the same team as such an experienced and excellent MLB pitcher. I'm really looking forward to next season!

Maeda is staying

I have to admit that I'm glad that Maeda is staying. I think he might be able to get Hiroshima over the hump this year. I don't know what moves the Carp have made this off season but any fan always has to hope for the best. I'm still hoping that Kuroda might return. I haven't seen any signs of him being back in MLB. Anyway, I'm looking forward to Maeda's pitching and the awesome play of Kikuchi.