2021 SEASON IN THE CENTRAL LEAGUE

Modified on November 13, 2021

Climax Series
2nd stage:Yakult Swallows vs Tokyo Giants
Nov 12
It was a see saw game. The Giants scored first on Hayato Sakamoto's sacrifice fly. Then the Swallows on Norichika Aoki's 2 RBI, took the lead. The Giants tied on Taishi Hirooka's sliding base hit. The game ended a draw, which means, the Swallows will advance to the Japan Series.

Nov 11
The Giants starter was ace Tomoyuki Sugano with 4 days in between from the previous game he started. He gave up a sacrifice fly in the 2nd inning. In the 5th inning, he walked with bases full. Then Yasutaka Shiomi hit home 3 runners. The Swallows won 5 to 0.

Nov 10
The Swallows Yasunobu Okugawa started for the first time against the Giants. Domingo Santana slammed a 2 run home run. Okugawa shut out the Giants, and the Swallows won 3 to 0.

1st stage:Hanshin Tigers vs Tokyo Giants
Nov 7
Yoshiharu Maru hit in a run. The Tigers fumbled the ball, allowing the Giants to get runners on base and score. In the end, the Giants won 4 to 2, to advance in the series.

Nov 6
In Koshien, Giants ace Tomoyuki Sugano started. He hurled 7 innings giving up only 2 base hits. Zelous Wheeler hit in 3 runs. The Giants beat the Tigers 4 to 0.

Oct
The day game for Swallows fan on Oct 25. It beat the Dragons 5 to 1 and clinched the Central League title. Runner up the Tigers lost to the Dragons.

On Oct 23, the Giants Yoshihiro Maru slammed a 3 run home run to defeat the Swallows. But in the next game the Swallows won, placing it very close to a league victory. The Tigers on Oct 23 tied with the Carp, won the next game on a 3 run home run by rookie Teruaki Sato who has been in a slump for months.

From Oct 22, in 2 games the BayStars defeated the Dragons.

On Oct 21, the Swallows lost to the Carp. The Tigers beat the Dragons.

On Oct 19, the Tigers clobbered the Swallows with Koji Chikamoto's 3 run home run. They tied on a scoreless game the next day. The BayStars and the Giants tied in the first game, the Giants won the next on Yoshihiro Maru's home run ending its losing streak.

On Oct 17, the Swallows reduced its magic number to 4 defeating the BayStars. The Carp beat the Tigers that day, but lost to the Tigers the next day.

On Oct 16, the Swallows lost to the Dragons. The Carp beat the Giants.

On Oct 15, the Swallows beat the Giants on Jose Osuna's 3 run homerun.

From Oct 12, the Swallows faced the Dragons, each winning a game and tying in the 3rd. The Tigers beat the Giants in the first and 3rd games, tied in the 2nd. The Carp won its 6th game in a row on Seiya Suzuki's 3 run home run against the BayStars on Oct 12. The Carp lost the next game and won the 3rd.

On Oct 8 the Swallows beat the Tigers, with that 11 more wins assures the team's league victory. But the Swallows lost the next 2 games. The Giants performed poorly losing against the Carp in all 3 games. The BayStars Sano homered twice to defeat the Dragons. The Dragons won the next game, and the BayStars won the 3rd.

The Swallows took on the Giants from Oct 5, and beat the Giants in all 3 games. The Tigers The Tigers beat the BayStars in the first 2 games, lost the 3rd. The Dragons won on a walk with bases full against the Carp on Oct 5, but lost the next 2 games.

From Oct 1 the Swallows faced the Carp and won all 3 games. The Tigers recovered, winning all 3 games against the Dragons on Jefry Marte's home runs. The Giants too recovered beating the BayStars in all 3 games.

Standing as of end of October
1.Yakult Swallows
2.Hanshin Tigers
3.Yomiuri Giants
4.Hiroshima Toyo Carp
5.Chunichi Dragons
6.Yokohama Dena BayStars

Sept
On Sept 28, the Swallows beat the BayStars on Aoki's grand slam, but lost the next 2 games. The Tigers lost all 3 games against the Carp. The Giants lost all 3 games to the Dragons.

The Swallows continue to due will from Sept 24 against the Dragons, with a 2 run homerun by Munetaka Murakami in the first game, ties in the 2nd, then wins big on a 2 run homer by Murakami and a grand slam by Tetsuto Yamada. The Tigers and the Giants tied in the first game, the Tigers Haruto Takahashi achieved a shut out win in the next, and the Tigers also won the 3rd game. The Carp defeated the BayStars in all 3 games.

From Sept 21, the Swallows faced the BayStars,won the first game on Munetaka Murakami's grand slam, won the next 2 games. The Swallows rose to first place. The Tigers won the first game against the Dragon, lost the next and tied in the 3rd. The Giants lost the first game against the Carp and won the next 2.

On Sept 19, the Giants beat the Tigers, the Swallows beat the Carp and played another game tying the next day. The BayStars beat the Dragons in 2 games.

On Sept 17, the Swallows beat the Giants with a home run by Tetsuto Yamada. They tied in the next game. On Sept 18, The Tigers beat the Dragons, the BayStars defeated the Carp.

On Sept 14, the Swallows tied against the Tigers, rose to 2nd place. The Swallows won the next game. The Giants lost to the Bay Stars falling to 3rd place and managed to win the next day on Kazuma Okamoto's RBI. The Dragons faced the Carp and won a game each.

On Sept 12, the BayStars beat the Tigers with Tyler Austin's 3 run home run. The Giants defeated the Carp on Seiji Kobayashi's home run. The Dragons won 2 games against the Swallows.

From Sept 10, the Tigers beat the Carp in 2 games. The Giants lost against the Dragons in 2 games. The Swallows on Sept 11, beat the BayStars with homers by Domingo Santana and Jose Osuna.

The Swallows beat the Tigers on Sept 7 with a 3 run home run by Munetaka Murakami. The Tigers won the next day on Yusuke Ohyama's homer, but the Swallows won the 3rd game. The Giants lost the first 2 games against the BayStars and tied in the 3rd. The Carp's Seiya Suzuki homered in all 3 games against the Dragons. The Carp won 2 of 3 games.

The Tigers and the Giants faced eachother from Sept 3. The Tigers won the first 2 games to return to first place. They tied in the 3rd game. The Swallows won the first game against the Carp but lost the next 2. The Dragons won 2 of 3 games against the BayStars.

On Sept 1 the Giants Yoshihiro Maru slammed a 2 run home run and ace Tomoyuki Sugano won the game against the Swallows. The Giants and the Swallows tied in the next game. The BayStars Tyler Austin hit in 3 runs to defeate the Carp. The Carp won the next game.

Standing as of end of September
1.Yakult Swallows
2.Hanshin Tigers
3.Yomiuri Giants
4.Chunichi Dragons
5.Hiroshima Toyo Carp
6.Yokohama Dena BayStars

Aug
The Giants on Aug 31 beat the Swallows. The Tigers faced its 4th defeat in a row, losing to the Dragons. The BayStars defeated the Carp on Neftali Soto's 2 run home run.

From Aug 27, the Tigers lost all 3 games against the Carp. The Giants lost the 3rd, tied the next against the Dragons, and with a win in the 3rd game replaced the Tigers for first place. The Swallows and the BayStars each won a game and tied in the 2nd.

On Aug 23, the Tigers won on Jerry Sands 2 run home run against the BayStars. The Tigers won the next day on Yusuke Ohyama's 2 run home run. The Tigers lost the 3rd. The Giants ace pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano started after a few months out from injury but could not beat the Carp. The Giants won the next 2 games. The Swallows beat the Dragons on Aug 24, and they tied in the next game.

Tigers seem to have lost steam. From Aug 20, it lost the first 2 games against the Dragons, and managed to win the 3rd. The Giants lost 2 games against the BayStars, tied in the 3rd. The Carp and the Swallows won a game each.

On Aug 17, the Tigers Teruaki Sato hit 2 home runs to help his team defeat the BayStars. The Tigers won the next day too.But lost the 3rd game. The Swallows clobbered the Giants on Aug 17, but lost the next game. The Dragons beat the Carp in the first 2 games, lost the 3rd.

Pro baseball leagues resumed on Aug 13 after a long Tokyo Olympic Games break. The Tigers lost to the Carp in the first game, but clinched the next 2. The Giants Yoshihiro Maru contributed in the first and 2nd games against the Dragons, while Hayato Sakamoto homered in the 3rd to clinch all 3 victories. Swallows and BayStars played on Aug 15, and the Swallows won.

Standing as of end of August
1.Yomiuri Giants
2.Hanshin Tigers
3.Yakult Swallows
4.Chunichi Dragons
5.Yokohama Dena BayStars
6.Hiroshima Toyo Carp

July
On Jul 12, Tigers Yusuke Ohyama hit in a game winning run against the BayStars. The BayStars won the next game, the Tigers won the 3rd. The Carp won all 3 games against the Dragons. Swallows Tetsuto Yamada slammed a 3 run home run to beat the Giants on Jul 13. Jose Osuna blasted a 3 run and a game winning RBI the next day to help the Swallows win.

The Tigers beat the Giants on July 9, but the Giants won the next game on homers by Hayato Sakamoto and Kazuma Okamoto. The Giants won the 3rd game too. The Dragons won the first 2 games against the BayStars and tied in the 3rd. The Swallows Seiichi Uchikawa hit a game winning run to defeat the Carp on Jul 9. The Carp won the next.

From Jul 6, the Tigers Teruaki Sato hit well, but the Tigers lost the first to games against the Swallows, won the 3rd game. The Giants lost the first game.Shun Yamaguchi won his first game since returning from MLB,to defeat the Dragons. The Dragons won the 3rd. The Carp and the BayStars won a game each and tied too.

The Tigers faced the Carp from Jul 2 and lost 2 games. The Swallows won the first 2 games against the Dragon and tied in the 3rd. The Giants won on Jul 3 with homers by Yoshitomo Maru and Kazuma Okamoto against the BayStars, but lost the next game.

The rainy season is disrupting many games. On Jul 1, the Swallows beat the Tigers. The Giants ace, Tomoyuki Sugano did not pitch well, but his teammates hit in runs to beat the Carp on Jul 1.

Standing as of end of July
1.Hanshin Tigers
2.Yomiuri Giants
3.Yakult Swallows
4.Chunichi Dragons
5.Hiroshima Toyo Carp
6.Yokohama Dena BayStars

June
The Tigers from Jun 29 faced the Swallows, won the first, tied in the 2nd. The Giants Kazuma Okamoto blasted a 3 run home run against the Carp on Jun 28, but the Carp won the 2nd game. The BayStars beat the Dragons in the 2 games from Jun 29.

From June 25, the Tigers lose against the BayStars in all 3 games. The Giants beat the Swallows in all 3 games. The Carp has been playing poorly and its consecutive loss ended at 5, by beating the Dragons on Jun 26. They tied in the next game.

The Tigers play against the Dragons from June 21,and wins 2 games. The Giants beats the BayStars in 2 games. The Swallows win all 3 games against the Carp.

Interleague ends on June 16. On the 18, regular league games resume. The Tigers face the Giants, wins the first game on Jerry Sands's grand slam, but loses the next 2. The Swallows rise to 2nd place beating the Dragons on Jose Osuna's 3 run homer in the first game. The Swallows lose then 2nd but wins the 3rd. The Carp wins the first 2 gaes against the BayStars, loses the 3rd to Tyler Austin's grandslam.

Standing as of end of June
1.Hanshin Tigers
2.Yomiuri Giants
3.Yakult Swallows
4.Chunichi Dragons
5.Yokohama Dena BayStars
6.Hiroshima Toyo Carp

May
From May 25, games are played Interleague.

Carp suspended its games against the Tigers from May 21 due to more testing positive a. The Giants played against the Dragon, tied in the first, and won a game each. The BayStars won the first game against the Swallows but lost the next 2

The Giants on May 18 beat the Carp with 3 players replaced due to COVID-19. The next day the Carp won. The Swallows clobberd the Tigers on May 18 with 5 RBIs by Domingo Santana. The next day the Tigers won.

The Tigers and the Giants faced eachother from May 14. The Tigers won 2 games. The Swallows won 2 of 3 games, tied in the 3rd. The Carp beat the BayStars on May 14, and they tied on May 16.

On May 11, the Tigers tied against the Dragons, and won the next. On May 13, the Tigers won on Teruaki Sato's home run. The Giants beat the BayStars on May 11 and tied in the next. The Swallows and the Carp played a shut out tied gameon May 12.

The Tigers lost the first game from May 7 against the BayStars to Tyler Austin's home run, but won the next 2. The Giants played 2 games against the Swallows and each won a game. The Carp and the Dragons won a game each played form May 8.

On May 3,the Giants won on Zelous Wheeler's home run against the Carp. The teams tied the next day. The Giants shut out the Carp in the 3rd. The BayStars beat the Dragons on May 3, lost to Akira Neo's grand slam, won again the 3rd. The Tigers Teruaki Sato homered on May 4 against the Swallows to help his team win. They tied the next day.

The Dragons Dayan Viciedo slammed a 2 run home run to defeat the Giants on May 1. The BayStars won against the swallows with homers on May 1 and 2. The Tigers rookie Teruaki Sato hit in 5 runs to beat the Carp on May 2.

Standing as of end of May
1.Hanshin Tigers
2.Yomiuri Giants
3.Yakult Swallows
4.Chunichi Dragons
5.Hiroshima Toyo Carp
6.Yokohama Dena BayStars

April
On Apr 30,the Tigers Teruaki Sato hit in an RBI to help his team defeat the Carp. The Giants lost to the Dragons. The Swallows beat the BayStars.

Due to the state of emergency, from Apr 27, games in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo cannot have spectators. In an empty Jingu Stadium the Swallows faced the Giants. Zelous Wheeler hit in runs to help the Giants win the first game. New player Justin Smoak slammed his first home run on Apr 28 for the Giants win. The Tigers lost 2 games against the Dragons from Apr 27. The Carp won the first game against the BayStars, lost the next 2.

The Giants Tomoyuki Sugano hurled over the distance on Apr 23 to help his team beat the Carp. The Giants lost the next 2 games. The Tigers lost to the BayStars on Apr 23, but it was rookie Teruaki Sato who contributed in the 2nd game and 3rd game to defeat the BayStars. The Swallows Tetsuyo Yamada homered twice to defeat the Dragons on Apr 23, and the team won the next 2 games.

The Tigers winning streak recorded 8 straight games by defeating the Giants on Apr 20. But it was ended the next day. The Giants beat the Tigers in the next 2 games. The Carp faced the Swallows from Apr 20, lost 2 and tied in 1. The BayStars and the Dragons were unable to hit in any runs on Apr 20. The Dragons won the next 2.

On Apr 16, the Giants Tomoyuki Sugano won his first game of the season with a shut out victory against the BayStars. The next day Kazuya Kouzuki slammed a 3 run home run to beat the BayStars. The teams tied in the 3rd. Tigers starter Shintaro Fujinami slammed a 2 run home run and won the game against the Swallows on Apr 16. The Tigers won on Apr 18. The Carp's Ryosuke Kikuchi and Seiya Suzuki homereed to defeat the Dragons on Apr. 6, lost the next but won the 3rd.

From Apr 9 the Carp faced the Giants, won the first on homers by Ryosuke Kikuchi and Seiya Suzuki. It won the next game on Kikuchi's RBI. The Giants Nobutaka Imamura shut out the Carp, while Kazuma Okamoto and Daiki Masuda homered. On Apr 9 the Tigers Teruaki Sato homered twice nomered out of the ball park against the BayStars. It's defeated the BayStars in all 3 games. The Dragons and Swallows tied on Apr 10, the Dragons won the next day.

The Tigers continue to play in a good shape from Apr 6, beating the Giants in 2 games. On Apr 6, the BayStars beat the Swallows on Kazuki Kamizato's grand slam. The BayStars lost the next, but won lucky the 3rd game due to the Dragons error. The Carps Masato Morishita shut out the Swallows on Apr 6. The Swallows won the next 2.

The Giants and the Swallows fought 3 games from Apr 2, each winning a game and tying in one. The BayStars finally won it's first game on Apr 4 after losing 2 games from Apr 2 to the Carp. The Dragons won the first game against the Tigers on Apr 2, the Tiger won the next 2.

On Apr 1, the Giants beat the Dragons. The Tigers Teruaki Sato homered to help his team beat the Carp. The BayStars and Swallows had an exciting game which ended 11-11.

Standing as of end of April
1.Hanshin Tigers
2.Yomiuri Giants
3.Yakult Swallows
4.Hiroshima Toyo Carp
5.Chunichi Dragons
6.Yokohama Dena BayStars

March
The Giants and the Dragons ended a draw on Mar 30, while the Dragons won the next day. The Tigers won against the Carp on March 30, lost the next game. The Swallows won against the BayStars 2 games in a row. It's despite its main players out after a player and a staff tested positive for COVID-19.

Tomoyuki Sugano started for the Giants to open the season on Mar 26. He pitched well against the BayStars but relief pitchers did not. BS caught up with the Giants. But Yoshiyuki Kamei slammed a game winning home run to clinch the game. Giants new player Takayuki Kajitani grandslammed the next day to win the game. The 3rd game was a tie. This season, games will not be extended beyond the 9th inning. The Tigers Jerry Sands homered twice to beat the Swallows for the opener. The Tigers rookie Teruaki Sato slammed a 2 run homer to win again the next day. The Tigers clinched the 3rd game too. The Dragons Dayan Viciedo blasted a 2 run home run to help his team beat the Carp. The Carp won the next game. They ended a draw in the 3rd game.

Standing as of end of March
1.Hiroshima Toyo Carp
2.Yomiuri Giants
2.Chunichi Dragons
4.Hanshin Tigers
5.Yakult Swallows
6.Yokohama Dena BayStars

Final league standing in 2020
1.Yomiuri Giants
2.Hanshin Tigers
3.Chunichi Dragons
4.Yokohama Dena BayStars
5.Hiroshima Toyo Carp
6.Yakult Swallows


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