Hanshin blank Chunichi
In NPB action, the Hanshin Tigers shut out Chunichi 3‑0 as 高橋 improved to a 2‑0 record in the outing, a result shared widely by Japanese league fans on social channels (x.com). The game thread and highlights circulated with commentary about the pitching line and defensive performance (x.com).
Hanshin beat Chunichi 3-0 on Sunday, April 12, behind a complete-game shutout from Haruto Takahashi at Vantelin Dome Nagoya. (baseball.yahoo.co.jp) The game stayed scoreless until the fifth inning, when Takumu Nakano doubled home the first run with two outs and Shota Morishita followed with a two-run single. Hanshin finished with 7 hits; Chunichi managed 5. (baseball.yahoo.co.jp) Takahashi struck out 10 over 9 scoreless innings and moved to 2-0. Sports Navi listed it as his second shutout of the 2026 season. (baseball.yahoo.co.jp) The result pushed Hanshin to a four-game winning streak and kept the club atop the Central League at 11-4. Chunichi fell to 3-11 after the loss. (baseball.yahoo.co.jp) That early-April gap matters in a six-team league that plays a 143-game regular season, with standings tightening and loosening quickly over each three-game series. Nippon Professional Baseball splits its top division into the Central League and Pacific League, and Hanshin and Chunichi are both Central League clubs. (npb.jp) Hanshin had already opened the season well before this trip to Nagoya. The Central League table published by Nippon Professional Baseball on April 10 showed the Tigers at 9-4, ahead of Tokyo Yakult at 8-4, before this weekend’s games were added. (npb.jp) For Chunichi, the loss fit a rough start on both sides of the ball. Sports Navi’s game page showed starter Hiroto Takahashi taking the loss despite keeping the game close into the fifth, when the Dragons gave up all 3 runs. (baseball.yahoo.co.jp) Hanshin’s pitching depth has shown up against Chunichi before. In the farm league on April 2, Hanshin shut out Chunichi 6-0 in Nagoya, another game in which the Dragons were held scoreless. (npb.jp) Sunday’s version was cleaner and simpler: one burst of offense, no late bullpen drama, and 27 outs from one left-hander. That was enough for Hanshin to leave Nagoya with another win and first place still in hand. (baseball.yahoo.co.jp)
