The Hanshin Tigers, that is. 6-1:

At Kyocera Dome, Shigenobu Shima went 3-for-4 to lead a 16-hit attack and Kenta Maeda got his first win since June 29, lifting Hiroshima over Central League-leading Hanshin.

Hiroshima got on the board in the first inning on a fielder’s choice grounder by Kenta Kurihara and made it 2-0 in the sixth on a Tetsuya Kokubo RBI single. Shima then hit a two-run single in a four-run seventh, which also included a Yoshiyuki Ishihara two-run double, after a Tomoaki Kanemoto homer cut the lead to a run.

As best I can tell from the Carp website, which I admittedly can’t follow at all, this triumphant victory occurred at precisely the same time as the beanfest recounted below. The Carp are so badass they can take on and defeat two opposing teams at the same time. Try pulling off that trick, Yankees.

No word on whether the Carp pitchers went head-hunting, but at least one Carp, cleanup hitter Kenta “Middle Name Hopefully Doesn’t Begin With K” Kurihara, was brained in the game. I do so love Japanese baseball.

UPDATE: I just noticed the suit of armor ole’ Kenta is wearing the photo above. Methinks the spirit of Killer Carl Mays lives on in Japan.

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