The Mongolian-born grand champion has a two-win cushion over a trio of sumo wrestlers as he heads into the second half of the 15-day Nagoya Basho.
The ex-ozeki relied on experience to shove out the newly promoted sekiwake, who couldn't mount a counterattack in their Nagoya Basho match.
The native of Ishikawa Prefecture looks for back-to-back championships as he debuts at sumo's third-highest rank at the Nagoya Basho.
The dual pursuit of the Triple Crown brings back memories of Randy Bass and Hiromitsu Ochiai, who dominated NPB batting in the mid-1980s.
The Hyogo Prefecture native, a 2017 draft pick of the Hanshin Tigers, added some pitches to his repertoire and has become the Central League's top pitcher.
Dependable starters Daichi Ohsera, Hiroki Tokoda, Masato Morishita and Aren Kuri give Hiroshima Carp manager Takahiro Arai plenty of pitching options.
Jones fielded a largely young and inexperienced side and England scored eight tries against the Brave Blossoms for a one-sided win at National Stadium.
The Rakuten Eagles got off to a slow start this season but came together as a team during interleague play under first-year manager Toshiaki Imae.
The former Texas Ranger kicked off his Yomiuri Giants career by hitting safely in eight straight games, including three straight games with three or more hits.
A native of Ishikawa, the 23-year-old Onosato is inspiring fans in his home prefecture and giving sumo a much-needed boost in popularity.
Newly promoted komusubi Onosato, who went 12-3 in the Summer Basho, has contended in every tournament since his January debut in the elite division.
With batters like Kensuke Kondoh, Yuki Yanagita and Hotaka Yamakawa, the PL-leading SoftBank Hawks will be hard to stop this season.