After what we can call a fairly “meh” series in terms of
results against the Carp it was now time to switch focus to another dosey-doe with the Tigers.
The first game would be a show of youth against experience
with Yu Sato lining up against Randy Messenger. Sato would be hoping to build
on his first career win against the Baystars.
The Dragons would be the one to set the wheels rolling and
in a spectacular way. On a full-count in his first at-bat of the evening,
Ryosuke Hirata pulled a ball into the left stands to bring up his 5th
homer of the season.
Already close to half of his total last season (11).
Haraguchi would however come back to haunt the dragons in the 2nd as
he evened things up while Takayama pushed the scored into Hanshin’s favour at
3-1. Hirata would be at the centre of good things again in the 8th
as his hit brought the Dragons back within reaching distance. Pinch-hitting
specialist, Kei Nomoto would then step-up to put the Dragons on an even footing
with a timely single in the 9th to even the scores at 3-3. That wouldn’t be the end of the fun however,
as with bases loaded, Atsushi Fujii was given the chance to put the Dragons in
front and the switch-hitter obliged with a sac-fly into left field. Some mayhem
ensued as Endo was then found out at second to end the inning. Koji Fukutani
was in the heat-seat once more for the bottom of the 9th but he was
able to keep the Tigers quiet and seal a close 3-4 win in the picturesque
Koshien stadium.
Donoue and Hirata were the key men with the bat as the
captain snagged two RBIs while Donoue racked up 2 hits. Tajima took home
winning honours for his scoreless inning while Dolis for the Tigers took the loss.
The game would also be marked by the 25th
consecutive game where Shinji Tajima remained scoreless. A magnificent
milestone for the relief pitcher as he set a new Central league record. Tajima has been in top form and has shown
experience and verve where his partner, Matayoshi hasn’t.
Up next, the game would feature another youth vs experience
battle on the mound as a winless Daisuke Yamai took on Hanshin’s 22 yo. Yuya Yokoyama.
Haraguchi would continue his haranguing form against the
Dragons as his RBI sent Itayama home in the bottom of the 2nd. The
Dragons would reply in the 4th when Nanita helped send Hirata home
to even things up at 1-1. The lead wouldn’t last long however as in the bottom
of the same inning, Yamai loaded up the bases. A wild pitch was followed by a
dead ball against Yamato that clearly showed the veteran is struggling with his
control. Toritani would however hit a
sac-fly to allow a single runner home to reclaim the lead at 2-1. The Tigers
furthered their lead in the 5th with a solo homer from Gomez which
would prove to be Yamai’s last inning of the night.
The Dragons wouldn’t go out without a whimper though as in
the top of the 8th with Fujii and Araki on base, Hirata hit a single
to move Chunichi within a run of evening the tables. With runners in promising
positions and Viciedo and Nanita to come, there was hope of a come-back, but it
was to be for naught as both fell victim to Yuya Ando. That would prove to be
the end of the scoring as Fujikawa was brought in by the Tigers to make the
save and claim an important win.
Yamai’s inability to do anything of use has to ring alarm
bells. How many losses is he going to have to get before Tanishige decides to
get rid of him? I know injuries are bad, but surely there has to be someone
that will do a better job? Games with Yamai starting are all but a default loss
at present.
Hirata was the main man with the bat as he snaffled an RBI
and two walks for his trouble. Apart from the captain, there were minimal
contributions across the board with most of the top order taking a hit.
The last game of the series was to be another close encounter
of the baseball kind as Shintaro Fujinami faced off again Shunta Wakamatsu .
Yamai found himself de-registered from the team for the first time this season, while catcher Takuma Kato was brought in to bolster the catching stocks.
Scoring would start in the 1st with the big
Cuban, Dayan Viciedo helping Ohshima home to open the scores at 1-0. Fujinami’s
control was clearly lacking as he walked Donoue and threw a wild pitch to allow
Hirata to score to extend Chunichi’s lead. The lead however would be taken away
from the Dragons in the bottom of the 6th as Toritani and Fukudome
hit a single and a double respectively to put the scores at 2-2. In the bottom of the 9th with
extra inning looming, Matayoshi was given the ball to replace Fuku after the
latter saw Fukudome off, but it was to a be a folly of a decision as the
pitcher loaded up the bases and allowed a single to Haraguchi to end the game
with a walk-off win to the Tigers.
A game of much finer margins that was probably,
unfortunately, lost at the death thanks to some off colour clutch pitching.
Viciedo did his job and how as he claimed 3 hits and a walk in his 4 at-bats
while Sugiyama as well contributed two hits a walk plus a sac-hit to end a very
productive game.
A win combined with two close losses away from home isn’t
the worst way to end the week. The Dragons had their chances to win in the last
two games but simply couldn’t produce at the right moments. Up next await the
Giants; let’s see what we can do against them.
On a bit of side news, former Dragons slugger, Matt Clark has made the trip back to Japan to play for the Orix Buffaloes for the rest of the season. I wish him all the best.
Today’s post will be the beginning of my new condensed
series so I can keep updating you without it taking huge chunks of time out of
my life. Let me know if there’s something missing that you’d like to see added.
Comment on this page or tweet at me @chunichisoul
Alright Dragons fans, it’s time for a recap of the Golden Week
series against the Hanshin Tigers at the Nagoya dome! The Golden Week is a
series of public holidays conveniently linked together to give people a bit of
time off in May. The games against Hanshin were perfectly lined up with the
week which meant earlier play times for all/most to enjoy.
Game 30of the season was a doozy. Would the Dragons
continue their good run against the Tigers or would it all come undone with the
loss of Shuhei Takahashi?
In the first inning a wild pitch from Jordan allowed Yamato
to reach home to open up the score for Hanshin, 0-1. However, the Dragons would
reply immediately as Hirata leveled up the scores with a single to send Ohshima
home to make it 1-1. Tetsuya Tani then squared one up to hit right as he sent
Hirata home to take the lead, 2-1. Haraguchi would level things up with a sac
fly in the 4th, but a solo homer from Katsura in the 5th
inning combined with a double from Ohshima in the 7th would give the
Dragons an opening win to the series, 4-2.
Filthy bat flipping Iori. FILTHY.
That would be the end of the scoring and the game as the
Dragons closed out as 4-2 winners. A second win and another tidy performance
from Jordan Norberto who keeps showing great poise as a starter striking out 6
in his 7 innings. Shinji Tajima grabbed
a hold and Koji Fukutani claimed another save. Questions will be asked of
Shintaro Fujinami’s performance however as he probably should be doing better.
Game 31 would see another sporadic appearance from elusive
starter Kazuki Yoshimi. The Dragons starting rotation has been anything but
concrete since the start of the season but the reg – dereg cycle that Yoshimi
is stuck in is a bit dizzying. Tetsuya Tani started at third base again
following Shuhei’s injury and the Tigers fronted up Yuya Yokoyama to start things off. Neither
pitcher had a win leading into this game it was to be a race to see who would
get things going.
Yoshimi in for Jordan would be the only change ahead of this
game.
The Tigers would get things underway in the 4th
inning as Central League RBI leader Mauro Gomez’s single gave the Tigers a 0-1
lead. Yutaro Itayama added another to
the score as he put Fukudome home. Haraguchi would rub more than a fair share
of salt into the wounds as with Itayama
and Gomez on base, Yoshimi’s pitch was abruptly dispatched into the bleachers
for a 3-run homer, his first as a pro; 0-5 on the scoreboard.
The flurry continued In the 5th as Gomez was at
it again getting two RBIs this time to make things 0-7. Not good reading for
Dragons fans! Yoshimi was rightfully withdrawn following his poor showing for
Ryuya Ogawa. Another pitcher change however would inspire more scoring as
Hiroto Fuku gave up RBIs to Hojoh and Haraguchi to put the game beyond all
doubt at 9-0. Haraguchi was at his best while Yoshimi was at his worst in a
poor, one sided loss to the Tigers.
The Dragons only managed 3 hits in this
game (Araki with two of them) and looked absolutely dire at times with the bat.
Credit to the Tigers pitchers for doing the job (17 hits!) as they completely destroyed us on the day. It was Yoshimi’s first loss in 2 years (a lot
of it has been out injured) and 6 years since conceding 5 runs in a
single inning in what was an uncharacteristic performance from a man that has
notched 20 win seasons.
The game was
also marked by a second consecutive no-hitter from Dayan Viciedo, but the big
man wasn’t in the worrying mood following the game as he is happy with how he’s
swinging.
Game 32 was to be another one not to write home about for
the Dragons as the batting line-up once again failed to launch.
Hernandez was promoted for the error-prone Masahiko Morino
and Yoshimi was also de-regged from the team to end the changes to the squad.
Ryosuke Oguma and Randy Messenger would start on the mound
for their respective teams but it was the former who would be ruled out early
on as he went down with injury. Haraguchi returned a pitch right at Oguma and
struck him on the right forearm. Looks like it stings.
The most positive highlight for the Dragons would come early, as Nanita pulled of a worldy to keep Hanshin out of the game.
Hanshin wouldn’t really do much better with the bat today
but they did it when it mattered in the 7th inning when Daisuke
Yamai was put into the stands by a Yamato home solo homer to put the scores at
1-0 where the game would end.
The only real
positive to come out of the game today was that Nanita continues his fantastic
form with the bat as he got another safe hit away. Yamai’s 4th loss
already this season does for damning reading and Oguma’s injury adds to an increasingly
long list of players with niggles and pains.
It wasn’t to be a very golden week for Dragons fans, but the
Tigers did deserved to win the last two games. One win was all we could come
away with and it left the Dragons on an even .500 winning percentage safely
sitting in 4th place.
In other news Yudai Ohno is back in training following his
elbow discomfort with the hope of making a comeback this month. With Oguma now
out as well and Yoshimi still being used sparingly, the starting stocks are
looking a little bare as the Dragons look for someone with a reliable arm.
Before I get into the report I would just like to thank all of you, my readers, for doing what you do best, read. Since I started this blog a little under a month ago, I have received over 1000 views. That's a big complement to me and I really appreciate those of you reading what I write. I enjoy writing and I love talking about the Dragons so it's great to have so many to share with. Thank you all. I hope I can continue to keep the updates as frequent as I can, and maybe with a bit of luck, I might be able to make some improvements and throw up some feature articles when I get a bit of time off work.
Anyway, enough with the pleasantries. Lets get to the naughty bits. A big 3 games against Hanshin in our glorious home in Nagoya. The Tigers gave us a good match-up a the Kyocera dome in the opening series and 3 closely fought games lead to the Dragons walking way as 2-1 series losers. Dayan Viciedo announced himself to the NPB in those three games with 3 magnificent dongs. Would he be able to replicate the magic in Nagoya Dome? Let's see if the Tiger terror strikes fear into Hanshin hearts and turn them into the veritable kawaii kitties they can be.
Game 18 of the Dragons season started on a fine Friday night in the Nagoya Dome. Dominican Jordan Norberto made his second start in the rotation as Atsushi Nohmi started on the mound for the Tigers. Jordan wasn't able to grab a win in his starting debut as a draw against the Baystars was all the team could muster, but the lefty pitcher looked good in that outing and if the batting fired, he would get a win.
It was a solemn night however as Japan was rocked with a series of earthquakes in the southern island of Kyushu where the prefecture of Kumamoto was particularly affected. Masahiro Araki is a native of the area and it is possible that he was left out of the side on compassionate grounds. His family is okay for the time being as the prefecture continues to be rocked. Hiroto Fuku as well, a member of JR Kyushu last year, sent out his regards and well wishes to his former teammates and co-workers.
As for team changes; Toshiya Okada and Daisuke Sobue came in for an injured Yudai Ohno and a misfiring Ryuya Ogawa. The blow to Ohno is a big one as the Chunichi injury list grows, but the team would have to do without him as it was planned to move Daisuke Yamai back to the starting rotation to replace the influential lefty.
Now for the action:
Jordan worked through the first of the Tigers batting line-up grounding out two. The final out would come from a greedy Egoshi who was gunned down at second base by Katsura as he tried to steal.
The bottom of the second inning would bring the Dragons out for the first attack. Yohei Ohshima would start off well as he hit into the left to pick up a single. Taiki Mitumata, the former Buffalo, took one for the cause as he bunted to allow the speedster, Ohshima to get to second. Takahashi struck-out for what would not be the first time tonight to bring Viciedo to the plate with 2 outs and a runner on second base. The big Cuban rarely disappoints in these situations as he hit a single to put Ohshima into a scoring position at third base. Ricardo Nanita would step up to the plate as the 5th batter. I've become a bit of a Nanita fan as I really like his swing. It has a quick action and he uses a short bat, but it looks cool. That swing would come in handy as the 34 y/o outfielder knocked one into right field to allow Ohshima to score, 1-0.
Tetsuya Tani would come in behind the Dominican and the infielder would take to the first pitch served at him as he knocked it into a gap in the right field to allow Viciedo to score, 2-0.
Akasaka would however not be able to continue the scoring as he grounded out to second to end the inning.
Jordan would continue his own assault on the Tigers batting lineup as he went through three batters very quickly to turn over the reigns to the Chunichi attack once more. The innings would start of similarly to the last with two quick outs to begin the inning. Katsura struck-out while Jordan lackadaisically tried to put his bat in the general zone as he struck-out as well. Ohshima came up to bat once more and it was the same result as his previous at-bat, as the outfielder nicked another single through left-field. Mitsumata, this time without the luxury of an out up the sleeve to move Ohshima around again, grabbed a single of his own to put runners on first and second. Nohmi, still unable to get that last out, then faced young Shuhei Takahashi. Another pinch moment player, Shuhei took advantage of the off-tempo Nohmi and thrust his bat to guide the ball to the centre field to help Ohshima on his way home, 3-0.
With runners in front of him, Dayan Viciedo walked in to the situation he is made for. The tank did not disappoint as he whalloped a high and straight one into left field bleachers to rest triumphantly among the deflated Tigers fans, 6-0.
Nanita would add to his collection of hits but Tani couldn't recreate his first inning magic as he flew out to Egoshi in right field.
With the game all but won in the first two innings, Jordan could afford to be a bit more relaxed in his approach but still put in a great shift to lock the Tigers out of the game.
Nohmi found himself knocked out of the game after two innings as the Tigers went through 5 pitchers to finish out the game. For Jordan's first win, he served up only a single strike, gave up two walks and two hits in his 7 innings. Daisuke Sobue and Katsuki Matayoshi would fill in the last 2 innings to close out a big 6-0 win.
Ohshima had a great game with the bat and apart from scoring twice, he picked up 3 hits and a walk from his 5 plate appearances. Viciedo did similarly well. Aside from his 3-run homerun, he also added 2 hits to his 4 plate appearances. The lack of strikeouts for Viciedo so far is very impressive as he has been making contact extremely frequently. While he seems to excel at hitting the higher balls, his ability to dig out the lower ones has been a joy to behold. Special mentions too for Nanita (2H 1RBI 1W) and Tetsuya Tani (2H 1RBI 1W) who both added to the selection headaches for Tanishige. Tani and Mitsumata played well in the central infield positions which had been previously occupied by Araki and Donoue. The team looks good defensively at least. A massive 14 hits as well marked a watershed moment for the batting line-up that has struggled to put together anything substantial recently.
A great big win to start the series, and Viciedo showed that he likes the Tigers pitching, a lot, with his 4th homer against Hanshin in as many games.
Highlights:
Full game links on the Dragons Ustream. Innings 1-5 and 6-9.
Game 19 was to be another night to remember for all the right reasons. Daisuke Yamai stepped out of the bullpen tonight to start as he was called up to replace the injured Yudai Ohno. Yuta Iwasada would start on the mound for the Tigers.
Only one team change for the game as Jordan Norberto was put to rest and was de-registered from the team. Junki Ito, who has been regularly starting in the 2-gun, was added to the roster for the games against the Tigers. One interesting caveat to the line-up this game was the placement of Nobumasa Fukuda in left-field. Tanishige, obviously unimpressed with Akasaka's performance, decided he wanted to add kick to the line-up and place someone who is normally a first or third baseman out in the great deep green of the outfield. Mitsumata and Tani would retain their positions after their good performances.
Yamai started things on the Saturday afternoon and looked uncharacteristically in control of things as he only gave up 3 walks in his scoreless first 4 innings. Conversely, the Dragons batting line up looked uncharacteristically dire as Iwasada kept the line-up to only one hit (to Nanita) in the opening 4 innings.
Nanita's first double in the 2nd
It was however at the top of the 5th that things would start to get interesting.
Umeno, the Tigers catcher, latched onto one to register the first Tigers hit and the second hit of the day. Iwasada was brought to the plate but failed to trouble anyone as he went out bunting. Umeno would steal his way to second base while Toritani was walked by Yamai to put runners on first and second base. Up stepped former Minnesota Twin, Tsuyoshi Nishioka to assess the situation. Nishioka hit a double to bring Umeno home, 1-0. Egoshi would follow and he continued the scoring as he hit a sacrifice fly to allow Toritani to score, 2-0. Mauro Gomez would end the scoring stanza with a single of his own to put Nishioka through home base, 3-0. It all changed very quickly as the Tigers took advantage of some average pitching with some good hitting to set a good platform moving forward.
A counter-attack was launched in the bottom of the 5th as Tani and Sugiyama both hit singles, but another disappointing at-bat from Akasaka, pinch-hitting for Yamai, ended any hopes to immediately pin back the Tigers.
Okada would take over from Yamai and pitch well to keep the scoreline at 3-0. The counter-attack from the Dragons would continue to struggle as only one hit, a double from Nanita, could be mustered until the bottom of the 8th.
Nanita's 2nd double of the night in the 7th
While Tajima continued Okada's good work of keeping the Tigers out at the top of the inning, it was now getting to crunch time. Many times have the Dragons faded out toward the end of the game, but it wouldn't be the case this time. As Iwasada was withdrawn for Fukuhara, the pressure seemed to lift as Sugiyama started the stanza with a single. Tajima was then withdrawn for Atsushi Fujii. The much maligned outfielder has been nothing short of awful this season. The strikeouts, the very little production, the everything. Fujii just hasn't been with it. It was then a surprise when the same man hit a triple to score Sugiyama and bring the scores to 1-3.
Fukuhara was then quickly exchange for former Dragon, Akifumi Takahashi as the Tigers went into damage control. It worked momentarily with the dismissal of Ohshima but it would be Morino, pinch-hitting for Mitsumata, The veteran would ground out to second, but it would be enough to allow Fujii to slink into home to make it 2-3. Shuhei would unfortunately strikeout to end the inning. The game now in the balance, Iwase was brought to the mound and after claiming two victims, Koji Fukutani took over for one batter who he also sent on his way with an outer course change-up.
Now, at the bottom of the 9th inning with 2 runs to get to claim the win, it would be Mateo charged with saving the game from the hungry looking Dragons. Viciedo would take the first at bat and continue his great run of contact with a double.
Nanita would take a walk to get runners onto first and third. Tomonaga came on as a pinch-runner for Nanita to end the Dominican's night. Tetsuya Tani would unfortunately blow a bunting opportunity to be declared out. Next, up stepped Donoue, who had been subbed in earlier in the previous fielding innings. The #63 was given order to take a stroll to load the bases with 1 out. Mateo was reportedly having trouble getting his slider to work properly and the closer now had his work cut out for him. It was now Sugiyama's turn to step up to the plate to see if he could force a win or at least a draw out of the game. The catcher caught a hold of one to send it over the centre-fielders head, Viciedo came to home plate, scoring and now beckoning Tomonaga to come in for the win and it was the pinch-runner who would seal the victory 4-3 thanks to a walk-off double from the always reliable Sugiyama. Scenes. Tanishige had the biggest grin on his face as his team pulled of a momentous victory in the closing moments of the game.
Fukutani would be credited with the win for his 1/3 of an inning (baseball is weird isn't it?) and Mateo was credited with the loss and probably rightly so.
One would struggle to say this was a "deserved" victory. I certainly felt we got away with it but it speaks volumes that the team was willing to dig deep and try and bail Yamai out. 3 runs is a very chaseable total and it was great to have the batting lineup respond. It helped that the pitching wasn't on point either. The unlikely hero was Atsuhi Fujii who has looked like he couldn't hit the broadside of a heifer with a banjo recently, but it was a telling contribution from the Toyohashi native to get the ball rolling on the comeback trail.
Sugiyama and Nanita had the pick of the statistics with 2 hits and a walk a piece.
You can watch the 9th inning here:
Game 20 would prove to be another nail-biter as the game would once again be decided in the 9th inning. Drew Naylor took the mound for the Dragons while it was Minoru Iwata for the Tigers looking to help his team avoid the sweep.
Anderson Hernandez made his return to the team following Jordan's de-registering as Akasaka dropped from the first team to spend some time with the seconds after his average performances so far in the series.
Naylor opened proceedings in the first inning showing good pace and allowing one hit and striking out one to end his inning.
The Dragons attack started early as while Ohshima failed to get off the mark, Donoue, restored to the starting line-up, cracked a double to start things off. Shuhei, coming in at now his trademark 3rd spot in the line-up joined in the fun and smashed a double of his own that reached the right field fence and maybe should have been caught by Egoshi. But nonetheless, the Dragons were on the board, 1-0.
Viciedo's ground out would allow Shuhei to get on third, but Nanita couldn't make it count as he struck-out to end the inning.
Lots of action early on! The parries and thrusts would continue until the top of the fourth inning as Egoshi picked off a single to start things off. Gomez grounded out but that allowed Egoshi to gain ground and move to second base. Now, here's where it gets interesting. With Hague now up to bat, Egoshi had the guile to make a play to steal third base. While Sugiyama picked up on the run, a poor throw that Takahashi couldn't deal with allowed Egoshi to safely get into third and with ball passing the 3rd baseman and floating into the crowd, the Hanshin man took order to walk off to the home plate to even up the scores at 1-1. Naylor had been watching his man, but 9 times out of 10 a catcher will pick off a steal at third. Credit to Egoshi for having the courage to give it a go and for succeeding.
The next scoring play would come in the 6th inning and it was to be the Dragons to take the lead for a second time. Takahashi and Viciedo both took singles to begin the innings and who else but Nanita was there to hit a double to send home the big Cuban to take a 2-1 lead. It would spell the end of the night for Iwata to bring Ando to the mound. Tani would mess up another bunt as a mishit from Fukuda ended up grounding into a double play to end the inning.
The Dragons would come close to extending their lead in the 7th inning as Daiki Enokida replaced Ando and immediately allowed Sugiyama a single. Tomonaga came in as a pinch-bunter for Naylor to allow Sugiyama to second. Ohshima then took a dead ball to walk onto first while Donoue topped one to send the ball into the catchers hand. Takahashi would however take a scenic walk down the dirt road to load up the bases but uncharacteristically, Viciedo failed to make the best of the situation as he foul fly ball was caught to end the inning. A very tense ending was to be upon us. Tajima took down Nishioka, Egoshi and Gomez while the Dragons batters once again tried to push through to no avail as the former Dragon, Akifumi Takahashi took Fujii and Sugiyama out of the game with consecutive strikeouts following a sacrifice bunt from Araki earlier on to end the inning.
At the top of the 9th, it was the Tigers last chance to get something out of the game. Either a leveler to take it into extra time or a winner to snatch an unlikely victory. Koji Fukutani would once again take up closing duties. Things started well for the pitcher as he ground out Hague to start things. Toritani would hit a single before Yokota forced his captain into a ground out at second while moving to first base. This brought out Imanari to pinch-hit for Takahashi. Imanari hit into right field giving time for the speedy Yokota to get to third. Kanemoto, the Hanshin skipper then decided to go for broke as he brought in Kosuke Fukudome, who had been under an injury cloud, to pinch-hit for his last catcher, Okazaki. Whether it was the stature of the former Dragons star, the heat of the moment or just general nerves, Fukutani was sweating buckets for what was a mild, early Spring evening. The young closer stepped up, threw down his pitch and there was a sound of wood on ball as Fukudome somewhat miraculously split first and second to register a hit and even up the scores at 2-2.
Naylor was now denied a win in any case and Fukutani had blown his save. Amazingly, Fukutani was one of 4 pitchers on the day in the NPB to blow their saves. A poor day for closers!
The inning would end with a ground out on Takayama. Now without a recognized catcher, the Tigers threw the gear on Imanari to see out what was left of the game.
Takamiya took over from Takahashi in the bottom of the 9th and he was able to rip through Hernandez, Ohshima and Donoue to ensure that we would need extra innings to decide the game.
Matayoshi would have the honours to take the 10th inning and the man who looks a lot like Lupin III, dismissed Nishioka and Egoshi, gave a hit to Gomez and took credit for the centre-fly out of Matt Hague.
Takahashi would be at the head the bottom of the 10th inning and the prodigal son would keep doing what he does best, finding a way to base, as he elected to walk to first. Takamiya was then withdrawn to allow Fukuhara to try and restore parity. Viciedo would be the man to take guard. At a count of 3 balls and 1 strike the eyes of the Cuban glistened like sunlight reflecting off a cube of ice in a glass of Havana Club Reserva, it was coming. Here it was. a 140km straight ball on outer path. A big, hearty swing from the Tank and a longful gaze after the ball as it sailed into the right outfield bleachers to end the game with a walk-off homerun. 4-2. Who says baseball isn't exciting? A point to the dugout and a bit ol' smile on Dayan's face capped off another brilliant end to a game that honestly looked like it was getting away from us.
Tanishige apparently wasn't all that optimistic going into the final innings. He commented that "Whatever (Viciedo) did, he was going to be forgiven. It wasn't thought he'd get the excitement up, but he done did it."
Highlights:
A 3-game sweep of the Tigers would be a just reward for the fighting spirit of the team. They took advantage of poor pitching when it was presented and they backed up those that didn't perform. Ricardo Nanita has to be close to the player of the series as no one could stop his hitting. He has looked much improved this year and is certainly a valuable player with his present form.
In other news, due to the earthquakes in Kumamoto and Oita prefecture, the regional games scheduled against the Giants in Kumamoto and Kagoshima have been cancelled. All NPB teams have been collecting donations for the disaster stricken region and my heart goes out to them as well. The team has already decided on helping things with a 2 million yen donation ($20,000ish).
As of Monday, Junki Ito has been de-registered by the team which makes one wonder why he was registered at all as he failed to play any part in the two games he was available for.
It has also been announced that June 18th will be "Girls Day" at the Nagoya dome and all the ladies will receive a snazzy jersey for turning up.
There's also something else that I picked up on twitter that I thought that I would translate and share. It's the Dragons injury list. It's quite a long one when compared to the other teams and it is worrying in particular the amount of pitchers we have missing.
Chunichi Dragons Injury List
Number
Position
Name
Injury/Illness
6
OF
Ryosuke Hirata
Left groin/pelvic pain
18
P
Shota Suzuki
Side pain
20
P
Ryosuke Nomura
Right shoulder pain
22
P
Yudai Ohno
Left elbow discomfort
23
IF
Issei Endo
Right shoulder inflammation
26
OF
Mastaka Iryo
Body pain (unspecified)
36
IF
Ryota Ishioka
Slipped disc hernia
41
P
Takuya Asao
Right shoulder inflammation
42
P
Juan Jaime
Right shoulder pain
44
P
Raul Valdes
Left shoulder pain
51
P
Masashi Yamamoto
Back pain
58
P
Tomoya Yagi
Left elbow pain
68
C
Ryuichiro Akasaka
Fractured right thumb
203
P
Seiya Nakagawa
Right calf pain
210
P
Kaito Goya
Left shoulder pain
I can say however that Ryuichiro Akasaka appears to be on the mend as he appeared as a pinch-hitter against the Hawks in Tuesday's farm game, as did Ryosuke Hirata. Still, the amount of pitchers out injured is a worry with Endo and Asao in particular leaving holes. Jaime was very unlucky to get injured in his Spring training and is still recovering. He was brought in as a closer to cover for Fukutani, but with Iwase now back in action it looks unlikely that he'll be needed. Still a pitcher that can supposedly hit over 160km/h might be worth looking at if he can get back on his feet.
That's it for a big day of news and big 3 wins for the Dragons!
Weeeee're back on the farm after a very short intermission as I'm trying my best to catch up on some reports. We are in for a 3 gamer in today's report as for whatever reason no game was called off this time around. The Dragons took on the Hanshin Tigers in the second farm series clash of the Western League season. It would be an unfortunate overall loss to the Dragons, but there were lots of runs in an exciting three games against our geographically closest rivals. The first game saw 2-gun regular starter, Yudai Kawai take the mound once again while Masaru Iwasaki took up duties for the Tigers. There would be a number of first-team hopefuls in the side as Okada took up the ball again today while Kamezawa, Hernandez and Akasaka played roles in the field and with the bat.
Pitching
I better shape up, coz we
need a....relief pitcher...
It would be the ubiquitous, Yudai to start things off and he would keep things tidy until his last inning where he allowed the Tigers back in the game with Naomasa Yokawa and others striking back to make the score 4-3 in the 6th. Yudai would finish with 6 strikeouts giving up 6 hits and a walk. Achira would clean up the 6th inning as he run through 3 batters for no loss. Toshiya Okada would unfortunately give up 2 runs, including a homer, against the 4 batters he faced, taking one strikeout in the process. Takeshi Kaneko restored some respectability as he remained scoreless after 1 1/3 innings giving up a walk and a hit but taking a strikeout. Mitsuma would take up closing duties and let go of another run. He would end his one inning with a strike, a walk and a hit to his name.
Not the greatest of work from the pitching staff.
Homerun to the Tokyo
suburb, Akasaka
Batting
Batting started off well in the first inning. Hernandez would send Kamezawa to make it 1-0 with 2 outs before Akasaka, fielding at first-base today, sent one over the fence to bring himself and Hernandez home to make it 3-0 in the first. A further RBI would be added by the man of the moment, Kondo to make it 4-0 in the 5th. Kondo would grab two hits today and strikeout twice in his 4 at-bats. Other notable performances go to Ishikawa who milked two walks as well as Kamezawa and Hernandez who both claimed two hits a piece.
Not a great day at the office for the bullpen, but these are the lessons that must be be learned at this level. A 4-6 loss at home is never a good look.
Game 2 of the series would be even less close as the Tigers made a blowout in the 5th against Iwata to pile on the runs and claim a 3-7 win.
Among the starting members today were some familiar faces with Muto returning to the second squad while Akasaka, Yusuke Matsui, Hernandez and Takeyama would make some contributions with the bat. New draftees, Takuya Kinoshita and Toshiki Abe would start while Yuu Satoh would relieve. Starting on the mound again was the ever erratic Shinji Iwata while Kouki Moriya took the mound for the Tigers.
Pitching
Iwata continues to struggle.
Iwata did well until the 6th inning but the remaining stats are what matters. The experienced starter conceded 5 in 4 1/3 innings giving up 6 hits and 3 walks while taking 6 strikes. Mitsuma finished off the 6th inning, gave up a hit and a walk but remained scoreless. Yuu Satoh took 2 strikeouts in his two scoreless innings against 6 batters. Unfortunately, Mutoh would give up a further two runs in his disappointing relief inning. Nishikawa took the tail inning and was able to remain scoreless as he took down his 3 batters with 9 balls.
Iwata might be lucky to keep his contract by the end of this year if he shows no further improvement.
Batting
Hernandez would be the pick of the batters as he picked off two RBIs in two hits. Two strikeouts however tarnished that good record. Mizowaki would be the only other to register an RBI today for the Dragons as he helped the team to a 1-0 lead in the 3rd. Mizowaki would also make another hit as well as striking out to end his day. Watanabe, playing in left-field, would also hit two, striking out once. Akasaka could make no notable contribution today while Matsui and Takeyama both struck-out as pinch hitters. Furumoto would be the only other to register some meaningful statistics as he got a hit and a walk as DH today.
2 losses in a row and both have been mostly due to blow-outs by the starting pitchers. All in all though, this is the development team. The main worry however is that the experienced ones are the one's stuffing it up.
The last game of the series taking place on Sunday, would be a refreshing but nail-biting win. Shinnosuke Ogasawara would continue in the starting rotation for the second team but once again find himself a bit lacking. Kamezawa, Hernandez and Takeyama would start in the field while Yusuke Matsui found himself at the DH.
Kohyo Aoyanagi would start on the mound for the Tigers.
Adapting to big ball takes time.
Pitching
Ogasawara opened things up and his starting jitters would continue as he gave up 3 in his second inning. Control seems to still be an issue as the youngster game up 4 walks and 4 hits to accompany his 4 strikes in 5 0/3 innings. Kaneko would not slow down the scoring either as he gave up a hit and a run to go with his single strikeout in 1 1/3 innings. Okada would restore some essence of sanity by keeping things scoreless against 5 batter in 1 inning. Muto would take home winning honours despite pitching only 2/3 of an inning, giving up a hit and a walk. Daisuke Sobue would grab another save for his collection, once again running through 3 batters in quick succession taking two strikeouts.
A much better showing...or at least a luckier one but the slow progress of Ogasawara is a minor worry. Easy to forget he is only 18 though.
A man that needs No-motto.
Batting
Kamezawa would be one of the scorers today after he walked twice. Hernandez grabbed two RBIs and walked once while Matsui grabbed a hit and walk for his troubles. Furumoto was the pick of the bunch as he hit twice and walked twice to do very little wrong. An unlikely hero would however emerge as Kei Nomoto came in as a pinch-hitter to claim a game winning double. Takeyama unfortunately would only trouble the scorers with a strikeout.
Young Watanabe would also show good form today as he picked up an RBI, took a walk, stole a base and struck out once.
A good performance from the batters saw this one out, but it did take some 8th inning heroics from Nomoto to make it possible.
A very mixed bag of results for the 2-gun team this round, with no huge standouts. Hernandez did his reputation no harm, but with Jordan and Naylor in the starting rotation and Ricardo Nanita in decent form, it's currently unlikely we'll see a return for the Dominican for a little while. My guess would be a drop in form from Nanita and disappointment with Donoue might bring the stocky infielder back into the fold.
In other roster news, Shota Tomonaga has been spending time with the first team, while Kazuki Yoshimi will be taking time off to recover after being de-reg'd despite starting against the Giants on Saturday. Akasaka as well is currently with the first team side after his home-run performance.
