Regular Season: Dragons vs Giants @Nagoya, May 20th – 22nd; Donoue on a winner, Ohshima going to town

After a disappointing romp in Osaka, the Dragons came back to Nagoya for another round of the “Mr Baseball Classic” against the Yomiuri Giants. The Dragons have the better of the record so far in the 6 battles having taken 4 wins a draw and a loss, including a sweep of Giants at the Tokyo Dome.

 Raul Valdes would come up against Giants ace, Tomoyuki Sugano for the start of the series on Friday and both pitchers would keep things awfully quiet. Valdes had a scare in the 5th inning as he loaded up the bases with no outs. The veteran would however keep his nerve as he dismissed Kobayashi, Sugano and Chono in succession. The Cuban would then pitch out a full, scoreless 9-innings, but unluckily for the Dragons, so would Sugano and Mathieson. With the tie locked at 0-0 extra innings were to be relied on to dig out a result and in the 11th inning it would be the Giants to break through as with runners on 2nd and 3rd, Fukutani threw a wild pitch to see the first run of the game. A terrible way to concede. Ohta would then add another to the inning before the chance to counter was given to the Dragons. Sawamura however kept his nerve and made the save to end the game at 0-2 to the Giants.

 This loss made it 3 in a row for the Dragons, and three very close games at that. Araki was the man with the bat today as he hit 3 and Ricardo Nanita contributed with 2. Valdes fanned 11 batters, walking 2 and conceding 8 hits in a remarkable 9 innings where he was very unlucky to not get the win. Scott Mathieson would end the game as winning pitcher, while the loss was handed to Fukutani; his first of the season.

 Game 8 against the Giants this season would prove to be much better reading for Dragons fans. Jordan Norberto, who debuted as a starter the last time the Giants came to Nagoya, would start while Nobutaka Imamura, winless in two against the Dragons, approached the mound for the Yomiuri faithful.

Naomichi Donoue would be the man to get things started as he hit a solo homer into the left stands to get the Dragons underway.

 The Giants replied in kind however through Ohta who hit his second homerun at the Nagoya Dome this season to even things up.

 Luis Cruz then threatened to take the game away as his solo homer into the right stands took the lead for the Giants in the top of the 7th.

 However in the bottom of the same inning, Kei Nomoto would once again make a telling contribution as his sac-fly allowed Hirata to get home to make things 2-2. With bases loaded, Tani took to the task and his single gave the Dragons the lead for the second time of the day. Yamaguchi was now brought in for the Giants, but it was to be too late as a rhythm was found with the bat. Ohshima and Viciedo helped stretch the winning scoreline to 5-2. Fuku now replaced Jordan at the mound and it would be to the advantage of the Giants Shinnosuke Shegenobu hit a single RBI off the youngster. His withdrawal for Fukutani wouldn’t stop Hayato Sakamoto hitting another RBI to move them within a point of equalizing. In the bottom of the 8th though, Atsushi Fujii would help to crush Tokyo hopes as his RBI opened the gap to two again at 6-4. The indomitable Shinji Tajima was tossed the rock to close out the game, and the record holder did his job superbly, keeping the Giants out of the hunt and ending the game with a 6-4 win.

Jordan got his 3rd win of the season as Araki rocketed away with another 3 hits to his name. The Kumamoto native must be looking to get those 2000 career hits this year! The second of the infield pairing, Donoue also made a telling contribution with his homer and a hit.

Taking a moment to talk about Kei Nomoto however, the 31 year old has been in great form as a pinch-hitter as is currently averaging .364. Not bad. Certainly doing what Fukuda and Morino couldn’t do earlier in the season.

Sunday night’s clash would be another good one for the Dragons (and one I had the opportunity to laud over one of my co-workers) as Kazuki Yoshimi went looking for his first win.(I believe I made a mistake in a previous report regarding this, my apologies) while Takagi went in search of his 4th.

 Luis Cruz would be the one to take the leadership role as he steered Chono home to open the scores in the 3rd. It would take until the bottom of the 4th for the Dragons to have their revenge as Ohshima slapped his second homer of the season into the right stand

. Donoue would also help add to the score and get the Dragons in front with his single that allowed Nanita to score. Nanita would then turn provider in the 6th as a poor throw from Garrett Jones allowed Ohshima to score. The mayhem would continue, with Donoue being the root of it, as he hit two home with bases loaded to blow the score out to 5-1.

 That would prove to be enough for the Dragons to get their win as Hiroto Fuku closed out the game to secure Chunichi’s 6th win against the Giants this season. If only we could play them every week! Yoshimi claimed his first win of the season (apologies for claiming this in an earlier game, I was wrong) while Donoue’s 3 RBIs solidified his growing status among Dragons fans as the man for the short-stop role and lower-order hitter.

 Two great wins strung together to overcome the 3 straight (but close) losses. A great compliment to the team and well, it’s always good to beat the Giants in any case. I worl in Tokyo and it’s always nice to be able to gloat a little in the office.

Regular Season: Dragons vs Giants @Tokyo Dome, May 5th-8th; Viciedo: destroyer of worlds, Naomichi to the rescue

A week behind at the moment, farm stuff is on hold indefinitely while I catch up. 

The Dragons took on Yomiuri Giants, in what I am now choosing to dub the “Mr Baseball Classic,” for three whopper games at the Tokyo Dome. Somewhat mixed feeling for Dragons fans as the Giants have the potential to punish, the Dragons line-up hasn’t been firing and our away form hasn’t been too hot. I certainly wasn’t expecting much out of the series but who knows. It’s baseball and in the current state of the Central League, there’s really no such thing as an upset as all the teams are pretty inconsistent and no one team is showing any particular dominance so far this season.

Game 34 of the season would see Shunta Wakamatsu up against the young Jun Hasegawa for the first face off at the Tokyo dome this season between the two teams.

Takeshi Kaneko would come in for the injured Ryosuke Oguma for the only team change.

The opening blow would come off the bat of Soichiro Tateoka in the third as he drove home Seiji Kobayashi two make it 1-0 to the Giants. Hasegawa’s first outing of the season looked to be progressing until the Dragons made their comeback in 5^th inning as a Hirata sac-fly allowed Ohshima to come home to score, 1-1. Ricardo Nanita would push the Dragons into a winning position with a hit into the right sending Masahiro Araki into score, 1-2. With that Makoto Tahara was brought in to relieve for Hasegawa and his first contribution to the game was an awful baulk to third which allowed Viciedo to trot home to open the deficit to 1-3. Truly absent minded. Hernandez would make things worse for Tahara as he hit for two bases sending Nanita home to make it 1-4.  Sakamoto would do his best to bring things back with his solo homer in the 6th.

However another Hirata hit would put Araki into score to keep the difference at three, 2-5. Hernandez would continue his run of RBIs to send his captain and Viciedo into score making it 2-7 on the night. A big win!

Hernandez hit 3 RBIs today to certainly stake his claim over the likes of Masahiko Morino and Tetsuya Tani for the spot at third-base. The only thing that will count against him is the foreign player limit of four on the roster. Araki absolutely raked as he hit four in five at-bats. Stunning from the veteran chasing his 2000^th career hit. Hirata was the man of the moment though as he came through at important intervals to claim two RBIs with Ricardo Nanita claiming the final scoring hit.

Game 35 would see a return to the mound for Drew Naylor while Imamura, the pitcher responsible for the Giants loss against the Dragons in Nagoya earlier this season, would be Naylor’s rival on the night.

The night would start off on a sour note for Chunichi as, after one strikeout,  Naylor was withdrawn from the mound after suffering from some elbow soreness. Not great for the starting rotation when you include Oguma’s injury against the Tigers. Hiroto Fuku was brought on for long-relief duties  and had one scary moment against Sakamoto, as Fuku’s pitch was sent clanging into the fence and luckily not over it. Fuku however stayed calm and fanned Garett Jones to end the inning.

Scoring started for the Dragons at the top of the second as Viciedo opened his shoulders inhis first plate appearance of the night and swiftly sent Imamura’s pitch over the fence for a solo homer and the first run of the game, 0-1. 

The party would continue for the Dragons attack as Katsura’s hit loaded the bases allowing the unlikely hero, Fuku, to bat home his first pro-RBI, 0-2. Imamura’s wayward pitching continued against Ohshima as a walk bumped in another run before  Hirata hit home two to make it 0-5. With the batting line-up now coming full circle, Viciedo stepped up, addressed the situation, and with runners on 1^st and 3^rd, dispatched another pitch over the fence to claim a 3-run homer! 

His second, in the same inning, in a consecutive at-bat! Crazy scenes!  Hayato Sakamoto would claim one back through a solo homer in the 4^th.

That would be all she wrote as the Dragons ran out 1-8 winners.

Viciedo was the man on the night to make a massive difference. 4 RBIs, two homeruns in 4 plate appearances. El Tank has been rolling along very nicely. Big wraps too for young Fuku who ran out as winning pitcher as well as achieving  his first RBI in pro-ball. Another big win against the Giants, as good as it gets really. The injury to Naylor isn’t the best, but neither have his performances been in honesty.  It will be interesting to see who fills the 6’5” peg in the starting rotation.

Game 36 would see the return of former Bluejay, Raul Valdes to the starter’s mound for his first appearance of the season. I must admit I was thinking the 38 year old would be lucky to make any type of appearance this year. Injuries have helped. Hayato Takagi would start for the Giants to try and claim his 3^rd win of the season.

Yuu Satoh and Valdes were the only two addition to the squad while Drew Naylor's injury saw him de-registered from the roster for the time being.

The Dragons would be the ones to start the party as Naomichi Donoue launched one into the right stand to grab a solo homer. 

Araki would take advantage of Valdes’ surprise good contact and send the Cuban pitcher home to score in the 5^th. Hirata would then oblige Ohshima as his sac-fly allowed the number 8 speedster to score and make it 0-3. Donoue would however be in the midst of things again in the 6^th as he sent Nanita and Hernandez home with timely single to make it 0-5. Kataoka hit back in the bottom of the inning with a 2-run homer into the left stand.

It would be Donoue again, with the bases loaded, hitting a high Mathieson pitch into the outfield  to send 3 home and make it 2-8. Hirata would continue the damage in the 8^th inning with a 3-run homer off Yamaguchi to firmly rub the salt into the wounds of the Giants to make it 2-11

. 

The Giants would take a liking to Takeshi Kaneko in the 9^th though as Kamei hit a 2-run homerun to make it 4-11.

The last laugh would be had by Kaneko however who closed out the game with no further loss.

You can take nothing away from Naomichi Donoue today as his performance with the bat was nothing short of outstanding. He claimed a personal best of 6 RBIs on the night while his captain, Ryosuke Hirata picked up 4.  A season high of 17 hits marked a stark contrast to the batting line-up that failed to show up against Carp and the Tigers.  Valdes also marked his return with a well-earned win where his unique throwing style picked up 7 strikeouts giving up 2 earned runs.

Three great wins for the Dragons and the first sweep of the Giants at the Tokyo Dome since 2006 when the Dragons won the Central League with a team studded with the likes of Tyrone Woods, Masahiko Morino and a certain Masahiro Araki (who is now 86 hits away from the magic 2000).  Not much of an omen really with the up and down form of this team, but certainly a refreshing change in the breeze to send a buoyant Dragons into the day break with 3 big wins under their belt. The win would send the Dragons top of the league, but as Tanishige mentioned “there’s still about 100 games left…”

Regular Season: Dragons vs Giants @Nagoya Dome, April 8th-10th; Ohno's creation, Tie frustration, What in tarnation?

Alrighty, we're a little bit behind schedule but here's the what went down on the weekend between the Dragons and the Giants. The Giants have been in good nick this season proving that their batting has more depth to it than last year and that the pitching staff are just as good as they've always been.

Those of you familiar with the 1980s Tom Selleck goes to Japan experience, Mr Baseball might think that the Giants are the Dragons biggest rivals, and while you'd be technically correct, the really, really correct answer is everyone hates the Giants and the Tigers share a more intense hatred than anyone else. It's hard to nail down a "rival" for the Dragons, but geographically, it probably is more likely to be Hanshin with Osaka being closer. The Giants of course have been possible larger rivals due to the tag and tow between to two in vying for the Central League over the past decade or so.

Whatever the case may be, we were in for a cracker of a game with both teams having a fair share of wins heading into the match up.

The biggest news in the lead-up to this one would probably be the continued absence of Ryosuke Hirata who has been sidelined with injury as well as the return of pitching duo Kazuki Yoshimi and Hitoki Iwase from their respective long-term injuries. Iwase in particular would be making his comeback after nearly 2 years out of the game.

Game number 13 of the season was a return to the opening day starters as Yudai Ohno and Kyosuke Takagi took to the mound to start things. There would be good energy from the first inning from Ohno as he ran through the top order in succession nabbing Chono through a ground out and striking out Tateoka and Sakamoto. Takagi would follow suit, but would give up a base to Araki before seeing off Takahashi and Viciedo.

The second inning would bring much more excitement for both teams as the first scoring plays of the game took shape. Ohno would grab Garrett's scalp before allowing Cruz a base. This brought to the plate the 26 year old, Taishi Ohta who quite frankly, bullied Ohno, sending the lefty pitcher over the fence to register the first two runs of the game, 0-2.

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Ohno would give up one more hit to Murata but nabbed Kobayashi and Takagi to finish the inning.

The strike back from Chunichi would be swift as in the bottom of the second the Nagoya team hit back. Ohta would catch Nanita's foul ball before Fujii and Donoue managed to find themselves on 3rd and 1st base respectively. Katsura would fall victim to Takagi's change-ups as he struck out. Ohno would be the man to take guard and it would the pitcher that would help draw first blood as his timely hit into left-field sent Fujii home and moved Donoue onto second, 1-2.

 The scoring wouldn't stop there however as Ohshima joined the party with a line-drive to even up the scores at 2-2.

Araki could not help turn the score into a leading one as he flew out to center to end the inning.

Scoring would pick up again in the 4th. Fujii hit a double to lead off the inning while Donoue helped Fujii to third with a sacrifice bunt. Katsura would take up the bat for the next plate appearance and the young catcher would once again make a telling contribution with his bat as he ground out, but allowed Fujii to score to make it 3-2.

The game would close out without much incident as Ohno claimed man of the match honours for his RBI and winning pitching. Lots of credit too has to go to Naomichi Donoue who's fielding has been beyond reproach since replacing Issei Endo.

Game 14 would be, well at least for me, an exciting 0-0 (maybe that's the soccer fan in me) where the game took its tips and turns but unfortunately didn't pan out in the way either team had really hoped. Kazuki Yoshimi made his long awaited return to the mound as he started and finished 7 scoreless innings while a return was also made by Hitoki Iwase after his almost 2 years out of the first team.

The game was a very cagey one with both teams not doing their best with the pitches given to them and not converting when it was important. Mr Gibson of the J-Ball podcast pointed out to me that, while I was caught up with the excitement, both teams had a habit of swinging at bad pitches. He was probably right.

Young Kazuto Yaguchi kept up the pace with the veteran Yoshimi but it was the Giants pitcher who walked away with slightly better stats as he only allowed 2 hits and struck out 7 batters in his seven innings. Yoshimi however would have to settle for 5 conceded hits and 6 strikouts in his seven.

The most tense moment of the game was to come in the 7th inning when Yoshimi was replaced by Shinji Tajima. Usually one of the Dragons best relievers, Tajima did the unthinkable and loaded up the bases with walks following Kamei's short-fly out. Chono, Tateoka and Sakamoto walked to base and Tanishige was quick to yoink Tajima off the mound. He was to be replaced by the returning Iwase who was to come up against American slugger, Garrett Jones. Some tense moment followed as the veteran closer sized up his target, but it would be Iwase who would come out the savior as Jones hit into a double play to end the inning. Big sighs of relief from the crowd combined with a rambunctious roar for the triumphant return of the legendary pitcher.



Unfortunately there would be little else to write home about  as the game entered extra time only for nothing to come of it. 13 combined hits in total from both teams; not great. Iwase and Yoshimi's return however made for happy watching for Dragons fans looking forward.
Yoshimi has since been de-registered from the first team as he continues his reconditioning to get back to peak fitness.
Another milestone would be reached this game as Masahiro Araki made his 2000th game appearance. Araki is also only 99 away from 2000 hits. Let's hope he can do it this season




Game 15, the last of the series would be an unfortunate loss due to some very poor relieving innings. The game had far more to it than the previous one, but still a lot of negatives for the Dragons who just didn't do well enough against an inconsistent but dangerous Giants team.

Drew Naylor would start things for the Dragons while Nobutaka Imamura was on the mound for the Giants.

Naylor would start things off well, striking out Chono and ripping through the first two hitters to finish the first inning. The Chunichi reply was threatening as Araki made his way to first an then second as Shuhei ground out at first. Viciedo would then take a walk, but the problematic #5 spot in the line-up continued to be so as Akasaka struck out to end the first inning.

Some nervous moments would come for the Aussie in the second as he allowed a double to Garrett Jones but removed Cruz. Naylor would then give up a walk to Kita and Murata to load the bases for the first real tense moment of the game. Naylor would however fight back courageously to strikeout Kobayashi and Imamura to end the inning.

Obviously fired up, the Dragons went out to make it count in the bottom of the 2nd. Fujii continued his poor form as he flied out but Donoue would continue his good form with a single. Katsura continued his streak with the bat as he moved Donoue to third before Naylor fell victim to Imamura. Ohshima with his second at bat of the day would be the hero as he sent Donoue in to score with a timely hit into the left field, 1-0.

Katsura would unfortunately be gunned down at the home plate, perhaps reaching too far,  after a hit from Araki fell to right field.

The pitchers would trade notes for the next 3 innings or so showing good poise and purpose but it would be Imamura's turn to dig himself out of trouble in the 5th. After dismissing Araki, Imamura gave up a hit to Takahashi and a stroll to Viciedo. Akasaka's hit to the third-base allowed Takahashi to move to 3rd but sacrificed Viciedo at second to put runners on 1st and 3rd. Fujii would be the next to elect for a walk as Imamura loaded the bases. The sign was sent to the Giants bench and the starter was swapped out for Tsuchida who easily struck out Donoue to end the inning and escape a very pinch moment, scores still at 1-0.

The top of the 6th would see the equalizer from the Giants as a hit from Chono followed by a sacrificial bunt from Tateoka moved the former onto second. Sakamoto would strike out, but the American, Jones would make it all count by hitting a double to even up the scores at 1-1. Cruz would add himself to the bases but Naylor would once again strike out Kita to end the inning.

The score wouldn't remain the same for long however as Katsura made contact once again this series to move to first. Naylor would attempt a bunt but would ultimately fail to bring Ohshima to the plate. The multi golden glove winner hit a double into right field to put himself on second with Naylor on third. Recent record maker, Masahiro Araki would be the man in the spotlight as he converted his pitcher and centre-fielder's hard work by hitting a single down the ground to allow Naylor to score, 2-1.

Obviously foreseeing something bad on the horizon (pehaps a bad moon?) Giants manager, Yoshinobu Takahashi changed out his reliever to bring in Tone. Shuhei would fly out but allow runners to move to second and third. Two outs now gone brought Viciedo to the plate but he was walked to load the bases once again. The problematic #5 spot in the line-up reared it's ugly head again as Kudo, who had come in as a pinch runner for Akasaka, was replaced by Masahiko Morino who was making his first appearance of the season. The veteran has been turning it on for the 2-gun team, but unfortunately it wasn't to transfer to the biggest stage as he struck out to end the inning.

Naylor got mad with
himself.

Entering the 7th, things were going to get bad for the Dragons as after nabbing Murata, Naylor then gave up hit to Kobayashi and Friday night homer-hero, Ohta. Tanishige decided he'd had enough of the Aussie and the ball was given to Matayoshi to close out. A low slider would ground out Ohta as he was short of his ground at second base, but Tateoka would make the best of the situation as he hit one into the right-field to even up the scores at 2-2. Things would go from bad to worse for Matayoshi as he now gave up a double to Sakamoto to stretch the lead to 2-4. Unsurprisingly the right handed reliever was told to sit on the pine as Ryuya Ogawa came on to try and salvage the game. Ogawa would give up a hit to Jones to join Yoshikawa on base (Yoshikawa had come on to pinch-run for Sakamoto). Cruz would add to the condemnation of the bullpen as he doubled to send both runners home, 2-6. Hiroto Fuku, the rookie, would then face up against Daisuke Nakai who was pinch-hitting for Tone and would give up a hit to allow Cruz to canter home, 2-7.

There was a little bit of magic in the 8th as Donoue helped Chono on his way with this lovely piece of work.

One destructive innings however would be all she wrote for Dragons fans as the team failed to get itself back into the game. Only two more hits would come for the Dragons in the 8th and 9th inning but that would accompany two double-plays as well to end a pretty shocking game. It was all won and lost in the 7th and the Dragons have only themselves to blame for not getting more out of this one.

Matayoshi was apologetic in the aftermath explaining that "I didn't put it where the catcher had set it up."Tanishige however was in a much more philosophical mood as he put down the loss to "We came out to fight and we went down fighting." He was however quick to highlight the positives of the pitching as he mentioned how solidified the starting rotation is now compared to the start of the season. With Yoshimi, Oguma and Jordan all coming in and doing well, things do look positive. He did however say he would give some thought over the problematic number 5 spot in the line-up as Nanita, Akasaka and others have failed to impress in that spot so far to give Viciedo the support he needs.


In other new, Drew Naylor has since had a pow-wow with his "Japanese Dad," pitching coach Shigekazu Mori and translator, Luis Francis. The three apparently had a two hour chat about possible new approaches for Naylor in coming games.

Next games are against Hiroshima with one out in the countryside of Kure. Wakamatsu, Jordan and Oguma should be set to record some wins against a team I certainly consider we are equal to.