Another series against the Baystars would take place out in
the countryside catchments of Hamamatsu in Shizuoka and Toyohashi in eastern Aichi.
Toyohashi Ballpark
Hamamatsu Ballpark
In the first matchup in Hamamatsu, Yu Sato, who got his
first win over the ‘Star in the Dragons last visit to Yokohama would be looking
to repeat some magic over the experienced Moscoso.
The game would also mark the first call-up for draftee #1 Shinnosuke Ogasawara who has spent most of the season so far starting in the 2-gun.
Kuramoto would be the
first to break the silence in the 2nd inning while Yamashita batted
in a second RBI soon after. Lopes struck a single in the 5th to send
one home while the Dragons mustered a reply in the bottom of the same through a
Tani sac-fly that allowed Issei Endo to come home to score. Viciedo then got on
top of a Moscoso pitch to send Araki in to make it 2-3. Now one away from
equalizing, Hirata’s double moved the Dragons score past the ‘stars to take the
lead at 4-3. Yokohama would however stay toe to toe with the Dragons though as
they evened things up in the 5th through a Kuramoto single. Now
searching for the decisive winner it would be, who else but Kei Nomoto who
popped up with another RBI as a pinch-hitter to give the Dragons a lead in the
bottom of the 6th. Yokohama’s Lopes however was having none of it
and restored parity in the 7th with a solo homer, 5-6.
The game’s winning run would come in somewhat cruel
circumstances however as a Viciedo fumble from a Kuwahara hit allowed Shirasaki
to run in to score and but DeNA in front. The Baystars relievers successfully
then put the breaks on the Dragons line-up as they snuffled 6 outs in a row in
the final two innings.
Another close loss where the relievers were tested. Ogawa
kept things honest after Sato was relieved in the 3rd, but Fuku let
one go while Matayoshi arguably threw away the tie with his 2 conceded runs. The reliever was relegated to the 2nd team after the game to think about what he has done and work on getting back to form. Suda was awarded the win for the Baystars on the night while Gifu-born Tomoya
Mikami grabbed a hold with Yamasaki claiming his 11th save of the
season.
Toyohashi would be the next venue on the road tour.
Toyohashi isn’t in itself awfully well known, but one of its favourite sons, a
certain Atsushi Fujii, always turns it on when the team visits. Fujii played a
decisive role in the last two games played in his home town and particularly shined in the 2014 fixture with a walk-off homerun. Would he be able
to do it again? Well, he’d have to do it from the bench with Nanita, Ohshima
and Hirata the preferred outfield three.
Takuya Kinoshita would make his debut on the starting roster as the 2015 draft pick got to see what it was like in the big leagues.
Wakamatsu and Ishida would be the starters. Wakamatsu has
been the Dragons most successful pitcher this season, but with batters now
seemingly more comfortable with the pitcher’s change-up(from what I can see,
most batters tend to be waiting for it) he hasn’t had the best run of late.
The catcher Tobashira would be the first to strike as he
scored Kuramoto in the top of the 2nd. Kajitani, carrying Yokohama
to victory after victory since his return, hit a solo homer into the stands in the
3rd to make it 0-2.
Ishikawa’s double in the 4th would then push the
scores to 0-3 as the Dragons struggled to make an impact on the game. A reply
would come in the 7th, but not off a Dragons bat, as a wild pitch
from Ishida allowed Tetsuya Tani to score and make things a more respectable
1-3.
Fujii would make his appearance in the 8th, but there would be no hometown magic today as the veteran struck out to end the inning and most hope of a comeback.
Ishida was outstanding
The final nail in the coffin would come in the 9th with Koji
Fukutani pitching as Kuwahara launched a solo homer into the stands to make it
1-4 on the night. With the game all but over and done with, Yamasaki was called
on and rightfully put the Dragons out of their misery.
Nothing to write home about but certainly the words “there’s
no place like home” have a nice ring to them. Only 5 hits were mustered today,
barely acceptable, but credit needs to go to the Baystars for pitching well.
Wakamatsu took his 3rd consecutive loss totalling 3 losses in all
for the season. Something’s not working and I have a feeling he’s going to have
to work on another breaking ball if we’re going to see something change. There
were rumours he was working on a sinker in off-season but as far as I know we
haven’t seen it yet.
Not a great couple of games, but we’re still early in the
season. It was just a pity we couldn’t give those fans that can’t come out to
watch baseball all that often something happy to go home with. At least they got to see Doara flip successfully twice in a row.
NB: Apologies for having no gifs of the Kuwahara and Kajitani homeruns. I can't find any footage I can lift and the gifs don't seems to exist on nanJ or the other 2-channel baseball forums. The best I can get is this daily wrap-up of homers on NicoNicoDouga. You will need an account to watch it. The Kajtani homerun is at about 7 minutes with Kuwahara's shortly after.
It was another 3 games in Hiroshima this weekend after a series win against the Baystars during the week. The previous trip to visit the Carp in Hiroshima was a bit of a disaster with a rain delay protecting the Dragons from the sweep, but the same luxury wouldn't be on offer this time around as the weather was looking good over Western Japanese skies as 3 games were up for grabs. The Carp have been in somewhat spectacular form of late with the batters producing a fair share of runs. Ryosuke Kikuchi has been at the heart of the batting while Maru and Arai have been making headlines as well, the latter mostly for his passing 2000 career hits in the midweek fixtures against the Yakult Swallows.
Shuta Wakamatsu was up to the mound for another start in Hiroshima after being somewhat unsuccessful in his last bout while Hiroki Yokoyama started on the mound for the Carp.
The main squad change for the Dragons was the departure of the misfiring Fukuda for the on-fire Kei Nomoto who was finally rewarded for his superb run in the 2-gun team where he is averaging over .400
Game 27 started off well for the Dragons in the top of the 2nd as a walk to Viciedo brought with it a rally of singles from Nanita and Hirata. With bases loaded Donoue hit a sac fly into right field to allow Viciedo to score to make it 1-0. Scoring would continue through Katsura who hit a single to let Nanita score to make it 2-0. Wakamatsu's attempt at a bunt would however end in agony as he bunted into a double play to end the inning.
It would take until the 4th inning for the Carp to be inspired into a counter-attack. Kikuchi was fanned by Wakamatsu but 3 straight walks to Maru, Matsuyama and Eldred loaded up the bases to put the in-form Seiya Suzuki up to the plate. A hit to centre allowed the the Carp to get back on level terms as Maru and Matsuyama ran home to make it 2-2. Abe took the 4th walk of the inning to load up the bases again but Wakamatsu escaped as he fanned Ishihara and induced Yokoyama into a ground out.
The Carp would pile on the pain in the following inning. Tanaka grounded out at second while Kikuchi hit a triple to stand on third. Maru then allowed his team-mate to get in to home with a single to take the lead for the first time of the day. Matsuyama then stepped up and hit a double into right-field sending Maru home to make it 4-2. It would end the night for Wakamatsu and bring Matayoshi in to stem the tide. But the side-arm would give up a double to Suzuki to turn the game on its head and establish a 4-run lead, 6-2.
At the top of the 6th, there would be some positives for the the Dragons as Takahashi was given a walk to start the inning. Up was brought Viciedo who hit a big dinger in the backscreen to give the Dragons some hope at 6-4.
Nanita's following hit would end the night for Yokoyama who was replace by Imamura. Hirata hit a single to join Nanita and a bunt from Donoue set the two up on 2nd and 3rd base. Morino was brought on to pinch-hit for Katsura and the veteran milked a walk to load the bases. A chance was now given to the in-form Nomoto to pinch-hit for Matayoshi but the form wouldn't convert over this time as the worst possible outcome was achieved as Nomoto grounded into a double-play to end the inning.
It would prove to be a costly miss for the Dragons as in the 6th, with Okada coming in for Matayoshi. The inning would start with the removal of Kikuchi and Tanaka but a walk to Maru stopped the succession of outs. Matsuyama then stepped up with a double to allow Maru to score, 7-4. Further damage was inflicted by Eldred who hit a single to get Matsuyama home and make it 8-4. Seiya Suzuki otherwise in fine form, fell victim to Okada with a fly out to end the 6th.
The damage would increase in the 7th as Abe got on base and was bunted to 2nd by Ishihara. Arai came in to pinch-hit but ground out at short but allowed Abe to get into an easy scoring position at 3rd. At 2 outs, Okada's pitch got the better of his catcher and allowed Abe to score, 9-4.
The rest of inning passed without incident aside from a notable triple from Ohshima in the 9th but a Kamezawa fly to the catcher ended the game at 9-4. Another pretty devastating loss to the Carp in Hiroshima. There were chances to get back into the game after going down early, but the Carp were just too good with the bat today in their home environment. Suzuki and Matsuyama were particularly devastating.
Game 28 of the season would be spell out a first appearance for Junki Ito who was in line for a start against the Giants in Kyushu before the earthquakes ensured the games would be called off. With his de-registration following that game it was reported that he wasn't in the best of moods. That kind of showed when he pitched in the 2-gun as he gave up a 3-run homer to Hikaru Ito in an 11-4 loss to Orix. I was personally surprised he was given a chance on the back of that performance, but perhaps it was a promise that needed to be fulfilled. The youngster would however be up against former Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda in what would be a David and Goliath like battle.
Ito pitched well in his first 3 innings, well at least as well as the score can suggest, but the opening innings was marred by an injury to golden boy, Shuhei Takahashi. A particularly hard pitch in the 4th rattled Shuhei's bat and also managed to fracture a bone in his right hand ending his participation in the game early. He is set to go under the knife on the 6th of May, and young slugger is optimistic that he will be back "in 2 weeks." That seems unlikely, but it has opened the way for Masahiko Morino who was subbed in after Takahashi's injury.
It was to be an untimely injury as it spurred the Carp into life. Matsuyama's ground out was followed by a Brad Eldred solo donger to open the scores at 1-0.
Suzuki would make way to base care of a poor throw from Morino at third bringing Abe to the fore. Abe then hit a timely two-base hit to ensure Suzuki would score to make it 2-0. Ishihara could not continue the scoring as he ground out at third and Kuroda played all around Ito to strike out and end the inning.
The Dragons crept back in the top of the fifth. Nanita and Hirata were unreliable this time around as they both fell victim to Kuroda but a single from Donoue allowed Sugiyama to approach the plate. The catcher has been very good in this pinch situations and his following two base hit allowed Donoue to score to put the scores at 2-1. Ito, the pitcher in a hitters situation was unable to help out Sugiyama at second as he ground out to a sinking pitch.
Just as you thought the Dragons were working a way back into, the Carp taketh away. In the bottom of the fifth Ito gave up singles to Tanaka and Kikuchi brought Maru to the plate. The skillful outfielder took one look at a dodgy Ito pitch and sent the following one into the crowd for a three-run homerun, 5-1.
Matsuyama would then fly-out before Eldred took advantage of a Donoue fumble to get onto 1st base. It wouldn't matter in the end as consecutive fly-outs to Suzuki and Abe ended things.
The game was getting harder and harder to watch for Dragons fans an after the 6th inning, one couldn't be blamed for turning off the telly. With Matayoshi now replacing Ito, he took two quick outs to get rid of Ishihara and Kuroda. Tanaka and Kikuchi would repeat what they did in the 5th to put runners on first and second. Maru would then repeat the exact same thing he did in the previous innings by sending a ball into the right-hand stands to make it 8-1 with a consecutive 3-run homer.
Matsuyama would thankfully ground out to end things but what a disaster for the Dragons.
The Chunichi boys would start things positively in the top of the 7th as Hirata doubled to begin things. Donoue tried to get things moving but his grounder to second base only allowed his captain to 3rd. Now with Sugiyama at the plate, the catcher did what he does best as he smacked another single to make it 8-2. Fujii pinch-hit for Matayoshi but unsurprisingly failed to contribute while a grounder to first spelled the end of Ohshima and the innings.
To add insult to injury the Carp would continue their assault as they took a liking to Hiroto Fuku in the 8th. Ishihara would fall early, but hit into left from Tobayashi, which was then fumbled by Nanita, allowed the Carp man to second. Tanaka picked up his third hit of the night and scored Tobayashi to make it 9-2. Kikuchi couldn't make the most of things this time as he ground out in the infield. Fuku made sure then not to give Maru a third consecutive homer as he hit the Carp man to move runners to 1st and 2nd. Akamatsu's hit however would send Tanaka on his way home to put the score into double digits at 10-2. Arai would then pile on the misery with a double, sending both Maru and Akamatsu into the sheds, 12-2. Just, ugh.
Dragons would try to limit the damage in the 9th as Hirata doubled and Sugiyama was walked, but Fujii couldn't make the difference as the game ended at 12-2. A pretty bad loss. Hirata's two doubles and Sugiyama's two singles were about the only thing to write home about and with Takahashi set to be out for a semi lengthy period, the darkness seemed to be setting.
Game 29, the last of the series, had the objective of nothing more than avoiding the sweep.
Shingo Takeyama, a catcher and Ryuya Ogawa were added to the team to replace the injured Shuhei and the shell-shocked Ito.
Aussie Drew Naylor started this game (there's a really good interview with Drew on the JapaneseBaseball podcast here) with 28 year old Yuya Fukui starting for the Carp.
First blood would be drawn by the Carp in the bottom of the first. Tanaka would be walked to start things while Kikuchi bunted him to 2nd. Maru would then again be allowed to walk while a fumble from Morino at third allowed Arai to move to load the bases. Naylor would take down Matsuyama with a strikout, but a walk to Suzuki meant that the Carp would take the lead 1-0 after Tanaka trickled into base. Naylor would be able to fan Abe however to end the inning.
The Dragons started their counter-attack in the third as Naylor started things off with a double. A high and straight one at Ohshima saw the outfielder grounded out at second while Naylor moved to third. Kamezawa then came into bat and his timely double put Naylor home to even the scores up at 1-1. Morino struck out to put two outs on the board but that wouldn't worry Viciedo as he doubled to send Kamezawa home to make it 1-2. Nanita would then ground out to end the innings.
Just to let all know, as it is golden week in Japan, I have just a few drinks to go with a BBQ, so the report may get more interesting or less coherent as we go from here. Let's see what happens!
The Carp struck back in the third inning. A walk to Kikuchi would start things while Maru would get to base at the expense of his team-mate to move to first. He would however steal second to make up for any ground lost. Arai would take another walk while Matsuyama's grounder would get Maru to third but have Arai out at second. Suzuki's single however would get the scores to 2-2 and a poor throw from Ohshima ensured runners on 2nd and 3rd however Abe was unable to make anything of it as the inning ended.
The Dragons would rally once more at the top of the 4th as Hirata started things off with a walk. Donoue singled, but after a fumble from Suzuki in right field Hirata was able to make it home to allow the Dragons to take the lead at 2-3. A hit from Sugiyama plus a bunt from Naylor would put runners on 2nd and 3rd but Ohshima couldn't make the most of it. Kamezawa loaded the bases with a walk but Morino could only fly-out to end the inning.
Chunichi extended their lead in the 5th as Viciedo and Nanita got onto base to start things. Hirata's double would send Viciedo home to make it 2-4 to the Dragons. This enforced a change for the Carp as Fukui was withdrawn for Toda. Toda however could not prevent Donoue's triple as he sent two home to put the Dragons 2-6 to the good. Toda would keep his nerve however and see out the rest of the inning.
The bottom of the fifith would break my and many Dragons hearts. Two outs would start the inning as Kikuchi and Maru ground out but the last out would remain elusive as Arai got on to base followed by Matsuyama. With Suzuki now up to bat, you wouldn't blame anyone for walking him, but on a 1-0 count he hit a single to make it 3-6. Abe continued things for the Carp as he hit two home to make it 5-6. Naylor now just hanging on gave a hit to Aizawa before Eldred was brought on to pinch-hit for Toda. The American slugger was to be judge, jury an executioner as he struck a powerful three-run homerun to take the lead for the Carp and leave a frustrated and broken Naylor to think about what could have been.
The Australian pitcher gave an almighty yell when bat connected with ball and one could only feel sorry for him as the ball sailed over the fence to take the lead for the carp at 8-6.
Maru would return to inflict the pain in the 6th inning as after another Morino fumble, Kikuchi took to 1st base while Maru threw the bat and made another homerun to send the scores to 10-6.
Relatively deflated, the Dragons made back one run in the final inning as Hirata made a single followed by Donoue's out. Nomoto would hit as a pinch-hitter for Sugiyama to put runners on 1st and 2nd while Fujii sent Hirata home to make it 10-7. Tani would try his best to make the most of the situation but flew out to end the game.
3 very bad losses in Hiroshima and really there can be no excuse. The Dragons were over powered in all games and didn't pitch well enough in the tiny Mazda stadium. While they were able to muster 16 hit to the Carp's 10 in the final game, it wasn't when it counted and the homeruns given up to Maru and Eldred really hurt efforts to get back into the game.
Takahashi's injury will also be a big talking point out of these games and with Morino making two errors in his starting debut this year, there will be question marks as to who can fill in there long-time. My hope is to see Donoue move to 3rd with Tani or Hernanez at short-stop. Ishikawa has been the main third-baseman for the 2-gun team, but he is far from good enough for the first-team at the moment.
Starting pitchers are also a worry as none of the three did well enough. Wakamatsu has it in him but I am worried about Naylor. I think the Aussie can be very, very good on his day, but his control and reading of the batters could be better. He may well still be settling in in Japan but if you look at someone like Jordan, you have to wonder how much that really counts. I want him to do well, but I'm worried he can't succeed outside of the Nagoya dome and Jingu at this rate. The Junki Ito experiment was one that had to be done, but well, the less said the better. He's still young though and has a spot in the starting rotation of the second team.
Bring on the Tigers for the next round of games over the Golden Week!
NB: Due to time constraints and the imminent birth of my first child, I will be trying out a much more condensed and less time-consuming method of match reports. It currently takes me about 3 hours to get one of these up and running with all the gifs. I want to continue this blog, so making it more concise is the best I can do. I hope you guys don't mind the new format.
After a good couple of series at home it was time for the
Dragons to make the trip back to Kanto to face off against the DeNA Yokohama
Baystars. The Dragons made quick work of the Baystars in Nagoya earlier this
season, and apart from a bore 0-0 draw, it was all positive for the Chunichi
boys. Now, away from home, how would the team face up?
This was actually a series I had tickets to due to my fan
club membership but due to the stadium being about an hour away from my
workplace and a good 2 hours away from home, I decided against attending this
time around. Regret it already. Nevermind!
Game 24 of our season would be a battle of the recently retired
managers and Tanishige, a legend for the Baystars and the Dragons, came up
against the only foreign manager in the league, Alex Ramirez. Tanishige
started his career in Yokohama and if you look at the league finishes before
and after he left, well, maybe there was a bit of correlation between Tanishige
and success.
Jordan was brought up to take on the Baystars in his 3rd
start for the Dragons this year. Kenta Ishida would be his opposing number,
starting for Yokohama.
The action would start with the Baystars today. Kuwahara
lead-off with a single while Ishikawa was fanned by Jordan. Shotaro Ide hit
what looked like it was going to be a single into the left-field, but a fumble
from Nanita allowed Kuwahara to get on to third base. The dangerman Tsutsugo
would step up next for the ‘stars and a sac fly into the right would be enough
to score Kuwahara and open the scores, 1-0. Jamie Romak was walked the next
ball, but a hit into foul territory from Kuramoto resulted in an easy catch to
end the innings.
The Baystars would continue the scoring in 2nd
inning as Yanagida (not the good one) lead off with a walk. Tobashira was
induced into a ground out before Ishida was fanned by Jordan to leave a runner
on second with two outs. Kuwahara, the scorer in the first inning would be the
next to step-up and it would be a handy hit into left field to send Tobashira
on his way, 2-0.
A quiet few innings followed before the DeNA men had another
breakthrough in the 4th. Kuramoto would get a hit but the poor man’s
Yanagida would fly out to a Jordan change-up. Tobashira took a liking to
another pitch as he moved Kuramoto to 3rd and put himself on 1st.
up would come the pitcher, Ishida and from a hit in the infield, he was able to
safely score Kuramoto and put himself on 1st base, 3-0. Kuwahara and
Ishikawa would subsequently fall victim to consecutive fly-outs to end the
inning.
With batting looking a bit dire, it was time for the Dragons
to turn it on and get back into the game. At the top of the 5th the
magic would start with a Viciedo double. Nanita would oblige his Hispanic
compatriot with a hit of his own into the centre to allow Viciedo to score,
3-1. The rally cry was there, but with Hirata hitting into a double play and
Donoue being struckout by Ishida, the innings was over in quick fashion.
A personnel change would come for Yokohama in the 6th
as Shibata was brought in for Ide, but the new defensive shift couldn’t stop
Shota Sugiyama from clearing the fence to rake a solo homer, 3-2.
Fukuda was
brought in to pinch-hit for Jordan but a ground out was all that would result.
A bit worrying for a guy who was absolutely mashing it in the 2-gun team
earlier in the year. Ohshima would be the next at the plate and the
centre-fielder would treat the visiting fans to a rare occurrence. On a count
of 1-2, Ohshima opened up his shoulders and whacked one into the right stand.
3-3.
Back to even terms in no time at all. Araki and Takahashi would try to
push the score to a winning margin, but it wasn’t to be with both grounding out
to end the inning.
With the Baystars now on the back foot, Fujioka was brought
to the mound to change the flow after a scoreless batting stanza. While he
would find success removing Viciedo, a hit and a walk to Nanita and Hirata put
the pressure on. While Fujioka fanned Donoue, Ramirez was happy to take him off
and replace him with Tanaka. It wouldn’t prove to be the most astute of
decisions as Sugiyama continued to fire as Romak mis-fielded a hit into the
right allowing Nanita and Hirata to score to put the Dragons into a winning
position for the first time of the day. 3-5.
Tani continued the mayhem as he
scored Sugiyama with his double to make it 3-6. Ohshima finished off the inning
as he was struckout by Tanaka.
The force was definitely with the Dragons at this point as
they sought to put the game well out of reach in the 8th. After
Araki and Takahashi failed to put up any resistance, up stepped the big Cuba,
the man, the moment, the dude, Dayan Viciedo. Squaring up his foe, allowing the
count to go to full, El Tank saw his moment and connected sweetly with a
delivery in the middle of the plate. Sensing the homerun immediately, Viciedo
dropped his bat in the “to hell with you bat” style and pumped up as ever
jogged the diamond, 3-7.
It would be the last of the scoring as Tajima closed
out the 9th for no score to cap off an exciting come from behind
victory.
3 big dingers in a great turn
around win for the Dragons and yet another poor showing from the Baystars. Highlights
Game 25 would be a different affair
all together with the ever predictably unpredictable Daisuke Yamai on the
mound. Yasutomo Kubo would pull the strings with the ball for the Baystars.
Both pitchers were winless going into this game. Who would be the first to
break their streak if either?
The scoring would start early
in the bottom of the first. Yamai induced Aranami into a ground out to start
things off. Ishikawa now stepped up to the plate and on a count of 2-1,
launched Yamai into the stands to grab a solo home run to rattle the Dragons
early, 1-0.
Otosaka fell victim to a change
up while Tsusugo got to base. Ide would however give Yamai one of his only 2 strikeouts
of the game to end the inning.
The Baystars continued their
assault in the third. Aranami flew out to centre but Ishikawa took a sneaky
bunt option which caught all by surprise and beat Yamai on the bounce as he ran
through first base. Otosaka next up hit
a double to move runners onto 2nd and 3rd. With Tsutsugo
next up and more than a few worries adding up over Yamai’s pitching, it was no
surprise that the big Yokohama hitter would make something happen. A hit to the short-stop would see Tsutsugo
out at first, but it allowed Ishikawa to run home and score to make it, 2-0.
Ide would be the last batter of the inning as his foul ball was caught by
Viciedo.
Still showing dangerous signs,
something that couldn’t be said of the Dragons line-up, the ‘stars took to the
4th inning. It would be a near carbon copy of the 1st
inning as Kuramoto ground out at second allowing Hyuma to walk-up. Then, on a
count of 1-0, Hyuma dispatched Yamai into the stands just right of the
backscreen to make it 3-0. Yamai was
visibly disappointed as he should be. He hadn’t thrown too bad stuff up to this
point but, well, it only takes one bad ball.
Yamai would unfortunately be at
the end of another dinger in the 6th as after a strike,
Tsutsugo got his 8th homer of
the season in almost the exact same spot as Hyuma. A change-up delivery in the outside
track was punished with authority to put the Baystars 4-0 to the good.
Yamai
would close out the inning with no further messy situations, but conceding 3
homeruns in 6 innings musn’t be a great feeling.
The Dragons would mount a
counter-attack of sorts in the top of the 7th inning with Nanita
leading off with a double. Hirata then managed a single to put runners on 1st
and 2nd. Donoue now stepped up to survey the situation and the
infielder would continue his good form with the bat as he hit a single to let
Nanita run home, 4-1. Sugiyama’s single would then load up the bases with
Morino coming in to pinch-hit for Yamai. The veteran would read his pitches
well and elect to walk to take the score to 4-2. Kubo, who had pitched well,
was withdrawn for Tanaka who up until today had a 0.00 ERA for the season.
Ohshima was able to hit a sack fly off Tanaka to allow Hirata to score to make
it 4-3. Kamezawa was withdrawn for Tani to pinch-hit, but the man in form
couldn’t make anything happen as he ground into a double play to end the
inning.
The bottom of the 7th
inning brought Iwase to the mound and Tani onto second base to replace Kamezawa
who had a fantastic game defensively showing his speed when ground fielding.
Tobashira started off the
proceedings with a single. Kuwahara was brought in to pinch-hit for Tanaka but
couldn’t make the best of his chance as he flew out. Aranami was then withdrawn
for Jamie Romak who was given a walk by Iwase to put runners on 1st and
2nd. Thanks to a rare mis-field from Donoue, Ishikawa then helped
load the bases with what probably should have been the start of a double play.
Otosaka would be the hero as his single scored two batters to move the score to
6-3. Tsusugo would not let up as he also singled to send Ishikawa home, 7-3.
Iwase, not doing his job, was taken off for Achira, the man doing the work in
the 2-gun. And while he loaded the bases after fanning Yanagida, he escaped by inducing
a ground out from Hyuma to end the inning.
The final nail in the coffin
came in the top of the 8th as after Achira dismissed Tobashira,
Kuwahara took a liking to tasty looking middle of the box straight ball and
scored the 4th Baystars homerun of the night, 8-3.
The Dragons tried their hardest
to fight back in the 9th but it would be to no avail as Gifu native,
Tomoya Mikami shut the Chunichi batting line-up down to end the game.
Not a great start lead to a
minor comeback but Iwase not hitting his straps meant that the game was taken
away from the Dragons despite turning the tide. Had it been a different pitcher
maybe it would have been a different story but we’ll never know. There were some good performances with the
bat with Ohshima, Nanita, Hirata, Donoue and Sugiyama all registering two hits
a piece, but it wasn’t a line-up that combined well enough together today.
Credit goes to Kubo for crafting good game at the start of the game to set-up
the win for the Baystars. Major questions still over Yamai’s head with some
wondering why a younger starter isn’t given a chance ahead of him, but as a
stop-gap while Ohno is out, Yamai appears to be the man that Tanishige wants. Credit
I think needs to go to Achira who made his first appearance this season for the
first team and did well despite conceding a homerun. Hopefully he will be considered
for long-relief duties in future. Highlights：
Into Game 26 of the season and
it was to be Oguma, who was one hit away from a no-hitter in his last start
against the Baystars took the mound against the Baystars. Yoshiki Sunada, yet
to claim a win this season was his opponent in the final game of the series
before the Dragons moved to Hiroshima for the weekend games.
Iwase removed from the first team as the only change in registration following his less than average performance.
It was an unusually cagey
opening that would be broken in the third inning by the Baystars. A double from
Tobashira started things before Sunada failed in his attempt to bunt. It wouldn’t
matter however as one of yesterday’s homerun heroes, Masayuki Kuwahara
continued where he left off hitting another one into the bleachers to open the
scores at 2-0. Ishikawa and Otosaka could not add to the bracket and left the
lead at two.
It would be an immediate reply
from the Dragons as Sunada walked Viciedo to begin the innings. Nanita was
beaten by a changeup, but the ever influential Ryosuke Hirata was brought to
the plate. The captain has made his presence known since returning from injury
at the outfielder would add to his homerun tally for the season with a lovely
strike into the left stand, 2-2.
Donoue
would be walked to follow up, but Katsura fly-out and Donoue’s failed steal
ended the inning prematurely.
Oguma kept up his good job as
he kept the Baystars quiet. An error made by Takahashi in the 5th
was the only black mark on an otherwise good defensive performance.
The 6th inning would
be opened up by Takahashi and the young star would well make up for his mistake
in the field, slamming another homerun into the left stand. 2-3 the score!
Viciedo would continue things
with a single and Nanita would add to that with a single that allowed the Cuban
to move to third base.
Obviously sensing danger,
Ramirez decided to substitute in Zach Petrick for Sunada. It wouldn’t stop a
thing as Hirata made another telling contribution by singling Viciedo on his
way home.
Donoue was caught at second to
tally the first out of the inning bringing Iori Katsura to the plate. Katsura
has shown a penchant for homers and today would be no different as he whalloped
a 3-run homerun to send the scores to 2-7!
It was a magnificent bat-flip to
follow as Katsura hit a fantastic no-doubter to continue the heated competition
for the catcher’s spot between he and Sugiyama and had Tanishige grinning ear
to ear.
Oguma continued the mayhem as he hit a double but Ohshima and Araki
couldn’t take advantage.
The last of the scoring would
come in the 7th inning. Nogawa would replace Petrick, and start
things off by walking Shuhei. Lack of control was noticeable as he also walked
Viciedo. Now correcting, Nogawa struck out Nanita and induced a ground out from
Hirata but it was a timely triple from Donoue that sent Shuhei and Viciedo home
to score and make it 2-9.
Hiroto Fuku was given the ball
for the last 2 innings and the young lefty did well to close out the remaining
innings under little pressure. He was able to strike out Romak and Tobashira in
a row while inducing a ground out from Yamashita to end the inning and a
fantastic hard hitting display.
All things went to plan for the
Dragons today and Oguma gained a little more confidence after being battered by
the Carp a week ago. No one can underestimate the influence of Hirata though as
it seemed the whole team took a lift when he started doing his thing.
Overall a very positive series
for the Dragons where we saw plenty of dingers and most importantly a series
win.
Keep movin' movin' movin', though Hawks be disapprovin' keep those runners movin', home side! Don't try to understand em' just mash, crash and slam 'em, soon we'll be smilin' side by side. Our pitchers are frustratin' those Ks will be waiting, if we don't get that control down right. HOME SIDE!
Ahem, yes, the Western theme continues as we continue to follow the Dragons farm team and their adventures in the Western League. Things have been going remarkably well for the team with the losses few and far between. A lot of the good performers have so far gone up to the first team and done well, most noticeably Tetsuya Tani has carried on his superb form.
Michihiro Ogaswara's team headed down to the Hawks Baseball Park Chikugo where the Softbank team normally plays it's 2-gun and 3-gun games. We had another incidence where a 3-game series was turned into a 2-game series because of rain on the 21st. This also hampered recovery efforts in Kumamoto so a called off game was really the least of the worries.
2 games and another two wins to follow. Some good batting on the 19th and some good pitching on the 20th ensured a series win once more for our talented 2-gun players.
Game 1 of the series would see a return to the mound for Yudai Kawai while Yosuke Shimabukuro took up duties for the Hawks. Yudai had a typical blow out after a few innings, but it wasn't to be too detrimental to the team's overall success. The Dragons opened the scoring in the 1st with Hirata hitting home Kondo and the lead was extended to 0-4 in the 4th. One run given up in the 4th and then 4 runs given away in the 5th made it a 5-4 scoreline in favour of the Hawks. With things scoreless until the 9th, Ishikawa scored 2 runners to put the Dragons ahead and secure the win.
Pitching
Kaneko with the save.
Yudai Kawai as mentioned did reasonably well but 4 conceded runs in his 5th inning meant that he was yoinked from the mound fairly early on. Yudai did however take 5 strikeouts but threw 2 walks and allowed 7 hits off his 4 2/3 innings. 93 balls in his spell meant that he probably is lacking a bit of stamina. Yuu Sato would take 1 2/3 innings to strike out and walk two out of his 7 batters faced, helping stem the tide of runs. Ryuya Ogawa, who was in the opening day squad for the big leagues, took 1/3 of an inning and took 4 balls to strikeout his only batter. Achira would walk away as the winning pitcher as he threw down 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and walk but taking a strikeout to stay scoreless. Takeshi Kaneko took the last inning and got the save taking two strikeouts despite giving up two hits.
Kondo showing the good stuff
Batting
Young Kondo would be in the midst of all the good things about the batting today as he put in a superb 4 at-bats. The youngster notched 2 hits, a walk and a sacrifice hit. A great contribution. Ryosuke Hirata continued his rehabilitation as he hit 2 including an RBA to go with a walk in his 4 plate appearances. Infielder, Abe started to show signs of settling in as he scored twice and hit two RBIs to go with a walk in a very good appearance with the bat. Ishikawa would be another to carve up the Hawks pitching as he made a telling contribution with 3 hits including 2 RBIs and a walk in his 4 at-bats. Special mention too goes to Ryuichiro Akada who made his comeback as a pinch-hitter after being sidelined with a broken thumb. The catcher with an American grandfather hit two from two to end a good days work. There were plenty of good contributions with the bat, maybe too many to list.
A good performance from the batters and relievers saved the game after some shoddy pitching from Yudai early on. A 5-8 win were the spoils. Credit goes to Abe and Mizowaki, particularly the former, for their fantastic displays in the field.
Here's some highlights from the 9th inning:
Game 2 would prove to be a much closer affair as Chunichi managed to hold on to a 0-2 lead that was achieved in the second inning to close out what would end up being a series sweep. Shinji Iwata would be the man on the mound for the Dragons as a recovering former Major Leaguer, Daisuke Matuzaka would be the Hawks starter for the day. Takuma Kato, and Mizowaki would start things for the Dragons in the second inning to get on base and it was successive RBIs from Watanabe and Kamezawa that ultimately sealed the win.
Iwata with his 1st win
Pitching
Iwata defied his critics today as he pitched out 6 1/3 innings to out-pitch his opposite number. Iwata gave up only 4 hits and a walk as he claimed 6 strikeouts. Ryuya Ogawa had an easy task in his one inning as he gave up one hit against 4 batters. Achira took 2/3 of an inning and took 2 strikeouts against his two batters to continue to stifle the Hawks batting. Takeshi Kaneko finished things up with the save as he conceded one hit but struck out two to finish the game.
It was a really good start from Iwata that got things going. If he can keep his up who knows what might be around the corner, but he still has a lot to prove.
Batting
Tamura made his first full appearance for the 2nds.
Veterans Hirata and Tamura would be the only one to walk away without a hit as the lineup all
had at least one to their name. Tamura made his full debut since his move from the Baystars and only managed to get on base once through a walk. Kamezawa would have the best performance of the game with an RBI, two walks and 3 stolen bases. Not bad! Nomoto would be the only other to walk away with more than a single approach to base as he got a hit and a walk for his troubles.
Against the likes of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Edison Barrios, it is no real surprise it was a low-scoring game but a fantastic performance from Kamezawa with the bat a and a solid performance form Iwata with the ball ensured an unspectacular but well worked win.
Here's some of Kamezawa's highlights from the game:
Two wins in two games to take away from Fukuoka with plenty of positives.
Lastly, if you have a Pac-TV account, you can watch the Softbank 2-gun games which means you can watch the Dragons team play live when they go up against the Hawks at home.
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!
Only two games were squeezed out this week as rain stopped play on the 13th. Maybe the water helped the Carp swim toward victory as they flattened the water averse Dragons in the third game of the series. A modest win would be the victors spoils in game one, but overall, it was a 13-2 series loss for the Dragons where hitting was a major problem.
Our first game was to be the first regional round for the Dragons as we headed out into the Hiroshima countryside to Kure City top play at what is a regular venue for these kind of games. The regional rounds bring teams all over the place to areas that don't otherwise see a lot of baseball or in a way to expand the fan base. The Dragons will be playing the Giants in regional Kyushu next week and will play their own regional games in Gifu city and in Shizuoka at later points in the city. It's a lovely initiative and gets the game out to more fans than the usual and gives a bit of a different atmosphere for the players.
Kure City Ballpark
Game 16 of the season would be at the Kure City ballpark as the Dragons played Hiroshima for the second time this year. The previous outings ended in a 2-1 series win for the Dragons in Nagoya with some pretty good performances to get the season rolling. What would come of things in Hiroshima though?
Shunta "Doctor K" Wakamatsu would start on the mound this game as per the rotation with Yusuke Nomura starting things off for the Carp.
Things would start remarkably well for Chunichi in the first inning. Nomura walked Ohshima to start things and hits to Araki and Takahashi quickly had the bases loaded with Viciedo coming up behind. The big Cuban slugger would continue his 13 game home run drought as he only managed a single to help Ohshima home.
With bases still loaded, Ricardo Nanita would unfortunately strike out and Fujii would make a complete meal of the chance as he ground out into a double play. The problems of the number 5 spot reared its ugly head again as it did against the Giants. The problem of Fujii not hitting his stride remains.
The Carp would turn equal things immediately in the bottom of the first. Tanaka with a single, Kikuchi flying out and Maru with a single put runners on 1st and 2nd with Chunichi OB, Hector Luna coming up to bat. A hit through centre from the Dominican sent Tanaka on his way home and Maru onto third. The Carp would turn the equalised score into a winning one when Brad Eldred hit left to Nanita, allowing Maru to run home but it was a fumble from the outfielder that allowed Luna to progress to third base, 2-1. Wakamatsu would however recover as he removed the dangerous Arai along with Suzuki to end the inning.
The Dragons would only must two more hits all game as they failed to claw the losing score back. Carp would improve their winning score in the 6th as Eldred added to his RBI with a home run, 3-1.
A disappointing showing from the batting lineup. Wakamatsu didn't do a bad job, but he certainly didn't have much back up. Although he will be disappointed with only being able to take 4 strikeouts home with him after 8 hard worked innings. Takahashi and Viciedo both got on base twice this game, but that's about all that was positive about the batting today. 5 Chunichi hits to 9 Carp hits was the main difference today.
Game highlights:
The game schedule for the 13th would not go ahead, but starting pitcher plans would be moved to the 14th as Ryosuke Oguma took the the mound for his second start of the year. His near perfect spell in Nagoya last week was a joy to behold, but could he repeat the heat in Hiroshima? We went back to the Carp's natural home, not a stream, but the iconic Mazda Stadium.
Game 17 would be nothing less than a demolishing of the Dragons as the Carp ran riot in the home ground, driving home 10 runs to the Dragons one. Oguma, who had previously only considered one hit against the Baystars, conceded 8 hits including two homeruns in his 4 innings.
Kris Johnson would keep things quiet for the Carp.
The score would be opened by the Dragons in the 3rd inning as hits from Araki and Takahashi put the two on 3rd and 2nd base respectively. Viciedo would then force Luna into an error (his first of the 3 on the night) at third to load the bases. Nanita would then get the chance to put his name in lights, but shorted out a couple of the neon bulbs as he ground out but allowed Araki to score, 0-1. Fujii would then put his best foot forward and forthrightly strikeout to end the inning.
The pain train would be on it's way for the Dragons in the bottom of the third. Johnson and Tanaka were quickly removed by Oguma, but it was the jackrabbit, Kikuchi that hit a single to get on base, this would be the first of many hits for the very in form second baseman. Batting at 3, Maru got the call and quite happily dispatched Oguma into the stands to make the score 2-1.
Luna would fly out to right field to make sure the pain stopped at just 2-1. At least for the time being. A rally from the Dragons would not be forthcoming as despite Donoue profiting from another Luna fumble, the lineup would not be able to make the Dominican pay for his mistake.
More excitement was to come in the 4th, if you are a Carp fan that is, as Brad Eldred decided it was time for another ball to join the fans as he smashed another over the fence to add to the homer he got off Wakamatsu in Kure 2 nights previous.
This would be the inning that would bring the pain. Arai edged closer to his 2000 career hits with a single. Ishihara would later join him, but Johnson striking out would leave only one batter in reserve. This would prove to be more than enough as Tanaka singled to load the bases. Oguma, with his trademark pokerface looked unfazed, but a single from Kikuchi into left field would allow Arai and Tanaka to move home to make it 5-1. The scoring wouldn't stop there as Maru sent home Ishihara to make it 6-1. Thankfully the madness would stop with Luna grounding out.
There wouldn't be a lot of time for a counter-attack thanks from the Dragons as they failed tomake anything count in the top of the 5th before the maraudering Carp went on another blitz, pressing their already sizeable advantage. Two walks to Eldred and Arai forced Tanishige's hand to pull Oguma from the mound as Ogawa went in to relieve. Ogawa would serve up another wallk to load bases. Ishihara would get a dead-ball to see another Carp float to home plate to make it 7-1. Johnson would not offer much help, but singles from Tanaka and Kikuchi put the Carp 9-1 up to beat the already dead horse of the Dragons defense.
The last scoring play of the day would be Amaya sending home Arai to make it 10-1 in the bottom of the 6th. Shell-shocked, the Dragons seemed to give up as the game was taken well away from them. The Carp as well, seemingly happy with 10, played out the rest of the game at a much lower intensity. A clobbering that Chunichi will not be particularly happy with. The 8 runs conceded by Oguma was also a new personal low for the pitcher as he will look to rebuild in his next appearance.
For the masochists in you, here are some highlights:
Two not so great results came out of the trip to Hiroshima but the Dragons will be back home for the weekend against the Tigers.
So far in the aftermath, Ogawa has found himself sent to the seconds after he failed to stem the tide twice in his two appearances. Daisuke Sobue will be into the team to replace him.
With the batters failing to perform in these two games, eyes have been cast to when Ryosuke Hirata will be back but Tanishige is not looking to rush the captain back into the side. There have been suggested that he might be back next weekend against the Swallows, but I'm skeptical.
