Ding-dong the season's dead

143 games, 58 wins, 82 losses.

Well, the Dragons have failed to see October for the 4th year straight as we bow out in our worst position in the league in 19 years. A 4 straight years of "B-Class" (wins under 50%) results is the worst in club history since the 2-league system was introduced. We're going through some dark times and to be honest it doesn't look like it's going to get much better in the near future.

I'm going to take this opportunity to do a bit of a season wrap-up with some broad strokes while I'll take another look at the 2015 draft class in another post in a similar vein to what I did at the all-star break. I'll then give a run down of the most recent news regarding free agencies, the draft and staff movements in my next post.

Right, well, where to begin. At the beginning of the season, I like many others had my expectations relatively low for the Dragons and I predicted them to finish second last. My expectation were raised slightly however in the opening quarter of the season as the Dragons managed to keep pace with the league leaders due to a bit of sparkling form from Shuhei Takahashi, Ricardo Nanita and Dayan Viciedo as well as a bit of luck running into some teams that hadn't sorted their stuff out. As we progressed to the middle of the season there were some hopeful moments where we were still in play-off contention and the optimist in me thought this team in reconstruction might just have enough in the tank to get into the final play-off spot. However after a bit of dip and then the acrimonious sacking of manager Motonobu Tanishige, the team never looked like going anywhere but the bottom two places. The Dragons were somewhat lucky that the Tigers at times made us look good, but in the end we crawled to a very poor end to the season capped off by two extra innings losses to the Giants in Tokyo, one a grand slam given up by probably our best player of  the season, Shinji Tajima and another, final inning goodbye see you later loss tossed up by Daisuke Sobue.

Bullpen

Let's first talk a little about the heroes of this season. Shinji Tajima with his 31 scoreless innings from opening day probably tops the lot. He created a new NPB record for doing so, and equalled a club record set by Akifumi Takahashi (now of the Tigers) for consecutive scoreless innings/games pitched. Tajima probably would have even more impressive stats if he hadn't been called up to become the team's closing pitcher. Despite being brought into the piece fairly late he still earned 17 saves to go along with his 21 hold points. He ends the season with a 3-4 record and a 2.44 ERA. Certainly another great successor to the line of bullpen pitchers the Dragons have produced over the years. He was recognised for his efforts as he collected the "Crown Award" from Chunichi which is a gift of a new model Toyota Crown to the player considered to the best during the season.

Our bullpen pitchers are just about the only thing I can't complain about. Toshiya Okada, Katsuki Matayoshi and Ryuya Ogawa all did magnificently well in my opinion. Ogawa had a bit of a breakout season this year and his 0.947 WHIP really impressed me. Okada has been a mainstay in the bullpen along with Matayoshi and I think we have a lot of depth in this area. Hiroto Fuku and Yu Sato, the rookies this year took part in relief sessions here and there and did their jobs without being spectacular. Also kudos to Daisuke Sobue who started the season as the second team closer and ended up being the late innings reliever in the first team; a 1.087 WHIP rating for him.

Starting Rotation

As for starting pitchers, most have been terribly unlucky with getting wins due to a terrible Kazuki Yoshimi came back into the team after surgery last season and held down his spot in the rotation. He went 6-7 this year but certainly deserved better. There was one game against the Tigers this year that he had to win by himself as he hit the winning RBI in a 1-0 win. He pitched 131 innings this year which is the most work he's done since 2012 which is a good sign going forward. Still only 31, he'll be a mainstay for a few more years to come. A 3.08 ERA is still a little bit high considering his early career stats, but still, the veteran did extremely well this year in difficult circumstances.
offense, but

Jordan Norberto, the first year Dominican, was another bright light in the rotation and his ability to keep opposing batters off foot with his ability to hurry through pitches was very effective particularly in the opening half of the season. As the season progressed however I got a feeling that batters got a better read on him and he started leaking more runs. He ended the season with a 6-6 record and a fairly high ERA of 4.24. His 108 strikeouts for the season was a team high.

Yudai Ono worked his socks off as the season's proclaimed ace this year and on the second game he played when he returned from injury he pitched a very solid shut out which I thought was going to be the start of a rebirth. Not so apparently. In decisions this year Ono was 7-10 and 5th in total strikeouts for the Dragons. He wasn't particularly bad but not particularly outstanding. He was however one of the hardest workers with 3 completed games and over 120 innings pitched.

Raul Valdes the Cuban veteran showed his usefulness and was the second best starter behind Jordan in terms of strikeouts per 9 innings. A 6-7 record is certainly respectable given his age and the ability of the team but he also gave up the most homeruns of the pitchers with 17 of his pitches clearing the fences.

I would last of all like to talk in detail about Ryosuke Oguma who has impressed me a lot. He
went out injured in the first third of the season and it took him a long while to get back but his stats are the best of the starters. He had a 5-2 record in 8 starts, the best winning percentage of any starter aside from Yu Sato who only started and won one game. An ERA of 2.80 also doesn't look too bad when you assess his contribution overall and I would dare say he may well have won 10 games this year had he been fit. In his first start of the year he shut down the Baystars with a 93 ball, 1 hit shutout in Nagoya. He was the only Chunichi to get a shut-out this year apart from Ono. I think we can grow to expect a bit more from the man whose name translates to "little bear."

I could go on forever about our starters, but these are the main guys I felt worthy of mention. I will of course talk about the trials and tribulations of our 2015 #1 draft pick Shinnosuke Ogasawara in another post as his story is a nice one to tell.

Batting

This is where the stories get a bit dark, but the main thing to come out of it was Yohei "Even Year" Oshima who came out to play this year cracking a .298 BA and hitting for the cycle in the process. He finished second in the central league charts for hits behind Ryosuke Kikuchi of the Carp with 174 and 3rd in stolen bases behind Tetsuto Yamada and Kikuchi with 26 (although he was caught stealing 12 times. If my SABR thinking is right, that's a really poor success rate). As our lead-off hitter he really did his job this season after being fairly bang average last year. A bright to slightly dimmed light in a very dark season.

For most improved bat of the season I have it as a two way tie between Shuhei Takahashi and Nobumasa Fukuda, both coincidentally guys that played the majority of the season at 3rd base.　Takahashi went ham in his first 20 or so games averaging over .400 with a few homers and all the rest. That of course quietened down a bit but he still was performing well until he broke a bone in his hand to enforce an extended break on the sidelines.  In that time, the Dragons tried all manners of stop-gap solutions at 3rd base with Tetsuya Tani, Naomichi Donoue and Masahiko Morino among others brought in to try and make the position their own. It wasn't however until Fukuda was given the green light that we started seeing more production at that position. Fukuda went on to hit a personal best 10 homeruns this year with a .744 OPS and a .265 average. He finished the season in left field to accommodate the return of Takahashi who showed some of his early season prowess and ended with a .251/.319/.369 slash line.

Both I think had outbreak seasons this year and if Ricardo Nanita isn't retained, we might see Fukuda out the left pocket to add a bit more pop to the line-up if Viciedo and Takahashi remain the incumbents at 1st and 3rd respectively. Masahiko Morino also made a bit of a statement when Viciedo was injured claiming the highest OBP of any of the Dragons batter this season. It might well be a headache for selection next year.

Dayan Viciedo of course is the man that has probably attracted the most attention and his 22 homers helped the Dragons about as much as could be hoped. He hit fairly well for average at .272 and was third in the team for most walks behind Hirata and Oshima. He was also third in hits for team behind Oshima and Naomichi Donoue. Injuries cut short his season, but the Dragons are in talks to keep him on and there's a good chance he could be producing even better next year.

Lastly a couple of mentions for Donoue and Hirata. Donoue became the starting short-stop this year after an injury to Issei Endo and his defense has been nothing short of fantastic. He only hit .257 this year but put wood on ball enough times to tally 116 hits for the season.

Hirata too had a good season when fit going over the fence 14 times in a personal best season. A .248 BA  is pretty disappointing however but he was the most walked player on the team taking the short jog to first base 72 times.

I could go on about others, like Nanita, but I don't want to make this entry any more encylopedic than it has to be.

Catchers

Just a little appendage here about the catchers. We started the season with Iori Katsura and Shota Sugiyama  battling it out to be everyday catcher and I think we finished with Takuya Kinoshita and Sugiyama as the two most likely candidates going forward. Sugiyama started the majority of games this season but Kinoshita showed very good promise with the bat in the limited time he was given. I was expecting at the beginning of the season for there to be a 3 way battle for the catcher's mitt this year and there has been. Sugiyama hit a .260/.340/.357 slash line in probably one of the best batting performances from a Chunichi catcher in some time.

I feel sorry for Katsura in a way who is a very talented catcher in his own right, but he'll be either put to work on the farm or maybe looked at as a trade chip. But who am I kidding, nobody trades anyone in the NPB.


Against the others

We had a terrible record against Hiroshima (7-17)  and Yakult (9-16) this year. No surprise that both teams have two of the best batting line-ups in the league either as most of the time we were well out gunned.

The only team we had a winning record against was the Giants (13-11) which is a welcome surprise. Unsurprisingly perhaps, we got away the most hits against the Giants out of all Central league opponents with 227 hits. ERA as well was the best at 2.91 second to DeNA with 2.99. Given that the Giants finished 2nd this year,  I think this is one of the positives we can take away from the year. At least we were a nuisance for Yomiuri. That is satisfying.


Conclusion

Honestly, it has been a terrible season. With all the back office drama to go with the results it's just awful. I've experienced a very similar thing with the Twins in the MLB this year so needless to say that uh, baseball hasn't been nice to me this year.

The Dragons still really haven't overcome the losses of their veterans but I am confident with the pitching side of things. If we can get in one more quality starter in the draft this year, the rotation will be pretty set for the next 3 or 4 years. We have quite a few young guys that can come in and do things in the bullpen (although Mori wants to bring in foreign help, probably a closer) and there are others that given a bit of luck could develop into really good starting arms in the future.

Our batting however worried me. With Oshima and Hirata looking at the free agent market, we would be dead without them at the current time. There is no one in the Dragons system that can do what these two do and losing them would kill our hopes of winning anything in the near future or getting into A-Rank season territory. There is the potential in this team, even in the bats, to produce some really solid hitting but it hasn't come about yet. I  do however think that we discovered a lot this year about who can do what and I think that is important. Next year production at short-stop will be I think a key point of interest and it will be on Donoue and possibly Endo to get their batting up to a good standard. Left-field will also be another interesting position going forward given Nanita's injuries and age and Fukuda's recent experience there. We'll see what happens.

For the time being. All I can say was, well, at least that's over now.

Interleague: Double Trouble: Dragons v Seibu Lions & Chiba Lotte June 10th - 16; I didn't care about interleague in the first place!

Well, we're back for inter-league play and for the sake of convenience I'm doing two reports in one go. Fair? Good. Let's get going.

It was a battle of the pitchers on Friday night for Game 1 against the Seibu Lions in Saitama.

Former Giants and Fighters outfielder, Takahito Kudo was elevated to the starting 9 as Ryosuke Hirata was put on ice due to back pain complaints.

Jordan Norberto started on the mound and did all he could to keep the Dragons in the hunt for honours.  His quick motion kept the Lions on their toes as the Dominican, apart from one hiccup in the 2^nd inning where he loaded the bases, on top to keep his team in the game. Jordan threw down 130 pitches in 7 innings fanning 9 and walking 5 for 3 earned hits. Massive numbers for the southpaw.

Shinsaburo Tawada for the Lions as well was well in control showing magnificent accuracy and form with his pitches in what commentators dubbed as his best performance out of the farm. He pitched 107 in 8 innings fanning 8 and only walking two for the same amount of hits as Jordan.

Relievers on both sides would do their jobs as Yamai and Okada held for the Dragons while Masuda and Makita held for the Lions

The decisive run would come in the final extra inning off Shinji Tajima’s pitching as Akiyama’s RBI single sent Uemoto home to seal a walk-off win. 

A very close game that was decided in the worse way possible for the Dragons but that was the ball game. Top pitching from both sides made for a great spectacle.

Game 2 would be a much higher scoring affair with Yudai Ohno his second start since recovering from injury. The Dragons ace would be up against Yasuo Sano in his first start of the year.

Ohno would be the first to break in the 3^rd inning as a sac-fly from Asamura allowed Kaneko to open the scoring.  It wouldn’t be held for long as in the bottom of the inning, Hirata was scored by Nanita from a sac-fly of his own to even things up. Katsura would take the lead for the Dragons in the 5^th through another sac-fly as Donoue wandered home to make it 1-2.  Ohno unfortunately however hit a bad run in the bottom of the inning as he gave up a walk to Kaneko, a hit to Onizaki and another walk  to load the bases; the rot would continue however as Mejia elected to walk to put Lions back on an even footing. It would be however Hirata the hero in the 8^th as the captain mashed a 2-run homer, his 8^th of the season, to give the Dragons the lead.

Ohno would pitch out a complete game and close out a well -deserved win.

Hirata and Ohno showed why they were chosen for the Premier 12 with their performances today. Both showed just how important they are to the Dragons with match winning contributions.

Game 3 against the Lions would have a different complexion again. Kazuki Yoshimi started for the Dragons while Ryoma Nogami started for the Lions.

The mightly Lions would strike metal first as Mejia took the bat to Yoshimi and sent him over the fence for a solo homer, his 21^st of the season, in the 1^st  inning.

The Dragons would quickly reply however through Sugiyama as his single allowed Viciedo to score. Chunichi would take the lead in the 6^th inning after a pitcher induced lull as Donoue struck a triple to send Nanita in to score, 1-2. In the 7^th inning, Yamai was introduced to replace Ogawa and a poor throw from Kamezawa to Viciedo at first would allow Mejia a base hit and send Akiyama home to even the scores. News would get worse for Yamai as he gave up a hit to Asamura who scored Mejia to grab the lead for the Lions. Masuda was brought in to end proceedings and did a good job of it giving up just the one hit to Kamezawa before closing out to claim the save.

Shota Takekuma grabbed his 3^rd win of the season as Yamai lost his 7^th game, ranking him as the least successful pitcher in the Central League.

A bittersweet series to end the road tour on, but they were hard fought on both sides. The pitchers prevailed during the series with both Seibu and Chunichi lads fronting up great performances. 

For the Lions perspective on the games, be sure to check out the lads at Graveyard Baseball for all things Seibu. The boys over there do a lot of good work.

Our second last inter-league match of the year (barring play-offs; HAH) would be up against the Chiba Lotte Marines. Now I have a soft spot for the Marines, the first game of baseball I ever saw was an inter-league game between the Marines and the Dragons at QVC stadium plus I live in Chiba so it’s hard not to like them at least a little bit (plus I really like Kakunaka).

Anyway, the first game would be in Gifu as the Dragons took one of their home games to Nagaragawa ball park. This is another personal little thing for me as I fell in love with the Dragons while living in Gifu!

Shinnosuke Ogasawara was in my mind scheduled to start this game, but Tanishige had other plans as he started the most veteran of the pitching staff, Raul Valdes. Ayumu Ishikawa would be the opponent and a tough one at that as the Lotte pitcher has already won 6 of his 9 games this season.

Lotte would be the ones to take an early lead in Gifu as Kakunaka’s single sent Hosoya home to score.  Yamaico Navarro would then step up and stamp his authority on the game by rifling a homer into the upper tiers of the stands to make it 0-3.

Valdes would go some way to atoning for his pitching in the 3^rd inning as his base hit sent Donoue into score, 1-3. Hirata’s heroics would then get Dragons hopes up with his solo homer in the 6^th to make it 2-3.

However it wasn’t to be as a Kiyota solo shot in the 9^th ended all hopes of a fight back to end the game at 2-4. 

Hirata was the best of the Chunichi bats with 2 in 4 but there wasn’t enough about the team to overcome a very good Ayumu Ishikawa.

Back to the Nagoya Dome for game 2 and it was Shunta Wakamatsu back on the mound  while a thus far undefeated Ryota Sekiya starting things off for the Marines.

Lotte would once again not hold back early on as they hammered Wakamatsu from the off with a lead-off homerun from Hosoya.  

Navarro would continue the scoring in the first with a base hit to send Alberto Despaigne home to make it 0-2.  Nanita hauled one back in the bottom of the inning as he scored Araki, but Hosoya would be at it again in the 2^nd inning with a two base hit to restore Chiba’s lead to two.  Things would get worse for Wakamatsu in the 5^th as he loaded up the bases only to walk Sekiya to cause an overload bringing Suzukihome. Hosoya the grabbed his 3^rd and 4^th RBIs of the game with a hit to bring Kiyota and Tamiura home to bust the game open at 1-6.

Donoue would restore some respectability to the game with his 3^rd homer of the season in the 5^th.

But it wouldn’t be enough to beat the Marines as the superior fire power of the Pac League side blasted 12 hits to the Dragons 5.

Hosoya was clearly the man of the match with his 4 RBIs with just about everything he touched turning to gold. Wakamatsu has to sort himself out as I really don’t think the Central League batters are going to be kind to him when we go back to regular season games. Sugiyama was the only real batter of note with his 2 base hits while, apart from Donoue, the others failed to really contribute postively

Heading into Game 3, the Dragons were looking to avoid a sweep at home and up to the mound came the junior, Shinnosuke Ogasawara to take on Kouta Futaki.

Giving up leads early on has been our specialty this series and the inevitable would only be delayed by one inning as Tamura’s sac-fly scored Marines captain, Daisuke Suzuki to make it 0-1. The Dragons would however find a way back through Donoue’s RBI double to make it 1-1 but the Marines would take the lead back through a Suzuki sac-fly with loaded bases as he scored Kakunaka to take a 2-1 lead. Kiyota would further extend the lead immediately after with 2-base hit to send Alberto Despaigne home, 1-3.  Ogasawara was then withdrawn for Shinji Tajima but neither team would budge from the 1-3 score line as Nishino claimed his 17^th save of the season (what a pace is that!?).

A sweep to the Marines and a first career loss to Ogasawara marked a pretty dismal day.  Despaigne was on fire for the Marines with 3 hits while Kakunaka struck two and claimed a walk. For the Dragons Ohshima and Yusuke Matsui both claimed two hits a piece in a very even game where both sides hit 7 base hits each.

A pretty poor performance overall, but the Marines are just a level above what we can offer at the moment. Injuries are taking their toll as well as we’re still waiting for the return of a host of players including Ryosuke Oguma and Shuhei Takahashi. Hirata was out of the third game with back issues as well. 

Check out We Love Marines for all the Chiba Lotte news you need and the Ouendan as well as all the Pacific League news you didn't need! 

Last of all, this week John Gibson and Jim Allen's Japan Baseball podcast this week will have our very own Ricardo Nanita on the show for a chat. Definitely check it out when it drops!

Regular Season: Dragons vs Swallows @Nagoya, May 27th & 29th; Swallow your pride

In the last series before inter-league play, the Dragons faced off against the Swallows for their second series against the Tokyo team in Aichi. The record against the Swallows hasn’t been bad this year but with Swallows killer Drew Naylor out with injury, would his replacements be able to replicate his ability?

In Game 7 against the Swallows this year Valdes would take up responsibilities on the mound for the Dragons, while Naruse would be his opponent for the evening for the Swallows.

In a change to the line-up, Ricardo Nanita was elevated to the #3 spot. Ohshima was given a run there against the Baystars and Hirata had been hitting there before his injury, but the elevation up the order was given to the Dominican veteran as he continues his impressive form.

Shota Sugiyama would be the first to open the scoring as his triple in the 3^rd to send Viciedo and Donoue into score, 2-0. The Dragons would further extend their lead in the 3^rd inning as a Hirata double allowed Araki to score to make it 3-0. Ohshima continued his great form (possible all-star?) with a triple to allow Sugiyama to score while Araki obliged his outfielder with a single to stretch the lead to 5-0 in the 4^th. It wouldn’t all be smooth sailing though as  Iihara struck back for the Swallows in the 5^th with a 2-run homer.

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Sakaguchi would then put Yakult in reaching distance with his three base hit that sent home Ohbiki and Hiyane, 5-4 in the 6^th. Valdes would then be withdrawn in the 7^th inning for Yu Sato who, showing his inexperience, put two on base before a wild pitch put both runners into scoring positions. Sato was then withdrawn for Okada who walked his first batter to really put the pressure on with bases loaded. Ohbiki would be the man to claim the RBI but at the expense of a double-play, 5-5. From 5-0 down the Swallows had crawled back onto level terms. The Dragons would be the ones to chortle at the end of proceedings however as Nanita’s sac-fly allowed Ohshima to score again to take the lead 6-5.  Shinji Tajima would be called on in the 9^th inning to save the game and did so with aplomb.

Okada claimed his second win of the season while Tajima kept his scoreless record intact while claiming his 2^nd save of the year. Nanita was the hero of the night for hitting the winning runs while Araki and Ohshima both claimed a hit a piece.

A close win that was almost taken away from the team at the death (not unlike the last loss that the Swallows inflicted on us in their last visit) but the team held on. It was perhaps a strange decision for Tanishige to throw Sato into the fray at such an important juncture, but young lads need to be exposed to these high pressure situations.

Saturday’s game would be contested between Jordan Norberto and Hirofumi Yamanaka. Jordan has been in great form since starting his Chunichi career and has proven to be an important piece of the starting rotation this year (and one of the only consistent components at that).

Scoring would start late in the 6th but Hatakeyama would be the one to get the scoreboard moving as his RBI single allowed Yamada to score to put the Swallows 0-1 up. This however sprang the Dragons into life as consecutive blows from Nanita and Viciedo invited Hirata to clean-up and even up the scores. Kamezawa would then claim the lead, as today’s third baseman hit a 2 RBI single to put the scores at 3-1. The Swallows would continue the sparring however through Sakaguchi who sent one home while consecutive RBI singles from Kawabata and Hatakeyama put the Swallows 3-4 to the good. Not great pitching from Okada who was brought in to relieve for Jordan at the start of the inning. Daisuke Sobue was brought in to limit the damage but he couldn’t stop Imanami from getting on base off as Araki let one past him which subsequently let one in to extend the lead to 3-5.  The Dragons would get back within one from a Hirata solo homer in 8^th.

The Swallows however would extend their lead again in the bottom of the inning through Nakamura who scored Takeuchi to make it 4-6.  At the top of the 9^th however, the Dragons would expose the hole left by Tony Barnette’s return to the MLB as his replacement Ondrusek gave up an RBI single to Ohshima before Kei Nomoto hit with a sac-fly to even things up at 6-6!

Into extra innings now and it was to be the Swallows that would prevail in the 11^th with Hiroto Fuku pitching. Nakamura batted in the winning runs as he did last time the Swallows visited Nagoya, while Hiyane extended the lead to 6-9. The Dragons were unable to rally in the 11^th giving the Swallows a last gasp win.

Jordan pitched well again today as he fanned 7 batters but walked 5 in his 6 innings. Tajima also kept his spotless record going as he claimed the only hold for the Dragons on the night. Kamezawa was the surprise with the bat tonight as his 3 hits rendered 2 RBIs in a very successful night for the infield utility man. Ohshima, Nanita and Hirata all otherwise pitched in with 2 hits a piece in a fairly productive night for the line-up. The game was won and lost in the bullpen today however particularly with Okada’s shocking give away of 4 runs.

The final game of the series would see Kazuki Yoshimi maintain his spot in the starting rotation following his first win last week against the Giants. Juri Hara, the rookie, would start for the Swallows. It would be a story of Hispanic heraldry as Nanita and Viciedo made big contributions.

It would be Nanita who would open proceedings in the 1^st inning as his RBI single allowed Ohshima to score to open things at 1-0. Nanita would be at it again in the 3^rd inning as he double the Dragons lead with a solo homer, 2-0.

It wouldn’t stop there in the inning as Donoue’s double sent Viciedo home, 3-0. The Swallows finally made a reply through the virtuous Tetsuto Yamada as last year’s “Triple 3” man added to his collection of RBIs as he hit Ohbiki home in the 4^th.  Yoshimi however was otherwise doing his job of keeping the Swallows honest and it was through that pressure created that Viciedo was able to do his thing in the 7^th inning. With Ohshima and Nanita on base the Cuban took no pity on the first pitch from Matsuoka as he mashed a towering homer into the back screen for a 3-run homerun! 6-1!

Fukutani was given relief duties in the 8^th but it was Okada who would close off the inning in a relatively low pressure situation compared to the previous day to celebrate a bit 6-1 win.

The “Mash Brothers” or “El Masho Duo”  were the standouts on the night. Nanita grabbed two hits, including a homerun and milked a walk for his 2 RBIs.  Viciedo would also take two hits, including his wonderful dong, for 3 RBIs in a fantastic showing from the #3 and #4.  Yoshimi only conceded 3 hits against a loaded Swallows line-up which speaks volumes of his value to the team while Ryuya Ogawa and Sobue both took home holds in a game where the bullpen looked much healthier.

2 wins from 3 for the Dragons in the last game before the inter-league break. A good way to go out. The loss and the almost loss in the first game will be of worry to Tanshige but the results are all that matter and a series win is always a good thing.

Ahead of the interl-league break, our first draft pick in 2015, Shinnosuke Ogasawara  is set to make his pro debut in a start against the Softbank Hawks. This is a game we were never likely to win anyway, so hopefully the message to Ogasawara is to go out there and do his thing without too much pressure. Looking forward to seeing how the young fella will go! He will become the first HS rookie to debut in the opening game of the inter-league play since its inception 14 years ago!

Moeyo Dragons!

Regular Season: Dragons vs Baystars @Hamamatsu & Toyohashi, May 24th & 25th; Regional agony, one Kajitani away from victory

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 2^nd inning while Yamashita batted in a second RBI soon after. Lopes struck a single in the 5^th 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 5^th 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 6^th. Yokohama’s Lopes however was having none of it and restored parity in the 7^th with a solo homer, 5-6.

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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 3^rd, 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 11^th save of the season.

One positive did come out of the game, as Doara completed his back flip to the applause of the fans.

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 2^nd. Kajitani, carrying Yokohama to victory after victory since his return, hit a solo homer into the stands in the 3^rd to make it 0-2.

Ishikawa’s double in the 4^th 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 7^th, 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 9^th 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 3^rd 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.

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 Tigers @Koshien, May 17th – 19th; Close but no cigar

After what we can call a fairly “meh” series in terms of results against the Carp it was now time to switch focus to another dosey-doe with the Tigers.

The first game would be a show of youth against experience with Yu Sato lining up against Randy Messenger. Sato would be hoping to build on his first career win against the Baystars.

The Dragons would be the one to set the wheels rolling and in a spectacular way. On a full-count in his first at-bat of the evening, Ryosuke Hirata pulled a ball into the left stands to bring up his 5^th homer of the season.

Already close to half of his total last season (11). Haraguchi would however come back to haunt the dragons in the 2^nd as he evened things up while Takayama pushed the scored into Hanshin’s favour at 3-1. Hirata would be at the centre of good things again in the 8^th as his hit brought the Dragons back within reaching distance. Pinch-hitting specialist, Kei Nomoto would then step-up to put the Dragons on an even footing with a timely single in the 9^th to even the scores at 3-3.  That wouldn’t be the end of the fun however, as with bases loaded, Atsushi Fujii was given the chance to put the Dragons in front and the switch-hitter obliged with a sac-fly into left field. Some mayhem ensued as Endo was then found out at second to end the inning. Koji Fukutani was in the heat-seat once more for the bottom of the 9^th but he was able to keep the Tigers quiet and seal a close 3-4 win in the picturesque Koshien stadium.

Donoue and Hirata were the key men with the bat as the captain snagged two RBIs while Donoue racked up 2 hits. Tajima took home winning honours for his scoreless inning while Dolis for the Tigers took the loss.

The game would also be marked by the 25^th consecutive game where Shinji Tajima remained scoreless. A magnificent milestone for the relief pitcher as he set a new Central league record. Tajima has been in top form and has shown experience and verve where his partner, Matayoshi hasn’t.

Up next, the game would feature another youth vs experience battle on the mound as a winless Daisuke Yamai took on Hanshin’s 22 yo. Yuya Yokoyama.

Haraguchi would continue his haranguing form against the Dragons as his RBI sent Itayama home in the bottom of the 2^nd. The Dragons would reply in the 4^th when Nanita helped send Hirata home to even things up at 1-1. The lead wouldn’t last long however as in the bottom of the same inning, Yamai loaded up the bases. A wild pitch was followed by a dead ball against Yamato that clearly showed the veteran is struggling with his control.  Toritani would however hit a sac-fly to allow a single runner home to reclaim the lead at 2-1. The Tigers furthered their lead in the 5^th with a solo homer from Gomez which would prove to be Yamai’s last inning of the night.

The Dragons wouldn’t go out without a whimper though as in the top of the 8^th with Fujii and Araki on base, Hirata hit a single to move Chunichi within a run of evening the tables. With runners in promising positions and Viciedo and Nanita to come, there was hope of a come-back, but it was to be for naught as both fell victim to Yuya Ando. That would prove to be the end of the scoring as Fujikawa was brought in by the Tigers to make the save and claim an important win.

Yamai’s inability to do anything of use has to ring alarm bells. How many losses is he going to have to get before Tanishige decides to get rid of him? I know injuries are bad, but surely there has to be someone that will do a better job? Games with Yamai starting are all but a default loss at present.

Hirata was the main man with the bat as he snaffled an RBI and two walks for his trouble. Apart from the captain, there were minimal contributions across the board with most of the top order taking a hit.

The last game of the series was to be another close encounter of the baseball kind as Shintaro Fujinami faced off again Shunta Wakamatsu .  

Yamai found himself de-registered from the team for the first time this season, while catcher Takuma Kato was brought in to bolster the catching stocks.

Scoring would start in the 1^st with the big Cuban, Dayan Viciedo helping Ohshima home to open the scores at 1-0. Fujinami’s control was clearly lacking as he walked Donoue and threw a wild pitch to allow Hirata to score to extend Chunichi’s lead. The lead however would be taken away from the Dragons in the bottom of the 6^th as Toritani and Fukudome hit a single and a double respectively to put the scores at 2-2.  In the bottom of the 9^th with extra inning looming, Matayoshi was given the ball to replace Fuku after the latter saw Fukudome off, but it was to a be a folly of a decision as the pitcher loaded up the bases and allowed a single to Haraguchi to end the game with a walk-off win to the Tigers.

A game of much finer margins that was probably, unfortunately, lost at the death thanks to some off colour clutch pitching. Viciedo did his job and how as he claimed 3 hits and a walk in his 4 at-bats while Sugiyama as well contributed two hits a walk plus a sac-hit to end a very productive game.

A win combined with two close losses away from home isn’t the worst way to end the week. The Dragons had their chances to win in the last two games but simply couldn’t produce at the right moments. Up next await the Giants; let’s see what we can do against them. 

On a bit of side news, former Dragons slugger, Matt Clark has made the trip back to Japan to play for the Orix Buffaloes for the rest of the season. I wish him all the best. 

Regular Season: Dragons vs Carp @Nagoya, May 13th – 15th; Yoshimi's first win, Viciedo shows off his dongs

The Hiroshima Carp have been somewhat of a bogey side for the Dragons so far this season, and it would be no different in this series as the unappetising fish stated their playoff credentials in a heated 3 battles at the Nagoya dome.

The first game of the series saw Hiroshima’s Toda up against Raul Valdes.

The Dragons would be on top early as the big man from Cuba, Dayan Viciedo, knocked his 12^th homer of the season into the stands to claim an early 2-0 lead.

 The Carp would however respond in kind in the 4^th innings with a 2-run dong from Kokuya to even things up.

Chunichi would however reclaim the lead in the 7^th inning as Nomoto, pinch-hitting for Tani, squeezed in a two-base hit to send Katsura home to score to make it 3-2. The Dragons continued to lead going in to the 9^th inning but a double given up to the veteran, Arai saw the scores equalled and Fukutani blowing his save. Going into extra innings, Matayoshi was charged with keeping the Carp at bay but after wild pitch brought Nishikawa to 3^rd base with 2 outs, a rare Donoue fumble from a Tanaka hit allowed the Carp to take the lead, 3-4. Matayoshi was then withdrawn for Okada, but the lefty couldn’t stop Maru from raking two bases to put the Carp 3 runs to the good at 3-6.  The Dragons would attempt to fight back in the bottom of the 10^th, but their valiant efforts would be for naught as Nakasaki kept his nerve to close out the game.

A disappointing game that was lost to the relief pitchers. Fukutani continues to show inconsistency and is not the stone-wall closer he has the potential to be just yet.  Matayoshi’s 2^nd loss of the season is a bit of a worry too as the always reliable one-two punch of he and Tajima has looked a little shakier lately, at least the Matayoshi half has anyway.

On Saturday , the onus was on the Dragons to bounce back after a poor start to the series. Jordan Norberto started things off for Chunichi while Akitake Okada started for the Carp.

Ohshima would be the one to open the scores in the 3^rd inning as his hit through centre allowed runners on second and third to come home to score to make it 2-0. The Carp would then strike back through a double from Kikuchi and a single from Suzuki to equalize the scores in the 4^th. The Carp the took the lead through a double from Kokuya to put the Carp into a 2-4 lead. Maru extended the Carp lead with a sac-fly in the top of the 7^th but single from Nomoto in the bottom of the inning gave the Dragons hope of turning the tide, Subsequent hits from Ohshima and Araki in the same inning evened up the scores at 5-5 to mark a sold Chunichi comeback and in the top of the 8^th, Viciedo would seal a great come from behind win with a solo homerun.

Tajima walked away from the game with his first win of the season while Fukutani claimed the save to cap off a wonderful turn-around. Ohshima was the batter to put his name in lights as his 3 RBIs from 2 hits proved to be the most productive results from the line-up. Kei Nomoto made it two RBIs in two against the Carp as a pinch-hitter, proving to be a good option in the “Tatsunami” role.

The final game, a lovely Sunday afternoon in Nagoya would be the decider to see who would grab the series win. Charged with the duties of bringing home the bacon for their sides was Kazuki Yoshimi for the Dragons and Kyouhei Nakamura for the Carp.

Suzuki opened the scored in the 2^nd with a 1-run double while Abe added to his good work shortly after with a sac-fly to put the Carp 0-2 up. Araki’s double would get the Dragons going in the 3^rd  while Ryosuke Hirata put the Dragons into the lead as his hit sent Ohshima and Araki home to score, 3-2.  Abe would reply in the top of the 4^th as he scored Brad Eldred to even up the scores.  Unfortunately for the Dragons and Carp faithful, try as they might, neither side was able to one-up the other even after extra innings. A 3-3 draw was the result  on the night, but the Dragons can perhaps consider themselves lucky as the Carp out-hit them by double.

Yoshimi was left searching for his first win of the year while no batter in particular stood out of the marathon 12 innings. Viciedo was however kept very quiet he went 5/0 to end the night with no contribution with the bat whatsoever.

A pretty "ehhhh" series but overall the batting still needs addressing. Yoshimi getting his first one of the year was the highlight along with Viciedo's two dongs. Still, have to take the good with the bad and at least the series wasn't lost.

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 v Tigers @Nagoya Dome, May 3rd - May 5th; WHERE HAS THE BATTING GONE?

Today’s post will be the beginning of my new condensed series so I can keep updating you without it taking huge chunks of time out of my life. Let me know if there’s something missing that you’d like to see added. Comment on this page or tweet at me @chunichisoul

Alright Dragons fans, it’s time for a recap of the Golden Week series against the Hanshin Tigers at the Nagoya dome! The Golden Week is a series of public holidays conveniently linked together to give people a bit of time off in May. The games against Hanshin were perfectly lined up with the week which meant earlier play times for all/most to enjoy.

Game 30 of the season was a doozy. Would the Dragons continue their good run against the Tigers or would it all come undone with the loss of Shuhei Takahashi?

In the first inning a wild pitch from Jordan allowed Yamato to reach home to open up the score for Hanshin, 0-1. However, the Dragons would reply immediately as Hirata leveled up the scores with a single to send Ohshima home to make it 1-1. Tetsuya Tani then squared one up to hit right as he sent Hirata home to take the lead, 2-1. Haraguchi would level things up with a sac fly in the 4^th, but a solo homer from Katsura in the 5^th inning combined with a double from Ohshima in the 7^th would give the Dragons an opening win to the series, 4-2.

Filthy bat flipping Iori. FILTHY.

That would be the end of the scoring and the game as the Dragons closed out as 4-2 winners. A second win and another tidy performance from Jordan Norberto who keeps showing great poise as a starter striking out 6 in his 7 innings.  Shinji Tajima grabbed a hold and Koji Fukutani claimed another save. Questions will be asked of Shintaro Fujinami’s performance however as he probably should be doing better.

Game 31 would see another sporadic appearance from elusive starter Kazuki Yoshimi. The Dragons starting rotation has been anything but concrete since the start of the season but the reg – dereg cycle that Yoshimi is stuck in is a bit dizzying. Tetsuya Tani started at third base again following Shuhei’s injury and the Tigers fronted up  Yuya Yokoyama to start things off. Neither pitcher had a win leading into this game it was to be a race to see who would get things going.

Yoshimi in for Jordan would be the only change ahead of this game.

The Tigers would get things underway in the 4^th inning as Central League RBI leader Mauro Gomez’s single gave the Tigers a 0-1 lead.  Yutaro Itayama added another to the score as he put Fukudome home. Haraguchi would rub more than a fair share of salt into the wounds  as with Itayama and Gomez on base, Yoshimi’s pitch was abruptly dispatched into the bleachers for a 3-run homer, his first as a pro; 0-5 on the scoreboard.

The flurry continued In the 5^th as Gomez was at it again getting two RBIs this time to make things 0-7. Not good reading for Dragons fans! Yoshimi was rightfully withdrawn following his poor showing for Ryuya Ogawa. Another pitcher change however would inspire more scoring as Hiroto Fuku gave up RBIs to Hojoh and Haraguchi to put the game beyond all doubt at 9-0. Haraguchi was at his best while Yoshimi was at his worst in a poor, one sided loss to the Tigers. 

The Dragons only managed 3 hits in this game (Araki with two of them) and looked absolutely dire at times with the bat. Credit to the Tigers pitchers for doing the job (17 hits!) as they completely  destroyed us on the day.  It was Yoshimi’s first loss in 2 years (a lot of it has been out injured) and 6 years since conceding 5 runs in a single inning in what was an uncharacteristic performance from a man that has notched 20 win seasons.  

The game was also marked by a second consecutive no-hitter from Dayan Viciedo, but the big man wasn’t in the worrying mood following the game as he is happy with how he’s swinging.

Game 32 was to be another one not to write home about for the Dragons as the batting line-up once again failed to launch.

Hernandez was promoted for the error-prone Masahiko Morino and Yoshimi was also de-regged from the team to end the changes to the squad.

Ryosuke Oguma and Randy Messenger would start on the mound for their respective teams but it was the former who would be ruled out early on as he went down with injury. Haraguchi returned a pitch right at Oguma and struck him on the right forearm. Looks like it stings.

The most positive highlight for the Dragons would come early, as Nanita pulled of a worldy to keep Hanshin out of the game.

Hanshin wouldn’t really do much better with the bat today but they did it when it mattered in the 7^th inning when Daisuke Yamai was put into the stands by a Yamato home solo homer to put the scores at 1-0 where the game would end.

 The only real positive to come out of the game today was that Nanita continues his fantastic form with the bat as he got another safe hit away. Yamai’s 4^th loss already this season does for damning reading and Oguma’s injury adds to an increasingly long list of players with niggles and pains.

It wasn’t to be a very golden week for Dragons fans, but the Tigers did deserved to win the last two games. One win was all we could come away with and it left the Dragons on an even .500 winning percentage safely sitting in 4^th place.

In other news Yudai Ohno is back in training following his elbow discomfort with the hope of making a comeback this month. With Oguma now out as well and Yoshimi still being used sparingly, the starting stocks are looking a little bare as the Dragons look for someone with a reliable arm.