As we’re just about halfway through the
season, I thought I would do a run-down of how all the new guys are doing. This
report will include all the 2015 draft picks as well as the new foreign guys
that have come in this season.
Draft 2015
#1 – Shinnosuke Ogaswara (Tokai University
Sagami High)
The young bloke had a shaky start to life
in the Western League as he regularly gave up big runs and lots of walks. He
was however entrusted with starting duties against the Hawks, Buffaloes and
Marines in inter-league play and walked away with just one loss from his 3
games, pitching rather well. Early signs show that he might be a Wakamatsu style
pitcher throwing 4-seam fast-balls mixed with regular change-ups, but the hope
is that he can get his curve and slider into the zone to open up his armory a
bit more. Early signs are good for the youngster who may well be the best 1st
draft pick-up in a while.
2-gun stats: 6 games, 2L, 26.1 IP, 22 SO,
5.47 ERA
1-gun stats: 3 games, 1L, 15 IP, 10 SO,
3.60 ERA
#2 – Yu Sato (Tohoku Fukushi University)
Sato has also seen some first team action already
this year and became the first Dragons player since Kenshin Kawakami to claim a
win in a starting debut in his performance against the Yokohama Baystars. He
was used as a reliever a couple of games later much to the dismay of many and
hasn’t been seen in the first-team since. Looks like he could still be good in
the time to come.
2-gun stats: 8 games, 1W1L, 22.1 IP, 16 SO,
3.22 ERA
1 gun stats: 4 games, 1W, 10.2 IP, 7 SO,
5.91 ERA
#3 – Takuya Kinoshita (Toyota)
The industrial league’s best catcher was
brought in to give more competition to Katsura and Sugiyama but has only seen
one match in the 1st team so far and that was from the bench. Takuma
Kato was preferred over him on opening day, but it looks like he is finding his
feet in the 2-gun with some good batting on show. Next year he will probably be
in the mix to be the 3rd catcher off the rank.
The young lefty has been probably the most
frequently used by Tanishige this season. He showed good promise in the
pre-season open games and has obviously been showing the right stuff in
training. Deployed mostly as a long-reliever this year he has done reasonably
well. He got his first win when Drew Naylor went down with injury after one
batter in May against the Giants, and has otherwise been thereabouts in the
bullpen. Recently he hasn’t seen much time I believe due to the resurgence of
Takuya Okada and the emergence of Ryuya Ogawa.
1-gun stats: 22 games, 1W1L, 4 HLD, 36.2
IP, 27 SO, 4.17 ERA
#5 – Toshiki Abe (Honda)
Abe was given Wada’s #5 by management which
should give some indication of expectation, but the utility infielder has
struggled a bit adapting to the pro game. He has only featured in the Western
League so far and has been at the end of a few errors in the field and hasn’t
really been doing a whole lot with the bat either. Given the other options
ahead of him for the infield positions, there’s next to no chance we’ll see him
in the first team this year.
Not much to really say about Ishioka. He
was injured at the beginning of the season and has just started getting back
into the swing of things. He has looked very good in his showings in the
Western League so far but it is a bit early to tell as to how far he can
continue his form. A good batting infielder by the looks and he may well get a
look-in for the first team this season if all goes well.
This one has me scratching my head now.
Ohba was the Dragons first signing of the season through a cash settlement with
the Hawks. My initial thought was that he might be another piece to put in our
starting rotation, but he hasn’t seen any time in the first team at all. Not
only that, but he’s been limited in his action with the 2-gun as well. As a
youngster Ohba was very highly though of and had 6 teams after him in the draft
where the Hawks claimed him, but I really don’t understand why just yet.
2-gun stats: 7 games, 2L, 16.1 IP, 7 SO,
6.06 ERA
New Foreign Players
#1 – Dayan Viciedo (Chicago White Sox)
Well, the Dragons were missing homeruns
last season and Viciedo has provided them. The Cuban announced himself with 3
homeruns in consecutive games of the opening series of the season against the
Hanshin Tigers to set a record for the first foreign player to do so. He hasn’t
just been hooking balls into the left stand either as he has been placing
homers all over the park. His early pace saw him on track for a 40+ homer
season, but pitchers have been able to find him out a bit more recently. Tigers
manager, Tomoaki Kanemoto mentioned early on that Viciedo was weak to dropping
balls like curves and forks and that seems to have become standard across Japan
now when approaching him. Still, Viciedo’s presence has been immense and “El
Tank” has become an instant fan favourite and a constant starter at first-base
for the Dragons.
Jordan came into the team as a respected
long-relief pitcher with experience in the MLB but Tanishige and the pitching
staff started to turn him into a starter as soon as he got off the plane.
Norberto made his debut as a relief pitcher against the Tigers, but has since
been a constant part of the starting rotation. The lefty has the stamina of an
ox and is as miserly as Ebenezer Scrooge, barely giving up an inch when on the
mound. He and Viciedo have easily been two of the best pick-ups in the
off-season for dare I say it the entire central league.
2-gun stats: 1 game, 1W, 5 IP, 4 SO, 0.00
ERA
1-gun stats: 11 games, 4W1L, 66.1 IP, 53
SO, 2.04 ERA
#3 – Juan Jaime (Atlanta Braves)
The Dominican closer was highly touted on
his introduction to the team as a man that could throw a 163km/h fast-ball. He
hasn’t had the chance to show it however as he injured his shoulder in Spring
training. Given the woes with Koji Fukutani this year, he may well have been a
handy player to have. He has however just recently come back from injury and is
getting in some bull-pen practice. We might see him in the first-team if
Tanishige can sacrifice one of Viciedo, Hernandez, Norberto or Nanita.
#4 – Luis Septimo (Chicago White Sox)
Septimo, another Dominican, was brought in
just earlier this month after some time spent training with the team. He’s only
pitched one game so far for the farm team so we’re not sure just yet what he
can offer. I’ve heard him described as a closer but he may well be a starter.
2-gun stats: 1 game, 1 IP, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
(Stats correct as of the 23rd of
June 2016)
Also, just as a note to you all, I have
mentioned it on the twitter page, but I have been updating a lot of the DragonsWikipedia pages. A lot of pages are still stubs but I’m filling in information
when I get the time. The best of my work so far is Shuhei Takahashi, Yudai Ono
and Shinnosuke Ogasawara. Feel free to ch-ch-ch-check it out.
The last round of interleague play would bring about old
foes, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. The Fighters are probably best known
abroad for fostering the growth of Texas Rangers ace, Yuu Darvish as well as
home of the man that may follow in the aforementioned’s footsteps, Shohei
Ohtani. To Dragons fans, at least in recent memory, the Fighters were the team
that they traded Japan Series blows with in 2006 and 2007, the latter series
where the Dragons clinched their J-Series title in 53 years off the back of a
Daisuke Yamai and Hitoki Iwase combined, sphincter clinching, 1-0, perfect
game.
Game 1 at the Nagoya dome would see Jordan Norberto face off
against Luis Mendoza. Both pitchers went pound for pound the whole game with
Jordan pitching 115 balls in 7 1/3 scoreless innings for 8 strikeouts. The
Dominican has put in some great shows of stamina recently and his accuracy as
well has to be applauded. Mendoza went 7 innings pitching a comparatively
economic 88 deliveries with 6 strikeouts and 3 hits conceded.
The deciding event of the game would be a combination
between old hands, Yohei Ohshima and Ryosuke Hirata. Ohshima got to first only
to be bunted ahead by Araki. Hirata stepped up to take a two base hit and send
his lead-off hitter home to end the scoring at 1-0 in the 4th
inning.
Commentators made mention of the vague similarity to Yamai
and Iwase’s heroics 9 years ago, and apart from the 5 hits that Jordan
conceded, it was pretty close to replay as Tajima took his 4th save
of the season to end the game.
Game 2 would see another appearance from the re-born Yudai
Ohno on the mound as he faced off against Mitsuo Yoshikawa to try and win the
series for the Dragons.
Hirata would be the hero once again as his solo homer in the
bottom of the first set the Dragons off to a winning start.
Takuya Nakajima however would take advantage of a wayward
Ohno in the 5th inning after the bases were loaded up with a single
to even the scores. The Dragons would however retake the lead in the 6th
through that man, Hirata as he sent Araki home after his successful steal, 2-1.
Nanita would add to the carnage through a two-base hit to allow Hirata to score
and make it 3-1. Brandon Laird however gave the Fighters hope in the 9th
through a solo homer of his own.
It was however to be of no consequence as Tajima settled and
took out Asama and Ushino consecutively to end the game and claim the save.
Hirata was “da man” with his two game deciding hits while
Nanita, Ohshima and Hernandez all chipped in with hits of their own to
contribute to the victory. Ohno threw
down 7 innings with 3 strikes and 3 walks or 1 earned run while Matayoshi held
and Tajima made the save. Another even
game that the Dragons just edged with a bit of individual brilliance to give
the Dragons a series win.
Game 3 and the final game of interleague play would see a
battle of aces old and new with Shohei Ohtani facing up against Chunichi’s ace in
the hole, Kazuki Yoshimi. It would take until the 6th inning before
the Fighters broke through with Brandon Laird’s timely two base hit to send
Ohtani in to score, 1-0. Ohtani himself would contribute with the bat in the 8th after a bizarre
substitution of three pitchers, Okada, Matayoshi and Ogawa loaded up the bases.
Ohtani took a walk off Ogawa to give the Fighters some room at 2-0. It would take the 4th pitcher
change of the inning in Daisuke Sobue to end the inning. Daikan Yoh would be the next to add to the
lead as his single off Daisuke Yamai sent Taniguchi home, 3-0. The Dragons would try their best to rally in
the bottom of the 9th as Masui gave up a walk to Hirata and a hit to
Viciedo to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Ricardo Nanita’s
then ground out to first would allow Hirata to score to put things at 3-1.
Hernandez’s base hit would then score Viciedo to bring the scores to 3-2 and a
tense moment for Ham closer, Masui. Nomoto would then take a walk to bring the
closer off the mound to be replaced by Chris Martin. Up against the former
Fighter, Takahito Kudo, Martin fanned the veteran outfielder to end the game
and claim the save. A tense ending to a great game.
Daikan Yoh was the pick of the hitters with his three while
Hernandez and Viciedo both claimed two hits a piece for the Dragons. Yoshimi
looked good in his 6 innings as he fanned 8 while giving up one earned run. The
less perhaps said about the bullpen this game the better.
An overall series win for the Dragons in some very tightly
contested but enjoyable games.
The Dragons finished the interleague standing in a
respectable mid-table 8th with a 7-11 record, the weakest team
batting average at .195 but conversely the best team ERA with 2.31.
Chunichi currently sits at 3rd on the Central
League ladder after 70 games with a .478 winning average.
The team now has a rest until Friday when the play the
Yakult Swallows at Jingu.
As for the All-star fan voting, as of the 20th a few Dragons players have popped up. Wakamatsu is the main nominated starter with 19,224 votes but Tomoyuki Sugano is way ahead of the pack with 131, 239 votes. Baystars Shota Imanaga trails him with 101,879 votes while Hiroki Kuroda of the Carp sits in third.
Shinji Tajima however sits in the lead of voting for relief pitcher with 168,852 being trailed by Tomoya Mikami of the Baystars and Scott Mathieson of the Giants.
Viciedo is second with 121,470 at the moment for 1st base behind Takahiro Arai who's well ahead with 214, 646 votes. Mauro Gomez rounds out the top 3.
Tetsuto Yamada is unsurprisingly taking the lions share of votes for second base with 252, 631, Ryosuke Kikuchi trails him by around 100k votes. Masahiro Araki however sits in 4th 10,000 votes off 3rd placed Luis Cruz.
Shingo Kawabata looks set to take 3rd, but our boy Shuhei sits third in the ranking with 63, 341 behind Giants favourite Shuichi Murata.
Naomichi Donoue sneaks into the top 5 for short-stop with 59,123 votes, but Hayato Sakamoto sits on top with 183, 373 votes.
Meanwhile in the outfield Ryosuke Hirata is the only one that gets a mention in the top 8 as he sit is 5th behind Tsutusgo, Maru, Takayama and Eldred in the voting. No sign of Nanita; what a travesty.
I'll fill you in when the selections are made but for the time being you can review the current count here.
Hirata and Tajima are probably certain selections at this stage, apart from that we'll just have to see what happens!
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 2nd 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 2would 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 3rd
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 5th
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 8th as the captain mashed a 2-run homer, his
8th 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 21st
of the season, in the 1st inning.
The Dragons would quickly reply however through Sugiyama as
his single allowed Viciedo to score. Chunichi would take the lead in the 6th
inning after a pitcher induced lull as Donoue struck a triple to send Nanita in
to score, 1-2. In the 7th 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 3rd win of the season
as Yamai lost his 7th 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
3rd 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 6th
to make it 2-3.
However it wasn’t to be as a Kiyota solo shot in the 9th
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 2nd
inning with a two base hit to restore Chiba’s lead to two. Things would get worse for Wakamatsu in the 5th
as he loaded up the bases only to walk Sekiya to cause an overload bringing
Suzukihome. Hosoya the grabbed his 3rd and 4th 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 3rd homer of the season in the 5th.
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 intoGame 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 17th 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!
The second round of the interleague series would see the
Dragons encounter a different type of poultry to the Hawks in the Rakuten
Eagles. The game took place in Nagoya for the first home games of the Pac-Cen
battles.
In Game 1, Jordan Norberto lined up against Takahiro Shiomi for this
one with the Dominican looking for his 4th win of the season.
The Eagles were the ones to take the early initiative
through Zelous Wheeler who trundled a ball over the right stand to take the
lead 0-1 in the 2nd.
The Dragons struck back immediately in the bottom of the
inning as a Nobumasa Fukuda sac-fly allowed Viciedo to score to put things back
to 1-1. That’s the way things would stay until the 7th inning when
Ginji, pinch-hitting for Shiomi, got one away to take the lead for the Eagles
once more. Okajima would pile on more pressure with another RBI single to
slowly start to take the game away at 1-3. The Dragons would not be able to
break the Rakuten bullpen however as the batting line-up failed once again to
break through. It was even between both sides with 5 hits a piece, but the
Eagles made it count and pitched well to seal the win.
Game 2 would mark the comeback to the first team for Yudai
Ohno who has been out since early May with elbow soreness. A vital piece of the
puzzle returns and makes the starting rotation look all the more impressive.
Yoshimi, Ohno, Jordan and Wakamatsu have all looked good this season with still
some question marks over Valdes and Ogasawara.
Ohno however wouldn’t make the greatest of comebacks as the
Eagles didn’t allow him to get his rhythm going in the 1st as Mogi
struck first blood with a bunt and run that allowed Okajima to get in to score.
Zelous Wheeler contributed once more as his ground-out to second was followed
by Yoshimochi coming in to score. Nakagawa would keep the pressure on after
Matsui was walked as he copied Wheeler’s example allowing Mogi to score to make
it 0-3. The Dragons continued to knock on the door all game to try and get
something out of the result, but 0-3 would be the end score.
8 Dragons hits to
the Eagles 5 was perhaps some bitter reading as with a bit more luck (and a
more honed Ohno) the result could have easily gone the other way. Araki, Nanita
and Fukuda all posted two hits each while Ohno’s return was marked with 2 Ks, 3
walks (all in the first inning) and 3 hits conceded. If we forget the first
inning, we could call it a decent comeback!
Eager for revenge, the Dragons wanted to avoid the sweep on Sunday. Kazuki Yoshimi’s safe hands were entrusted with the ball to try and set
up the first win at home in the interleague period.
The 0-0 lock would be broken in the 6th through
Dayan Viciedo as a poor throw from Mogi allowed Yoshimi and Ohshima to scurry
home to make the score 2-0. And that would be all she wrote! The Dragons held
on for a close victory that the Eagles never really looked like endangering.
Only 3 hits today from the Dragons which is some cause for worry particularly
as one of them came from the pitcher, but a win is a win is a win. Yoshimi
grabbed his 3rd win of the season while Tajima snatched his 3rd
save.
Not a great series from the batters, but there’s not much
you can do about that. The Eagles have been good this season and maybe this was
another case for the gulf between the two leagues. The Dragons sit on 2W 4L
against interleague opponents so far this year. Will be interesting to see if
we can even get .500. The coaches don’t seem to be taking it all overly
seriously though with time given to a few newer members, particularly Ogasawara.
In back office news however, the Dragons have signed a new
pitcher. Another lad from the Dominican Winter League, a team-mate of current
Dragon Juan Jaime even (and even a former team-mate of Viciedo in the Majors), former White Sox pitcher, Leyson Septimo. It is likely
that he will be used as a closer to compete with the misfiring Koji Fukutani.
That does however raise the question of who out of Nanita, Viciedo, Valdes and
Jordan will be given the flick to make room for him, but that’s something we’ll
find out I guess. Maybe if Oguma returns we’ll see Valdes de-regged to make
room for him.
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 Dragons would be on top early as the big man from Cuba,
Dayan Viciedo, knocked his 12th homer of the season into the stands
to claim an early 2-0 lead.
The Carp would
however respond in kind in the 4th innings with a 2-run dong from
Kokuya to even things up.
Chunichi would however reclaim the lead in the 7th
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 9th 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 3rd 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 10th, 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 2nd 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 3rd
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 4th.
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 7th
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 8th, 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 2nd 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 3rd 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 4th
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.
Today’s post will be the beginning of my new condensed
series so I can keep updating you without it taking huge chunks of time out of
my life. Let me know if there’s something missing that you’d like to see added.
Comment on this page or tweet at me @chunichisoul
Alright Dragons fans, it’s time for a recap of the Golden Week
series against the Hanshin Tigers at the Nagoya dome! The Golden Week is a
series of public holidays conveniently linked together to give people a bit of
time off in May. The games against Hanshin were perfectly lined up with the
week which meant earlier play times for all/most to enjoy.
Game 30of the season was a doozy. Would the Dragons
continue their good run against the Tigers or would it all come undone with the
loss of Shuhei Takahashi?
In the first inning a wild pitch from Jordan allowed Yamato
to reach home to open up the score for Hanshin, 0-1. However, the Dragons would
reply immediately as Hirata leveled up the scores with a single to send Ohshima
home to make it 1-1. Tetsuya Tani then squared one up to hit right as he sent
Hirata home to take the lead, 2-1. Haraguchi would level things up with a sac
fly in the 4th, but a solo homer from Katsura in the 5th
inning combined with a double from Ohshima in the 7th would give the
Dragons an opening win to the series, 4-2.
Filthy bat flipping Iori. FILTHY.
That would be the end of the scoring and the game as the
Dragons closed out as 4-2 winners. A second win and another tidy performance
from Jordan Norberto who keeps showing great poise as a starter striking out 6
in his 7 innings. Shinji Tajima grabbed
a hold and Koji Fukutani claimed another save. Questions will be asked of
Shintaro Fujinami’s performance however as he probably should be doing better.
Game 31 would see another sporadic appearance from elusive
starter Kazuki Yoshimi. The Dragons starting rotation has been anything but
concrete since the start of the season but the reg – dereg cycle that Yoshimi
is stuck in is a bit dizzying. Tetsuya Tani started at third base again
following Shuhei’s injury and the Tigers fronted up Yuya Yokoyama to start things off. Neither
pitcher had a win leading into this game it was to be a race to see who would
get things going.
Yoshimi in for Jordan would be the only change ahead of this
game.
The Tigers would get things underway in the 4th
inning as Central League RBI leader Mauro Gomez’s single gave the Tigers a 0-1
lead. Yutaro Itayama added another to
the score as he put Fukudome home. Haraguchi would rub more than a fair share
of salt into the wounds as with Itayama
and Gomez on base, Yoshimi’s pitch was abruptly dispatched into the bleachers
for a 3-run homer, his first as a pro; 0-5 on the scoreboard.
The flurry continued In the 5th as Gomez was at
it again getting two RBIs this time to make things 0-7. Not good reading for
Dragons fans! Yoshimi was rightfully withdrawn following his poor showing for
Ryuya Ogawa. Another pitcher change however would inspire more scoring as
Hiroto Fuku gave up RBIs to Hojoh and Haraguchi to put the game beyond all
doubt at 9-0. Haraguchi was at his best while Yoshimi was at his worst in a
poor, one sided loss to the Tigers.
The Dragons only managed 3 hits in this
game (Araki with two of them) and looked absolutely dire at times with the bat.
Credit to the Tigers pitchers for doing the job (17 hits!) as they completely destroyed us on the day. It was Yoshimi’s first loss in 2 years (a lot
of it has been out injured) and 6 years since conceding 5 runs in a
single inning in what was an uncharacteristic performance from a man that has
notched 20 win seasons.
The game was
also marked by a second consecutive no-hitter from Dayan Viciedo, but the big
man wasn’t in the worrying mood following the game as he is happy with how he’s
swinging.
Game 32 was to be another one not to write home about for
the Dragons as the batting line-up once again failed to launch.
Hernandez was promoted for the error-prone Masahiko Morino
and Yoshimi was also de-regged from the team to end the changes to the squad.
Ryosuke Oguma and Randy Messenger would start on the mound
for their respective teams but it was the former who would be ruled out early
on as he went down with injury. Haraguchi returned a pitch right at Oguma and
struck him on the right forearm. Looks like it stings.
The most positive highlight for the Dragons would come early, as Nanita pulled of a worldy to keep Hanshin out of the game.
Hanshin wouldn’t really do much better with the bat today
but they did it when it mattered in the 7th inning when Daisuke
Yamai was put into the stands by a Yamato home solo homer to put the scores at
1-0 where the game would end.
The only real
positive to come out of the game today was that Nanita continues his fantastic
form with the bat as he got another safe hit away. Yamai’s 4th loss
already this season does for damning reading and Oguma’s injury adds to an increasingly
long list of players with niggles and pains.
It wasn’t to be a very golden week for Dragons fans, but the
Tigers did deserved to win the last two games. One win was all we could come
away with and it left the Dragons on an even .500 winning percentage safely
sitting in 4th place.
In other news Yudai Ohno is back in training following his
elbow discomfort with the hope of making a comeback this month. With Oguma now
out as well and Yoshimi still being used sparingly, the starting stocks are
looking a little bare as the Dragons look for someone with a reliable arm.
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.
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!
The young bloke had a shaky start to life
in the Western League as he regularly gave up big runs and lots of walks. He
was however entrusted with starting duties against the Hawks, Buffaloes and
Marines in inter-league play and walked away with just one loss from his 3
games, pitching rather well. Early signs show that he might be a Wakamatsu style
pitcher throwing 4-seam fast-balls mixed with regular change-ups, but the hope
is that he can get his curve and slider into the zone to open up his armory a
bit more. Early signs are good for the youngster who may well be the best 1st
draft pick-up in a while.
Well, the Dragons were missing homeruns
last season and Viciedo has provided them. The Cuban announced himself with 3
homeruns in consecutive games of the opening series of the season against the
Hanshin Tigers to set a record for the first foreign player to do so. He hasn’t
just been hooking balls into the left stand either as he has been placing
homers all over the park. His early pace saw him on track for a 40+ homer
season, but pitchers have been able to find him out a bit more recently. Tigers
manager, Tomoaki Kanemoto mentioned early on that Viciedo was weak to dropping
balls like curves and forks and that seems to have become standard across Japan
now when approaching him. Still, Viciedo’s presence has been immense and “El
Tank” has become an instant fan favourite and a constant starter at first-base
for the Dragons.
