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 Valdes would then be withdrawn in the 7^th inning for Yu Sato who, showing his inexperience, put two on base before a wild pitch put both runners into scoring positions. Sato was then withdrawn for Okada who walked his first batter to really put the pressure on with bases loaded.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 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 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.

Regular Season: Dragons vs Swallows @Nagoya Dome, April 22nd-24th; Duels decided at the death.

The Dragons and Swallows shared 38 runs in the three game series at Nagoya Dome in some big scoring, big hitting innings that included 7 home runs. The two teams made a joke of the "pitcher paradise" tag the Nagoya dome has to serve up a great meal of baseball fit for an Italian extended family visit. The Swallows have been very up and down this year but they are still an outfit not to be trifled with. We lost two games fairly convincingly at Jingu early this year and only sweet revenge would do in the first reverse fixture. 

As there is so much action in these games, I'm going to save my sanity a little bit and only talk about the scoring innings. I've already put this report off for too long as it is! 

Game 21 of the season would be marked with the new bluish alternate "Shoryu" uniforms given out to all members of the crowd and worn by the team. The dome was a wonderous wash of blue as Shunta Wakamatsu took to the mound in the first. Unfortunately Manager Tanishige was out of the game with the flu. The addition of the day was the return of Ryosuke Hirata. Would he be able to make an instant impact on his return?

The batting didn't go to plan for the Swallows in the first, but it certainly did for the Dragons. Ohshima would lead off in the regular way and hit a single to start things off positively. Araki's hit into left would allow Ohshima to skip to third while the veteran approaching (slowly) 2000 hits sat on first. With Ohshima now in a scoring position, Takahashi would oblige and smack a single into the left field to make it 1-0.

 Now with runners on 1st and 2nd, Ishikawa on the mound for the Swallows must have got the nerves coming up against Viciedo as he walked the big man to load bases. In the purplest of patches, Ricardo Nanita stood up to the plate to single to make it 2-0. 

Hirata's first plate appearance back from injury would be an easy one as he too was walked to allow Takahashi to score, 3-0. Donoue would then connect with one to nick a single to allow Viciedo in to make it 4-0 in the first. 

With bases still loaded, Sugiyama, Wakamatsu and once again, Ohshima, couldn't inflict any further damage. 

Yakult would get back into the game in the 3rd as after a Sakaguchi single, Wakamatsu gave up consecutive walks to Kawabata and Yamada to load the bases. Vladimir Balentien wouldn't waste time putting his stamp on the game as he hit a single to send two home, 4-2. The scoring would continue with a center sacrifice fly from Yuhei to allow Yamada to score to make it 4-3. Imanami would fall victim to Wakamatsu to put two outs on the board but a single from Ohbiki would even up the scores at 4-4. Nakamura would be the last to fall to end the inning and begin the sucking of teeth among the Dragons staff. 

The batting line-up and Ishikawa would help save Wakamatsu's blushes in the next batting stanza. Nanita would start things off with a double while a ground out for Hirata allowed the Dominican to move to third. Donoue took a walk to put runners on 1st and 3rd and it would be Sugiyama who would restore the lead with a single of his own to send Nanita home and make it 5-4. A sac bunt from Wakamatsu allowed runners to 2nd and 3rd while another walk to Ohshima loaded up the bases once again. That was enough for the Swallows skipper, Manaka, as he pulled Ishikawa from the mound to be replaced by Matsuoka. It wouldn't stop Araki though, as he hit to put two runners home but found himself out as he overreached in bizarre fashion getting tagged out on the way to second base, 7-4. 

Chunichi's attack would continue in the 5th as Hirata got straight to work, teeing off on Kazahari, sending him over the fence to make it 8-4. 

Donoue's single would take him to first before Sugiyama obliged once again with a triple to send the short-stop home to make it 9-4. 

Wakamatsu, Ohshima and Araki would unfortunately leave the catcher hanging on third base as they all failed to register a hit. 

Yakult made a return in the 6th as Ohbiki started things off with a double. Nakamura would be given a walk and that was enough for Shigekazu Mori, the head coach and stand-in for Tanishige tonight, to replace Wakamatsu with Takuya Okada. A fly out from Tanaka would allow Ohbiki to third and a sacrifice fly from Sakaguchi would allow him to score to make it 9-5. Okada would then help Kawabata on his way as he ground out to end the inning. 

Perez would take the next inning for the Swallows, but the reliever would face a stiff start. After dismissing Takahashi, Viciedo took a walk before Nanita went out to a short-liner. With Viciedo on second Hirata made his next big contribution with a double to send the big Cuban into score to make it 10-5. Donoue would then fly out to end the inning. 

Yakult would score once more in the 8th as Sobue started off the inning for the Dragons. The former Toyota man allowed two runners to base before he was replaced by Hitoki Iwase. The veteran ground out Takeuchi, but with a runner now on third, Sakaguchi made contact with a hit at the second baseman to allow Ohbiki to score for the second time on the night, 10-6. Kawabata would end the inning once again as he holed out to second. 

It would not be the end of the story as the Dragons immediately replied. A triple from Takahashi to lead-off the inning made it easy work for Viciedo, as he sent the youngster from Kanagawa home to make the scores 11-6.

Fukutani would have some nerves in closing out the game but ultimately ended things without issue. 

A fantastic return for Hirata including a homer, 2 RBIs and a walk that lead to a team mate scoring capped off a great night for the captain. Wakamatsu would barely walk away with the win, but you would normally expect a better performance. His radar was off a bit today but his team bailed him out this time.  

Game 22 of the season was once again highly contested. The Swallows bat well when on song, but their pitching doesn’t run too deep. The opposite could probably be said for the Dragons who have a pretty good bullpen and a decent starting rotation with an on/off batting line-up but given some recent form there has been room for optimism.

Another Saturday night back at the Nagoya dome and the team was back in their regular jerseys. Yoshimi was thrown back into the rotation following his rest after last pitching against the Giants and it would be Swallows ace Ogawa who would start things off for the Tokyo side.

The Dragons would draw first blood in the bottom of the first. Donoue, batting at 2 today, scored a double after Ohshima grounded out at short stop. Shuhei’s ground out to first base would then allow Donoue to move into a scoring position at third. With Viciedo now up to bat, the odds of a scoring play increased but the big Cuban was given a walk by Ogawa to put runners on 1^st and 3^rd. It would however be the in-form, all round good guy, Ricardo Nanita that would send home Donoue on a 2-2 count with a hit into left-field,1-0.

 Hirata would unfortunately strikeout to end thing, stranding Viciedo on third.

Yakult would get one back in the top of the third as Yoshimi gave up a homerun to none other than last year’s “Triple-Three” man, Tetsuto Yamada, 1-1.

The scores would not remain the same for long as at the bottom of the same inning, Ohshima tripled to move to third which allowed Donoue to score him with a single to make the scores 2-1. Things wouldn’t stop there as after Shuhei struck-out, Viciedo took a liking to an Ogawa pitch to slam a double and send Donoue home, 3-1 runner on second. Nanita would once again prove decisive as he clobbered his first homer in Chunichi colours into the right stand to make it 5-1. 

Hirata would hit to get on base to follow, but Hernandez ground out into a double play to end the inning.

Life would be sucked out of the game for a short while but it would rev back into the swing of things in the top of the 6^th with Yoshimi pitching to Balentien. While the wiley pitcher removed the Netherlands international, he gave up consecutive hits to Yuhei and Ohibiki to put runners on 1^st and 2^nd, 5-2. Takeuchi would step up and his hit combined with Ohshima’s poor return allowed Yuhei to step home. Nakamura would now step up to the plate with Ohbiki on 3^rd and Takeuchi on 2^nd and the catcher hit a sacrifice fly to Hirata in right-field to allow Ohbiki to score., 5-3. Ogawa would be switched out for Tanaka and Yoshimi allowed the pinch-hitter a walk to first. A consecutive walk to Sakaguchi led to Yoshimi’s replacement by Takuya Okada who coaxed a strikeout from Kawabata to end the inning. 

Still in control, the Chunichi bullpen kept things quiet going into the final inning. So too the Yakult pitchers.

Into the top of the 9^th and Fukutani would be given responsibility to clean up and seal another win. A strikeout of Yamada set things to a good rhythm to start off, but a very nonchalant solo homer from Balentien put a bee in the bonnet as the score crept up to 5-4. 

 Yuhei would be the next batter up, and with a fly out, the count was at two outs. Only one more to go; a walk to Ohbiki however convinced Tanishige that this was the moment for an experience arm as he called Iwase up to the mound to relieve the encumbent closer. Things wouldn’t improve however as Iwase gave up a hit to Araki to put 2 runners on base. Still good. All calm, only one more. Nakamura would be the next to walk up to bat. A big swing from the catcher rose, and rose and rose….finally into the right hand stands to nestle with the green-clad Yakult supporters.  A homerun to turn things around in the 9^th, 5-7.  Iwase, in complete disbelief, finished off the inning but was obviously shell-shocked.

Ondrusek would be the saviour for the Swallows in the bottom of the 9^th however as despite valiant efforts to get back into the game from Morino and Kudo, the big American closed out what was to be an unlikely win as he struck out Takahashi with a fork-ball to end the game.

What a game. The Dragons have won in similar circumstances this season a few times already and it’s never fun being on the wrong end of it. Viciedo took two walks and an RBI today to end another good performances and the 2 RBIs for Nanita, including his first homer in Japan, was a delightful takeaway from the game as well. Yoshimi looked okay coming back but will be obviously a little disappointed with the result, but the most disappointed will be Iwase who has the NPB record for saves, who blew his chance to close out the game and add to his legendary tally.  Peres would be the winning pitcher for the Swallows with Ondrusek claiming the save.

Game 23 would see the likes of Drew Naylor, the Swallow destroyer, to the mound for the final game of the series. The Aussie has never lost to the Swallows in 5 outings, would he be able to maintain that record?  Rookie, Hara, who came up against Naylor at Jingu earlier this season started for the Swallows.

The only change for the Dragons today was the addition of Achira as a long-term reliever to replace Yoshimi. 

Things would not start well for Naylor as after removing Sakaguchi, he gave up a hit through centre to hit leader, Kawabata. With the ever dangerous Yamada up at the plate, it would take only a mild lapse in control to see the ball sail over the fence. With the count at 2-2, Naylor would be the less happier of the duellers as Yamada sent the Australian’s pitch into the stand to make things 0-2. 

Naylor would strike back against Balentien with a strikeout, but gave a walk to Yuhei. Ohbiki couldn’t make it count this time as he had in previous games as he struck out as well to end the inning.

It wouldn’t be long for the Dragons to reply as in the bottom of the first Ohshima struck a triple to move into a scoring position at third. Donoue took a walk to bring Shuhei to the plate. The youngster would unfortunately ground out at short stop, but Yohei “Speedy Gonzalez” Ohshima took off home to make it 1-2. Viciedo would however ground out into a double play to prematurely end the innings. 

Yakult would take the initiative again in the 3^rd inning as after striking out Kawabata, Naylor, now wary of Yamada, walked the Yakult 2^nd baseman. A wild pitch from Naylor would however allow Yamada to move to 2^nd. Imanari, in to replace Balentien who went off with an injury, would not profit from the situation, but Yuhei would as he hit Yamada home. However, underestimating the outfield arm, he found himself out at second to end the inning. Naylor seems to have good spurts, but his penchant for giving up early runs isn’t an endearing quality. Naylor would however see out 7 innings in the end as Takuya Okada once again came into to relieve in the 8^th inning and duly took 3 straight outs.

Akiyoshi would be brought to the mound for the Swallows in the 8^th inning and Fujii would be brought in to pinch hit for Okada. Fujii won the first battle of the inning as he managed an infield hit to get to first base. Ohshima would not endear himself to Fujii as a ground ball to short stop saw the latter out at second base. Donoue elected to walk to put runners on 1^st and 2^nd. Shuhei would then follow Donoue’s lead and take a walk of his own to load the bases with Viciedo coming in to bat.  One can only hope for the best with Viciedo. He leads the team in RBIs, homers and average. When he steps up to bat, you know something special will happen. Reasonably fresh off a walk-off homerun against Hanshin, could he work some similar magic against the Swallows? The answer? Yes. With a 3-1 count, Viciedo lunged into a tasty looking pitch and sent that little white spherical good thing into the centre-right stand to claim a game turning, grandslam homerun, 5-3.

The ball was once again thrown to Fukutani to make the save. Thankfully, the closer would find his range tonight as he ended the inning to complete the save and claim a fantastic 5-3 turn around win.

Viciedo was the hero once again and his only telling contribution with the bat today was the big one. Hirata was the best of the batter today as he picked up 2 hits and a walk in his 4 plate appearances.

Another win eluded Naylor, but it was a win 2 years in waiting for Okada. Most importantly, or least, depending on your perspective, was the loss-less streak against the Swallows for Naylor. 6 straight games against the Tokyo team for no loss. Not a bad record to have!

We had three fantastic games this week with a lot of drama, a lot of runs and some good heroes. Hirata’s comeback series was superb and the line-up looks all the more impressive with him in it. Yoshimi continues his return to full fitness but he’ll be unhappy with the loss, albeit not going against him.

Now perched at 2^nd on the table, things are looking good from up on high. If some key personnel, namely Yudai Ohno, can make a comeback quick smart, there will be not much wrong with the team that’s supposedly in transition. A very unpredictable Central league has helped things, but so far so good early on! 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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




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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Naylor got mad with
himself.

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

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

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

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


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

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