Inter-league: Dragons vs Buffaloes @Kyocera Dome, June 7th - 9th; Dragons feast on dodgy Buffalo

Series three of inter-league play took the Dragons back to Osaka to play the talented but inconsistent Orix Buffaloes. It wouldn’t be the first time the Dragons played at the Orix home park as they faced off against the Tigers in the opening series of the season in the same place. Viciedo was on fire in his debut series and hit 3 consecutive homeruns to announce himself in Japan. Would the same ballpark produce the same results?

A few interesting duals among the two teams with old faces on both sides. Former Baystars and Dragons slugger Tony Blanco would be occupying the Orix batting line-up while former Buffalo trainee Taiki Mitsumata would start from the bench for the Dragons.

Game 1 and Shinnosuke Ogasawara was given his 2nd start of his career to see if he could claim his first pro win after he got “Fukutani-ed” in his debut against the Hawks. The Buffaloes would front up with Yuki Nishi who has only claimed 2 wins in this season from 10 starts.

Chunichi would start the scoring in the 2nd inning as consecutive hits from “El Duo del Diablo,” that being Viciedo and Nanita gave Chunichi a chance and it was Fukuda’s sac-fly that saw the scoreboard tick over to 0-1. The Dragons extended their lead in the 3rd with Ohshima hitting an RBI double followed by Viciedo’s base hit to move the score to 0-3. Itoi would pull one back for the Buffaloes in the bottom of the inning while another RBI single in the 4th from Adachi put Orix within one, 2-3. Ogasawara was withdrawn after 5 innings for Daisuke Sobue and the youngster would have to put faith in his relievers again to secure his first win. It was unfortunately not to be as Shinji Tajima, uncharacteristically for this season, gave up a single to Nishino in the 9th to even up the scores and send the game into extra innings.

It would take until the top of the 12th before the Dragons started to beat down on the weary Buffaloes. With bases loaded, Takahito Kudo’s 2 RBI single put the Dragons into a 3-5 lead while Sugiyama’s double drove 3 home to put the boys from Nagoya into an unassailable 3-8 lead. Fuku was given closing duties in the bottom of the 12th and young lefty gave up only one hit as the Dragons claimed the win.

Ogasawara will have trust issues with his bullpen after his last two games, but the youngster played well. Officially, however, the winner was Toshiya Okada who got his 3rd win of the season. 14 hits today from the line-up with a lot of them coming late on. Ohshima, Viciedo, Nomoto and Sugiyama topped the hit charts with two each.

Game 2 would be a much lower key affair with Shunta Wakamatsu and Takahiro Matsuba doing the dance on the mound. Nakajima of the Buffloes bludgeoned a Wakamatsu ball into the stands in the 2nd inning to give the Osaka team the lead.

Viciedo struck back with a solo homer in the 4th, but his 15th homerun of the season wouldn’t help the Dragons to victory as the scores stayed the same at 2-1 to the Buffaloes.

Matsuna fanned 8 bats in his 8 innings showing some good control. He ultimately kept the Dragons to 2 hits the entire game despite 2 errors in the field. Hirano claimed his 12th save of the season as the Buffaloes closer tries to come back to the form that earned him so many plaudits some years ago.

Game 3 would be a good contest with Raul Valdes and Chihiro Kaneko going head to head.

Viciedo wasted no time as he donged his 5th homer in the Kyocera Dome this year in the 1st inning scoring Araki along the way to make it 0-2.

The Buffaloes struck back through a Nishino RBI single in the 3rd but a homerun from Nanita in the 4th put the lead back to two.

Donoue would continue the scoring as he struck an RBI single while Ohshima would follow suit with one of his own. The mayhem continued in the 4th with Araki joining the party to make it 1-6. Viciedo continued to contribute with the bat in the 7th through a sac-fly while Atsushi Fujii’s 2nd solo homer of the season put the Dragons 1-8 up.

In the 8th inning, Valdes would load the bases allowing Itoi to swing and send two home, but the introduction of Ogawa stemmed the tide. Daisuke Sobue was brought in for the 9th and finished up the game, 3-8 in the Dragons favour.

The slap hitters of Ohshima, Araki and Kamezawa claimed two hits each today while Valdes pitched 7 1/3 innings with 3 earned runs, 2 walks and 2 Ks.

A great series for Dragons fans but many will be scratching their heads about the result in the middle given the dominance of the sandwich. Dayan Viciedo showed that he loves playing in the Kyocera dome with his 5th dong in 6 games at the stadium. Ogasawara was perhaps a little unlucky not to claim his maiden win once again but the 18 year old still has plenty of time to break his duck. He looks good so far, just hope we can nurture him right.

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

Another series against the Baystars would take place out in the countryside catchments of Hamamatsu in Shizuoka and Toyohashi in eastern Aichi.

Toyohashi Ballpark

Hamamatsu Ballpark

In the first matchup in Hamamatsu, Yu Sato, who got his first win over the ‘Star in the Dragons last visit to Yokohama would be looking to repeat some magic over the experienced Moscoso.

The game would also mark the first call-up for draftee #1 Shinnosuke Ogasawara who has spent most of the season so far starting in the 2-gun. 

Kuramoto would be the first to break the silence in the 2^nd inning while Yamashita batted in a second RBI soon after. Lopes struck a single in the 5^th to send one home while the Dragons mustered a reply in the bottom of the same through a Tani sac-fly that allowed Issei Endo to come home to score. Viciedo then got on top of a Moscoso pitch to send Araki in to make it 2-3. Now one away from equalizing, Hirata’s double moved the Dragons score past the ‘stars to take the lead at 4-3. Yokohama would however stay toe to toe with the Dragons though as they evened things up in the 5^th through a Kuramoto single. Now searching for the decisive winner it would be, who else but Kei Nomoto who popped up with another RBI as a pinch-hitter to give the Dragons a lead in the bottom of the 6^th. Yokohama’s Lopes however was having none of it and restored parity in the 7^th with a solo homer, 5-6.

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The game’s winning run would come in somewhat cruel circumstances however as a Viciedo fumble from a Kuwahara hit allowed Shirasaki to run in to score and but DeNA in front. The Baystars relievers successfully then put the breaks on the Dragons line-up as they snuffled 6 outs in a row in the final two innings.

Another close loss where the relievers were tested. Ogawa kept things honest after Sato was relieved in the 3^rd, but Fuku let one go while Matayoshi arguably threw away the tie with his 2 conceded runs. The reliever was relegated to the 2nd team after the game to think about what he has done and work on getting back to form. Suda was awarded the win for the Baystars on the night while Gifu-born Tomoya Mikami grabbed a hold with Yamasaki claiming his 11^th save of the season.

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

Toyohashi would be the next venue on the road tour. Toyohashi isn’t in itself awfully well known, but one of its favourite sons, a certain Atsushi Fujii, always turns it on when the team visits. Fujii played a decisive role in the last two games played in his home town and particularly shined in the 2014 fixture with a walk-off homerun. Would he be able to do it again? Well, he’d have to do it from the bench with Nanita, Ohshima and Hirata the preferred outfield three.

Takuya Kinoshita would make his debut on the starting roster as the 2015 draft pick got to see what it was like in the big leagues.

Wakamatsu and Ishida would be the starters. Wakamatsu has been the Dragons most successful pitcher this season, but with batters now seemingly more comfortable with the pitcher’s change-up(from what I can see, most batters tend to be waiting for it) he hasn’t had the best run of late.

The catcher Tobashira would be the first to strike as he scored Kuramoto in the top of the 2^nd. Kajitani, carrying Yokohama to victory after victory since his return, hit a solo homer into the stands in the 3^rd to make it 0-2.

Ishikawa’s double in the 4^th would then push the scores to 0-3 as the Dragons struggled to make an impact on the game. A reply would come in the 7^th, but not off a Dragons bat, as a wild pitch from Ishida allowed Tetsuya Tani to score and make things a more respectable 1-3. 

Fujii would make his appearance in the 8th, but there would be no hometown magic today as the veteran struck out to end the inning and most hope of a comeback.

Ishida was outstanding

The final nail in the coffin would come in the 9^th with Koji Fukutani pitching as Kuwahara launched a solo homer into the stands to make it 1-4 on the night. With the game all but over and done with, Yamasaki was called on and rightfully put the Dragons out of their misery.

Nothing to write home about but certainly the words “there’s no place like home” have a nice ring to them. Only 5 hits were mustered today, barely acceptable, but credit needs to go to the Baystars for pitching well. Wakamatsu took his 3^rd consecutive loss totalling 3 losses in all for the season. Something’s not working and I have a feeling he’s going to have to work on another breaking ball if we’re going to see something change. There were rumours he was working on a sinker in off-season but as far as I know we haven’t seen it yet.

Not a great couple of games, but we’re still early in the season. It was just a pity we couldn’t give those fans that can’t come out to watch baseball all that often something happy to go home with. At least they got to see Doara flip successfully twice in a row.

NB: Apologies for having no gifs of the Kuwahara and Kajitani homeruns. I can't find any footage I can lift and the gifs don't seems to exist on nanJ or the other 2-channel baseball forums. The best I can get is this daily wrap-up of homers on NicoNicoDouga. You will need an account to watch it. The Kajtani homerun is at about 7 minutes with Kuwahara's shortly after.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

. 

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

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

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

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

Regular Season: Dragons v Carp @Mazda Stadium, April 29th - May 1st; We don't Mazda stadium, oh no, we loathe it.

It was another 3 games in Hiroshima this weekend after a series win against the Baystars during the week. The previous trip to visit the Carp in Hiroshima was a bit of a disaster with a rain delay protecting the Dragons from the sweep, but the same luxury wouldn't be on offer this time around as the weather was looking good over Western Japanese skies as 3 games were up for grabs. The Carp have been in somewhat spectacular form of late with the batters producing a fair share of runs. Ryosuke Kikuchi has been at the heart of the batting while Maru and Arai have been making headlines as well, the latter mostly for his passing 2000 career hits in the midweek fixtures against the Yakult Swallows.

Shuta Wakamatsu was up to the mound for another start in Hiroshima after being somewhat unsuccessful in his last bout while Hiroki Yokoyama started on the mound for the Carp.

The main squad change for the Dragons was the departure of the misfiring Fukuda for the on-fire Kei Nomoto who was finally rewarded for his superb run in the 2-gun team where he is averaging over .400

Game 27 started off well for the Dragons in the top of the 2nd as a walk to Viciedo brought with it a rally of singles from Nanita and Hirata. With bases loaded Donoue hit a sac fly into right field to allow Viciedo to score to make it 1-0. Scoring would continue through Katsura who hit a single to let Nanita score to make it 2-0. Wakamatsu's attempt at a bunt would however end in agony as he bunted into a double play to end the inning.

It would take until the 4th inning for the Carp to be inspired into a counter-attack. Kikuchi was fanned by Wakamatsu but 3 straight walks to Maru, Matsuyama and Eldred loaded up the bases to put the in-form Seiya Suzuki up to the plate. A hit to centre allowed the the Carp to get back on level terms as Maru and Matsuyama ran home to make it 2-2. Abe took the 4th walk of the inning to load up the bases again but Wakamatsu escaped as he fanned Ishihara and induced Yokoyama into a ground out.

The Carp would pile on the pain in the following inning. Tanaka grounded out at second while Kikuchi hit a triple to stand on third. Maru then allowed his team-mate to get in to home with a single to take the lead for the first time of the day. Matsuyama then stepped up and hit a double into right-field sending Maru home to make it 4-2. It would end the night for Wakamatsu and bring Matayoshi in to stem the tide. But the side-arm would give up a double to Suzuki to turn the game on its head and establish a 4-run lead, 6-2.

At the top of the 6th, there would be some positives for the the Dragons as Takahashi was given a walk to start the inning. Up was brought Viciedo who hit a big dinger in the backscreen to give the Dragons some hope at 6-4.

Nanita's following hit would end the night for Yokoyama who was replace by Imamura. Hirata hit a single to join Nanita and a bunt from Donoue set the two up on 2nd and 3rd base. Morino was brought on to pinch-hit for Katsura and the veteran milked a walk to load the bases. A chance was now given to the in-form Nomoto to pinch-hit for Matayoshi but the form wouldn't convert over this time as the worst possible outcome was achieved as Nomoto grounded into a double-play to end the inning.

It would prove to be a costly miss for the Dragons as in the 6th, with Okada coming in for Matayoshi. The inning would start with the removal of Kikuchi and Tanaka but a walk to Maru stopped the succession of outs. Matsuyama then stepped up with a double to allow Maru to score, 7-4. Further damage was inflicted by Eldred who hit a single to get Matsuyama home and make it 8-4. Seiya Suzuki otherwise in fine form, fell victim to Okada with a fly out to end the 6th.

The damage would increase in the 7th as Abe got on base and was bunted to 2nd by Ishihara. Arai came in to pinch-hit but ground out at short but allowed Abe to get into an easy scoring position at 3rd. At 2 outs, Okada's pitch got the better of his catcher and allowed Abe to score, 9-4.

The rest of inning passed without incident aside from a notable triple from Ohshima in the 9th but a Kamezawa fly to the catcher ended the game at 9-4. Another pretty devastating loss to the Carp in Hiroshima. There were chances to get back into the game after going down early, but the Carp were just too good with the bat today in their home environment. Suzuki and Matsuyama were particularly devastating.

Game 28 of the season would be spell out a first appearance for Junki Ito who was in line for a start against the Giants in Kyushu before the earthquakes ensured the games would be called off. With his de-registration following that game it was reported that he wasn't in the best of moods. That kind of showed when he pitched in the 2-gun as he gave up a 3-run homer to Hikaru Ito in an 11-4 loss to Orix. I was personally surprised he was given a chance on the back of that performance, but perhaps it was a promise that needed to be fulfilled. The youngster would however be up against former Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda in what would be a David and Goliath like battle.

Ito pitched well in his first 3 innings, well at least as well as the score can suggest, but the opening innings was marred by an injury to golden boy, Shuhei Takahashi. A particularly hard pitch in the 4th rattled Shuhei's bat and also managed to fracture a bone in his right hand ending his participation in the game early. He is set to go under the knife on the 6th of May, and young slugger is optimistic that he will be back "in 2 weeks." That seems unlikely, but it has opened the way for Masahiko Morino who was subbed in after Takahashi's injury.

It was to be an untimely injury as it spurred the Carp into life. Matsuyama's ground out was followed by a Brad Eldred solo donger to open the scores at 1-0.

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 Suzuki would make way to base care of a poor throw from Morino at third bringing Abe to the fore. Abe then hit a timely two-base hit to ensure Suzuki would score to make it 2-0. Ishihara could not continue the scoring as he ground out at third and Kuroda played all around Ito to strike out and end the inning.

The Dragons crept back in the top of the fifth. Nanita and Hirata were unreliable this time around as they both fell victim to Kuroda but a single from Donoue allowed Sugiyama to approach the plate. The catcher has been very good in this pinch situations and his following two base hit allowed Donoue to score to put the scores at 2-1. Ito, the pitcher in a hitters situation was unable to help out Sugiyama at second as he ground out to a sinking pitch.

Just as you thought the Dragons were working a way back into, the Carp taketh away. In the bottom of the fifth Ito gave up singles to Tanaka and Kikuchi brought Maru to the plate. The skillful outfielder took one look at a dodgy Ito pitch and sent the following one into the crowd for a three-run homerun, 5-1.

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Matsuyama would then fly-out before Eldred took advantage of a Donoue fumble to get onto 1st base. It wouldn't matter in the end as consecutive fly-outs to Suzuki and Abe ended things.

The game was getting harder and harder to watch for Dragons fans an after the 6th inning, one couldn't be blamed for turning off the telly. With Matayoshi now replacing Ito, he took two quick outs to get rid of Ishihara and Kuroda. Tanaka and Kikuchi would repeat what they did in the 5th to put runners on first and second. Maru would then repeat the exact same thing he did in the previous innings by sending a ball into the right-hand stands to make it 8-1 with a consecutive 3-run homer.

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Matsuyama would thankfully ground out to end things but what a disaster for the Dragons.

The Chunichi boys would start things positively in the top of the 7th as Hirata doubled to begin things. Donoue tried to get things moving but his grounder to second base only allowed his captain to 3rd. Now with Sugiyama at the plate, the catcher did what he does best as he smacked another single to make it 8-2. Fujii pinch-hit for Matayoshi but unsurprisingly failed to contribute while a grounder to first spelled the end of Ohshima and the innings.

To add insult to injury the Carp would continue their assault as they took a liking to Hiroto Fuku in the 8th. Ishihara would fall early, but hit into left from Tobayashi, which was then fumbled by Nanita, allowed the Carp man to second. Tanaka picked up his third hit of the night and scored Tobayashi to make it 9-2. Kikuchi couldn't make the most of things this time as he ground out in the infield. Fuku made sure then not to give Maru a third consecutive homer as he hit the Carp man to move runners to 1st and 2nd. Akamatsu's hit however would send Tanaka on his way home to put the score into double digits at 10-2. Arai would then pile on the misery with a double, sending both Maru and Akamatsu into the sheds, 12-2. Just, ugh.

Dragons would try to limit the damage in the 9th as Hirata doubled and Sugiyama was walked, but Fujii couldn't make the difference as the game ended at 12-2. A pretty bad loss. Hirata's two doubles and Sugiyama's two singles were about the only thing to write home about and with Takahashi set to be out for a semi lengthy period, the darkness seemed to be setting.

Game 29, the last of the series, had the objective of nothing more than avoiding the sweep.

Shingo Takeyama, a catcher and Ryuya Ogawa were added to the team to replace the injured Shuhei and the shell-shocked Ito.

Aussie Drew Naylor started this game (there's a really good interview with Drew on the JapaneseBaseball podcast here) with 28 year old Yuya Fukui starting for the Carp.

First blood would be drawn by the Carp in the bottom of the first. Tanaka would be walked to start things while Kikuchi bunted him to 2nd. Maru would then again be allowed to walk while a fumble from Morino at third allowed Arai to move to load the bases. Naylor would take down Matsuyama with a strikout, but a walk to Suzuki meant that the Carp would take the lead 1-0 after Tanaka trickled into base. Naylor would be able to fan Abe however to end the inning.

The Dragons started their counter-attack in the third as Naylor started things off with a double. A high and straight one at Ohshima saw the outfielder grounded out at second while Naylor moved to third. Kamezawa then came into bat and his timely double put Naylor home to even the scores up at 1-1. Morino struck out to put two outs on the board but that wouldn't worry Viciedo as he doubled to send Kamezawa home to make it 1-2. Nanita would then ground out to end the innings.

Just to let all know, as it is golden week in Japan, I have just a few drinks to go with a BBQ, so the report may get more interesting or less coherent as we go from here. Let's see what happens!

The Carp struck back in the third inning. A walk to Kikuchi would start things while Maru would get to base at the expense of his team-mate to move to first. He would however steal second to make up for any ground lost. Arai would take another walk while Matsuyama's grounder would get Maru to third but have Arai out at second. Suzuki's single however would get the scores to 2-2 and a poor throw from Ohshima ensured runners on 2nd and 3rd however Abe was unable to make anything of it as the inning ended.

The Dragons would rally once more at the top of the 4th as Hirata started things off with a walk. Donoue singled, but after a fumble from Suzuki in right field Hirata was able to make it home to allow the Dragons to take the lead at 2-3. A hit from Sugiyama plus a bunt from Naylor would put runners on 2nd and 3rd but Ohshima couldn't make the most of it. Kamezawa loaded the bases with a walk but Morino could only fly-out to end the inning.

Chunichi extended their lead in the 5th as Viciedo and Nanita got onto base to start things. Hirata's double would send Viciedo home to make it 2-4 to the Dragons. This enforced a change for the Carp as Fukui was withdrawn for Toda. Toda however could not prevent Donoue's triple as he sent two home to put the Dragons 2-6 to the good. Toda would keep his nerve however and see out the rest of the inning.

The bottom of the fifith would break my and many Dragons hearts. Two outs would start the inning as Kikuchi and Maru ground out but the last out would remain elusive as Arai got on to base followed by Matsuyama. With Suzuki now up to bat, you wouldn't blame anyone for walking him, but on a 1-0 count he hit a single to make it 3-6. Abe continued things for the Carp as he hit two home to make it 5-6. Naylor now just hanging on gave a hit to Aizawa before Eldred was brought on to pinch-hit for Toda. The American slugger was to be judge, jury an executioner as he struck a powerful three-run homerun to take the lead for the Carp and leave a frustrated and broken Naylor to think about what could have been.

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The Australian pitcher gave an almighty yell when bat connected with ball and one could only feel sorry for him as the ball sailed over the fence to take the lead for the carp at 8-6.

Maru would return to inflict the pain in the 6th inning as after another Morino fumble, Kikuchi took to 1st base while Maru threw the bat and made another homerun to send the scores to 10-6.

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Relatively deflated, the Dragons made back one run in the final inning as Hirata made a single followed by Donoue's out. Nomoto would hit as a pinch-hitter for Sugiyama to put runners on 1st and 2nd while Fujii sent Hirata home to make it 10-7. Tani would try his best to make the most of the situation but flew out to end the game.

3 very bad losses in Hiroshima and really there can be no excuse. The Dragons were over powered in all games and didn't pitch well enough in the tiny Mazda stadium. While they were able to muster 16 hit to the Carp's 10 in the final game, it wasn't when it counted and the homeruns given up to Maru and Eldred really hurt efforts to get back into the game.

Takahashi's injury will also be a big talking point out of these games and with Morino making two errors in his starting debut this year, there will be question marks as to who can fill in there long-time. My hope is to see Donoue move to 3rd with Tani or Hernanez at short-stop. Ishikawa has been the main third-baseman for the 2-gun team, but he is far from good enough for the first-team at the moment.

Starting pitchers are also a worry as none of the three did well enough. Wakamatsu has it in him but I am worried about Naylor. I think the Aussie can be very, very good on his day, but his control and reading of the batters could be better. He may well still be settling in in Japan but if you look at someone like Jordan, you have to wonder how much that really counts. I want him to do well, but I'm worried he can't succeed outside of the Nagoya dome and Jingu at this rate. The Junki Ito experiment was one that had to be done, but well, the less said the better. He's still young though and has a spot in the starting rotation of the second team.

Bring on the Tigers for the next round of games over the Golden Week!

NB: Due to time constraints and the imminent birth of my first child, I will be trying out a much more condensed and less time-consuming method of match reports. It currently takes me about 3 hours to get one of these up and running with all the gifs. I want to continue this blog, so making it more concise is the best I can do. I hope you guys don't mind the new format.

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 Carp @Hiroshima, April 12th & 14th; Carp batter Dragons (and not in the tempura way)

Only two games were squeezed out this week as rain stopped play on the 13th. Maybe the water helped the Carp swim toward victory as they flattened the water averse Dragons in the third game of the series. A modest win would be the victors spoils in game one, but overall, it was a 13-2 series loss for the Dragons where hitting was a major problem.

Our first game was to be the first regional round for the Dragons as we headed out into the Hiroshima countryside to Kure City top play at what is a regular venue for these kind of games. The regional rounds bring teams all over the place to areas that don't otherwise see a lot of baseball or in a way to expand the fan base. The Dragons will be playing the Giants in regional Kyushu next week and will play their own regional games in Gifu city and in Shizuoka at later points in the city. It's a lovely initiative and gets the game out to more fans than the usual and gives a bit of a different atmosphere for the players.

Kure City Ballpark

Game 16 of the season would be at the Kure City ballpark as the Dragons played Hiroshima for the second time this year. The previous outings ended in a 2-1 series win for the Dragons in Nagoya with some pretty good performances to get the season rolling. What would come of things in Hiroshima though?

Shunta "Doctor K" Wakamatsu would start on the mound this game as per the rotation with Yusuke Nomura starting things off for the Carp.

Things would start remarkably well for Chunichi in the first inning. Nomura walked Ohshima to start things and hits to Araki and Takahashi quickly had the bases loaded with Viciedo coming up behind. The big Cuban slugger would continue his 13 game home run drought as he only managed a single to help Ohshima home.

With bases still loaded, Ricardo Nanita would unfortunately strike out and Fujii would make a complete meal of the chance as he ground out into a double play. The problems of the number 5 spot reared its ugly head again as it did against the Giants. The problem of Fujii not hitting his stride remains.

The Carp would turn equal things immediately in the bottom of the first. Tanaka with a single, Kikuchi flying out and Maru with a single put runners on 1st and 2nd with Chunichi OB, Hector Luna coming up to bat. A hit through centre from the Dominican sent Tanaka on his way home and Maru onto third. The Carp would turn the equalised score into a winning one when Brad Eldred hit left to Nanita, allowing Maru to run home but it was a fumble from the outfielder that allowed Luna to progress to third base, 2-1. Wakamatsu would however recover as he removed the dangerous Arai along with Suzuki to end the inning.

The Dragons would only must two more hits all game as they failed to claw the losing score back. Carp would improve their winning score in the 6th as Eldred added to his RBI with a home run, 3-1.

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A disappointing showing from the batting lineup. Wakamatsu didn't do a bad job, but he certainly didn't have much back up. Although he will be disappointed with only being able to take 4 strikeouts home with him after 8 hard worked innings. Takahashi and Viciedo both got on base twice this game, but that's about all that was positive about the batting today. 5 Chunichi hits to 9 Carp hits was the main difference today.

Game highlights:

The game schedule for the 13th would not go ahead, but starting pitcher plans would be moved to the 14th as Ryosuke Oguma took the the mound for his second start of the year. His near perfect spell in Nagoya last week was a joy to behold, but could he repeat the heat in Hiroshima? We went back to the Carp's natural home, not a stream, but the iconic Mazda Stadium.

Game 17 would be nothing less than a demolishing of the Dragons as the Carp ran riot in the home ground, driving home 10 runs to the Dragons one. Oguma, who had previously only considered one hit against the Baystars, conceded 8 hits including two homeruns in his 4 innings.

Kris Johnson would keep things quiet for the Carp.

The score would be opened by the Dragons in the 3rd inning as hits from Araki and Takahashi put the two on 3rd and 2nd base respectively.  Viciedo would then force Luna into an error (his first of the 3 on the night) at third to load the bases. Nanita would then get the chance to put his name in lights, but shorted out a couple of the neon bulbs as he ground out but allowed Araki to score, 0-1. Fujii would then put his best foot forward and forthrightly strikeout to end the inning.

The pain train would be on it's way for the Dragons in the bottom of the third. Johnson and Tanaka were quickly removed by Oguma, but it was the jackrabbit, Kikuchi that hit a single to get on base, this would be the first of many hits for the very in form second baseman. Batting at 3, Maru got the call and quite happily dispatched Oguma into the stands to make the score 2-1.

Luna would fly out to right field to make sure the pain stopped at just 2-1. At least for the time being. A rally from the Dragons would not be forthcoming as despite Donoue profiting from another Luna fumble, the lineup would not be able to make the Dominican pay for his mistake.

More excitement was to come in the 4th, if you are a Carp fan that is, as Brad Eldred decided it was time for another ball to join the fans as he smashed another over the fence to add to the homer he got off Wakamatsu in Kure 2 nights previous. 

This would be the inning that would bring the pain. Arai edged closer to his 2000 career hits with a single. Ishihara would later join him, but Johnson striking out would leave only one batter in reserve. This would prove to be more than enough as Tanaka singled to load the bases. Oguma, with his trademark pokerface looked unfazed, but a single from Kikuchi into left field would allow Arai and Tanaka to move home to make it 5-1. The scoring wouldn't stop there as Maru sent home Ishihara to make it 6-1. Thankfully the madness would stop with Luna grounding out. 

There wouldn't be a lot of time for a counter-attack thanks from the Dragons as they failed tomake anything count in the top of the 5th before the maraudering Carp went on another blitz, pressing their already sizeable advantage. Two walks to Eldred and Arai forced Tanishige's hand to pull Oguma from the mound as Ogawa went in to relieve. Ogawa would serve up another wallk to load bases. Ishihara would get a dead-ball to see another Carp float to home plate to make it 7-1. Johnson would not offer much help, but singles from Tanaka and Kikuchi put the Carp 9-1 up to beat the already dead horse of the Dragons defense. 

The last scoring play of the day would be Amaya sending home Arai to make it 10-1 in the bottom of the 6th. Shell-shocked, the Dragons seemed to give up as the game was taken well away from them. The Carp as well, seemingly happy with 10, played out the rest of the game at a much lower intensity. A clobbering that Chunichi will not be particularly happy with. The 8 runs conceded by Oguma was also a new personal low for the pitcher as he will look to rebuild in his next appearance.

 For the masochists in you, here are some highlights:

Two not so great results came out of the trip to Hiroshima but the Dragons will be back home for the weekend against the Tigers. 

So far in the aftermath, Ogawa has found himself sent to the seconds after he failed to stem the tide twice in his two appearances. Daisuke Sobue will be into the team to replace him.

With the batters failing to perform in these two games, eyes have been cast to when Ryosuke Hirata will be back but Tanishige is not looking to rush the captain back into the side. There have been suggested that he might be back next weekend against the Swallows, but I'm skeptical.