Regular Season: Dragons vs Baystars @Yokohama, May 10th – 12th;Tsutsugo on fire, Yamai remains ill

Before we get into the meat, here are the potatoes. Dayan Viciedo claimed the first monthly MVP award over a host of good competitors. Great stuff from the big man.

Following the sweep of the Giants, the Dragons found themselves still in Kanto as they took on the Baystars in Yokohama. A surprise starting berth awaited 2015 #2 draft pick, Yu Sato whom to my knowledge has been mostly used as a long reliever in the 2-gun. Nonetheless, Sato joined the ever changing “starting rotation” to get his first go in the bigs.  Moscoso started on the mound for the Baystars to start off the weekly round of games.

The scoring would start early with Hirata sending Ohshima home after a cracking single to draw first blood. DeNA would strike back in the 2^nd however as Hirata’s Samurai Japan team-mate, Tsutsugo whacked a solo homer to even things at 1-1.

Hirata would once again pull on his RBI gloves in the third however, powering home Ohshima into score once again to retake the lead, 1-2. A frenetic to and fro would follow but be broken when Nanita and Hernandez got to base, taking advantage following a Donoue sac fly to extend the lead to 1-3. Nanita fortuitously added to the score as a fumble from Kajitani in the outfield allowed what should have been a single to turn into a double allowing Viciedo to score, 1-4. Hernandez went to town on the next pitch as he sent one flying into the stands to record a 2-run homer and blow out the score to 1-6.

Young Tanaka of DeNA was left shellshocked having conceded 3 in very quick succession.  The Baystars would leave proceedings with a bit of bite as Shirasaki hit a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the 8^th with Tsutsugo nailing his second homer of the night in the 9^th to end things at 3-6. 

Sato claimed his first professional win on his debut. In fact, he is the first rookie since a certain 18 year old by the name of Kenshin Kawakami to get his first pro win in his first appearance. Hopefully he can go on to emulate the former Braves pitcher.  Ohshima was my man of the match however as he scored twice and managed 3 hits in 5 ABs. Has certainly been performing well of late.

Game two of the series would not have quite the highs and lows of the first unfortunately. Daisuke Yamai, still searching for his first win of the season took starting duties today while Kenta Ishida started from the ‘stars.

Scores were opened in the 2^nd inning as a Tsutsugo triple was followed by a Lopes sac-fly to open the scores at 1-0. Yamai continued in typical 2016 Yamai style, and in the 5^th inning, with the bases loaded, a wild pitch allowed Shirasaki to score to extend the lead to 2-0. Try as they might the Dragons batting line-up just couldn’t find the kick that propelled them against the Giants and the game fizzed out into a 2-0 win for Yokohama.  Nanita and Hernandez were kept dead quiet as Ohshima, Hirata, Viciedo and Donoue were the only ones to register hits on the day. Nanita marked an end to his 20 game streak of hits as well.

As for more bad, Daisuke Yamai lost his 10^th game in a row as a starter…surely something has to give.

The last game of the series started off slowly but quickly accelerated to provide great entertainment. Yohei Ohshima was the first to get on base after facing 14 pitches where he finally got a walk out of Sunada. An Araki hit and another walk to Hirata followed to load the bases which allowed Viciedo to take control as he hit two home to take the lead for the Dragons, 0-2. A single from Donoue in the same inning took the Dragons to a good early lead, 0-3. The Baystars wouldn’ take it lying down as a double from Kajitani followed by a single from Tsutsugo put DeNA back in contention at 2-3.  The scores would remain the same until the 6^th Sunada once again loaded up the bases but it was Ohshima to be the main man as his hit to second stranded Wakamatsu, but allowed Donoue to score, 2-4. Araki’s following single would again increase the lead to make it 2-5. It would however be another instant reply from the ‘stars as Otosaka, pinch-hitting for Shirasaki, hit a double to put one on the scorecard, 3-5. Shimozono would then make things even on the night with a 2 run home, 5-5.

 It would however end in heartbreak in extra innings for the Dragons as Kuramoto, with bases loaded, hit a single to score Kajitani and claim a walk-off win for the Baystars. A tale of bad luck and a lack of nerve in the final moments for Matayoshi as he gave up 2 hits and 2 walks in the final inning.  Yamasaki ended as the winning pitcher for Yokohama having pitched a single inning.

Araki gets the plaudits in the last game with his 4 hits including an RBI. The veteran is in great nick and may well bring up his 2000 hits this season at his current pace. 

A series loss against the cellar dwellers coming off a fantastic sweep of the Giants goes to show what the Dragons are made of really. We’re not a dominant team but on our day we’re as good as anyone else. Unfortunately there may not be enough good days this season to see us to the play-offs but on current value there’s more there than there was at the beginning of the season. Injuries to starting pitchers will however be a strong spine to the opening quarter of the season narrative.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Filthy bat flipping Iori. FILTHY.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Writer's Update

Hi guys,

Just letting you know that I haven't forgotten about the blog.  I am implementing a new style of reports that I'm still tinkering with and with the birth of my first child, I've been a bit wrapped up with the family side of things.

Another reason for my, ahem, lack of productivity was due to my office cracking down a bit on non-work related browsing so I haven't been able to get things up quite as often as I'd like.

Here's my work plan for you just to let you know how when the reports will go up until I catch up to the current Baystars series.

Starting today (Japanese Time)

Wednesday: Dragons v Hanshin Tigers Report
Thursday: Babe Ruth Cup (2-Gun) Report
Friday: Dragons v Yomiuri Giants Report

That's what I'm aiming for at the moment. I may be able to get things done a bit quicker, but I don't want to stretch myself just yet. Most posts will be up in the evening (JST).

Thanks for your understanding. I'll hopefully be back on track by sometime next week.


Scott

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.