July 12th, 2008
Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1
Chunichi Dragons 1
Streak: Drawn 1. Last 5:WLLWD
(Nagoya Dome)
Pitchers of both sides were in the ascendancy as Yakult and Chunichi drew 1-1 after 12 innings at Nagoya Dome on Saturday afternoon.
Tokyo’s starter was Tateyama, and he had a good outing, piching 7 innings of 5 hit no-run baseball and walking 3 for a no-decision.
Yakult scored their solitary run first in the 3rd, Fukuchi and Miyamoto both receiving walks from Dragon’s starter Ogasawara, before Aoki brought home Fukuchi for 1-0 Tokyo.
Chunichi would tie level in the 8th off Oshimoto, with Ibata hitting a double to open the inning, and then Morino hitting up the middle to bring the runner home for 1-1. Oshimoto would give up one more hit that inning, but would escape without giving up the go-ahead run.
The Yakult bullpen then sprang in to action, with innings from Igarashi, Matsuoka, Lim and finally Yoshikawa yielding just one more hit for the Dragons.
The Swallows had a chance to swipe a late lead in the top of the 12th but Kawamoto left three runners stranded when he flied out with the bases loaded.
Fukuchi had 4 hits with a walk in his 6 at-bats and his batting average is now up to .310. Aoki hit a single and a double before being intentionally walked in his last 3 at-bats by the overly cautious Dragons.
The two teams meet again tomorrow afternoon at 2pm.
Also on July 12th: “Aoki as a Leader”
About David Watkins
