October 5th, 2008
Hanshin Tigers 8
Tokyo Swallows 3
Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: WLWDL
(Jingu Stadium)
Hanshin finally overcame the Swallows at the third attempt as they eased to a win on a very wet Sunday evening at Jingu.
Tigers starter Ishikawa kept Tokyo hitless through 5 innings, by which time the game was pretty much over as a big 4th inning for the Tigers had given them a 5-0 lead.
Ryo Kawashima started for Yakult, and did well early on before getting into trouble in the 4th. Two hits and a walk loaded the bases with one out for the Tigers. Toritani then hit a double over the head of Aoki in centrefield to bring home two for 2-0. Another walk loaded the bases once more before the Swallows helped out the Tigers cause. Hanshin catcher Yano hit a grounder to third, then third baseman Kajimoto badly fluffed the throw to home, and the ball ended up rolling to the backstop allowing two runs to score making it 4-0. Akahoshi then hustled an infield single to add the final run of the inning, 5-0 Hanshin.
So Kawashima finished his 6 innings for the night, having given up five runs (two of them earned), striking out four and walking two.
Tokyo tried to make a game of it in the 6th, finally breaking up Ishikawa’s no hit attempt, with a hit from Keizo Kawashima, a double from Ihara, then a two run double from Hatakeyama shrinking the deficit to 5-2. They added another in the 7th, Atchison hitting Keizo Kawashima with the bases loaded to walk in Tokyo’s third run for 5-3.
Yoshikawa and Kida then pitched scoreless 7th and 8th innings respectively to keep the scores close.
But with Fujikawa keeping the Swallows hitless through the 8th and 9th, and Hanshin adding three more in the 9th off Lim, that was it for Yakult as Hanshin came out 8-3 winners.
Ryo Kawashima was tagged with the loss, his 8th of the year, to go with his 7 wins and 4.804 ERA.
The final game between these two teams in 2008, is tonight at Jingu.
About David Watkins
