May 24th, 2009
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 8
Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5
Streak: Lost 2 Last 5: WLWLL
(Jingu Stadium)
Tokyo made a late attempt at a comeback after going behind 7-0 but it was a case of too little too late as they were brushed aside by the Interleague pace-setting Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
Ryo Kawashima started for Tokyo and had one of his lesser outings, as he gave up five runs (four earned) off six hits in five innings of work. He also struck out five and walked three as he was tagged with the loss to tie up his record at 3 and 3 for the year with his ERA now at 3.890.
With the Swallows now back on their homefield they switched back to CL rules after using a DH for the last four games on PL turf:
- Kawashima Keizo (SS)
- Miyamoto (3B)
- Aoki (CF)
- Guiel (RF)
- Ihara (LF)
- D’Antona (1B)
- Aikawa (C)
- Tanaka (2B)
- Kawashima Ryo (P)
Yakult fell behind in the top of the 3rd inning. Second baseman Honda hit a leadoff double before Kawasaki layed down a bunt to attempt to move the runner along. Tokyo catcher Aikawa then threw to third but was off target, the ball got away from Miyamoto and into the outfield allowing the runner to score and make it 1-0 SoftBank. Aikawa was charged with an error, and things went from bad to worse as next man up Ortiz blasted a two run homer to left to make it 3-0 SoftBank.
Hawks’ starter Ohtonari then kept the Yakult bats quiet before the lead was extended in the top of the 5th. This time it was Kokubo’s turn to go deep as he followed up a two-out Matsunaka single with a shot over the leftfield wall to make it 5-0 SoftBank.
That was the last inning for Kawashima, as he was replaced with Lee Hye-Cheon in the top of the 6th. But the change in pitcher made little difference as a double, two walks and a timely two-RBI double from Ortiz made it 7-0 SoftBank.
Tokyo finally got on the board in the bottom of the 6th. A two-out single from Aoki was followed up with a Guiel double to put two men in scoring positions. Ihara then singled to bring home the runners and it was 7-2 SoftBank.
And they would add two more in the 8th. Consecutive doubles from Keizo and Miyamoto made it 7-3, Aoki then got on with his second single of the night before Guiel brought home Miyamoto from third with a sacfly to narrow things to 7-4 SoftBank.
A solo Hasegawa homer off Hashimoto made it 8-4 in the top of the 9th before a Kawabata single and a timely Tanaka double made it 8-5 SoftBank. But that was all the scoring for the night.
Other points of note:
Lee Hye-Cheon’s numbers for his two innings in relief were: 2 runs off 2 hits, 3Ks and 4 walks. His ERA is now at 5.684. He really needs to iron out his control issues as it’s all the walks that do him the most damage.
Aaron Guiel continued his good form with two hits to go along with his RBI sacfly and is now hitting .295.
Aoki also had a two hit night and is at .235.
D’Antona was hitless in his three at-bats before being replaced by a pinch-hitter in the 9th. He is now batting .222.
Tokyo's 400-Win Legend, Masaichi Kaneda in the old threads
D’Antona was the only starter not able to get a hit as the Swallows outhit their opponents 12-9. Even pitcher Kawashima knocked out a single in the 3rd.
Today was Hiroyasu Tanaka’s 27th birthday – Happy Birthday Beavis!
Today’s loss was the first time Tokyo have lost two on the bounce since late April. SoftBank are still unbeaten so far in IL play.
The Swallows debuted their very white Kokutetsu Swallows throwbacks today, but the change in uniform brought them little luck.
The two teams return to Jingu tomorrow evening for the last game in the two game series.
About David Watkins
