June 7th, 2009
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 3
Tokyo Yakult Swallows 0
Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: LLWWL
(Jingu Stadium)
This was a game where pitching dominated and chances were at a premium, with the Fighters taking their’s to edge it and take the victory.
Ryo Kawashima started for the birds, and did well but just didn’t get any run support. Whatsoever. Ryo pitched six innings, giving up two runs off three hits, striking out five. He also walked one and hit one man, both of which would prove costly. He took the loss to tie up his record at 4 and 4 to go with his 3.439 ERA.
It wasn’t until the 4th inning until either team got a hit, with a Tsuboi single breaking Kawashima’s perfect game.
But it took the Swallows until the bottom of the 5th to register a hit against Hokkaido’s starter Takeda. Singles from Hatakeyama and Miyamoto put men on first and second with one out as Tokyo found themselves with a chance to take the lead. But Tanaka hit into a double play and the chance was gone.
The Fighters created their first chance of the game in the top of the 6th, and unlike Tokyo, they took it. A dead ball put the leadoff runner on, then a walk followed by two timely singles from Inaba and Takahashi made it 2-0 Hokkaido.
They added another in the 8th from a Takahashi sacfly against reliever Kida (5.400) and it was 3-0 Hokkaido.
Tokyo had another chance to out a run on the board in the bottom of the 8th. A two-out Yuichi double (pinch hitting for Tanaka) saw Kawabata pinch hit for Aikawa. He hit one deep along the first baseline but a superb diving Inaba catch ended the inning. Why oh why did we let that man go?
And that was pretty much that as it ended 3-0.
Both teams had shared only seven hits with Hokkaido edging things 4-3.
The two teams return to Jingu Monday evening for their last game of 2009, with the Fighters leading the season series 2-1.
About David Watkins
