September 2nd, 2009
Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4
Streak: Lost 6 Last 5: LLLLL
(Koshien)
Luckily for the surging Tigers, Takada plugged Masubuchi into the lineup for his first start of the year. One could probably argue that this was not the wisest time to do such a thing, but we’ll get to that later.
Tokyo’s starting lineup:
1. Fukuchi (LF)
2. Tanaka (2B)
3. Aoki (CF)
4. D’Antona (1B)
5. Iihara (RF)
6. Miyamoto (3B)
7. Kawashima (SS)
8. Aikawa (C)
9. Masubuchi (P)
Masubuchi’s start is best summed up by a quick look at the fifth inning. After getting Toritani to fly out to center, Masubuchi walked both Kanemoto and Arai. He got out number two on a strikeout of Brazell, but then the bases filled up on his third walk of the inning, this time a free base for Katsuragi. Hanshin’s catcher, Kanou, reached second on a drive to left that played around near the wall and allowed all three of the hitters that Masubuchi walked to score.
At that point it was 7-1 Hanshin, and that was it for Masubuchi who took the loss and has a robust 12.60 ERA to work on from here on out (if Takada doesn’t immediately send him back down to the farm, that is…a distinct possibility). His control was absolutely horrid as he walked six batters and threw two wild pitches for good measure. With eight hits mixed in there, that’s a RIP of 2.8! All seven of those runs mentioned earlier were earned.
Tokyo’s biggest inning came in the sixth when Tanaka scored from second on an Iihara double. Aoki moved over to third on the play. Miyamoto’s subsequent single to center scored both Aoki and Iihara to put the score at 7-4 Hanshin.
But that was as close as things would get as Toritani, who is getting his bat on everything lately, hit a two run homer off of Tokyo reliever Matsui to reveal a 9-4 scoreline.
Matsui went on to retire the next five batters he faced to push his ERA up to 4.50. Kamada (4.50) pitched the eighth and allowed one baserunner but got out of the inning unharmed.
The brightest spot on offense was Tanaka who had a three-hit game and crossed home plate twice. Iihara, playing in place of Guiel, had two hits and scored one run.
Otherwise, this was another game to forget.
TAKADA COUNT: 11
That’s for starting an untested and unproven pitcher in the most important series the team has come up against in the last six weeks.
The birds have now dropped six straight, and it is beginning to look like my prediction a few games back may ultimately prove to be a bit too kind. Tokyo may not recover from the current slump (now entering its fifth week) because the team is thinking and playing like it’s going to lose. There is little suggesting that Takada knows how to recreate a positive environment in the locker room, so we may be down to one final hope.
Everyone knows what I’m talking about here–the hope that Takada will not be given another contract to pilot this team.
And let’s be honest, the team is in zero danger of catching the Dragons even if they do miraculously hold on to third place in the Central League. That means that the first round of the playoffs would be played in Nagoya against a much deeper Dragons team that has infinite playoff experience over the last few years.
With that idea in mind, we should start viewing each one of the bevy of losses likely coming our way over the waning weeks of the 2009 campaign as an investment in the team’s future. If the team keeps losing, there’s an outside chance that we may get a fresh start next season.
Too bad top draft picks aren’t tied to dismal team performance in NPB.
About Christopher Pellegrini
