July 29th, 2011
Yomiuri Giants 0
Tokyo Swallows 2
Streak: Won 1 Last 5: WLWLW
(Fukushima)
Muranaka loves pitching against the Giants; gets first complete game win and second of the year against the Giants.
Tokyo:
I did it again. I'm 2-0 against these losers!!
- Aoki (CF)
- Tanaka (2B)
- Kawabata (SS)
- Hatakeyama (LF)
- Whitesell (1B)
- Miyamoto (3B)
- Balentien (RF)
- Kawamoto (C)
- Muranaka (P)
Yomiuri:
- Sakamoto (SS)
- Ohmura (RF)
- Ramirez (LF)
- Chono (CF)
- Abe (C)
- Fields (3B)
- Ogasawara (1B)
- Terauchi (2B)
- Sawamura (P)
As I looked at the probable starters for this game, I knew Swallows would be facing a tough task against Sawamura. In a rematch of the Swallows July 15th win, Sawamura and Muranaka were on the mound for this match in Fukushima.
After the Giants went down in order to start the game, the late-comers would miss all the runs. On a 3-1 count, Aoki started the scoring with a solo shot that careened off the left-field foul pole. 1 – 0 Swallows
Let's get this party started. 1 - 0 Swallows
Tanaka followed with an infield single off of Sawamura’s glove. Due to a shuffling of the batting order, up next was Kawabata. With Tanaka on first and nobody out, everyone was expecting the bunt. It eventually came but not before Sawamura threw a wild pitch that moved Tanaka to second. Kawabata then laid down a respectable bunt that Tanaka himself would be proud of. With Tanaka standing on second and only one out, up was “Boo”. After a lovely grand slam against the Carp last night, he was looking to add to his RBI total. He did just that by hitting a tough pitch over the head of Ogawasara, easily scoring Tanaka from 3rd. 2 – 0 Swallows
I can hit anything you throw my way Sawamura.
That was the end of the scoring for the evening.
I could end my report there but that would not give credit to the exceptional pitching that was on display in Fukushima this fine evening. Both pitchers were throwing their best stuff this evening. Fortunately for us, Muranaka came out on top. His line for the evening was:
109 pitches, 3 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 9 innings of shutout baseball. Needless to say, he was the Man of the Match.
After the 1st inning, Sawamura was matching Muranaka, shutout inning for shutout inning. Sawamura only gave up one hit through the next 6 innings. He was replaced by Ochi at the start of the 8th inning.
Notes:
- In a game that Japanese TV programmers must have loved, the game only took 2 hours and 29 minutes to complete.
- 14,255 were in attendance
- Both teams are catching the 10:10 to Tokyo so they can continue this series back at Jingu
- As I rummage through the online sports pages, it looks like it will be Masubuchi vs Tohno on the hill tomorrow.
- For those who are not in the know, there will be a short firework show during the games this weekend.
- Also, tomorrow, the first 10,000 fans will get a free sample of RibovitanD genki drink. So get there early and get all pumped up!!
Let's see, 2 wins in a row against Yomiuri. Do you think I can stay in the rotation now?
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