September 17th, 2012
Tokyo Swallows 5
Hiroshima Carp 4
Streak: Won 4 Last 5: LWWWW
(Mazda Stadium)
The Swallows came into the game 1 game under .500, and 3 games ahead of the Carp in the race for the third and final spot in the Climax Series. The Swallows also found out earlier than the day that Lasting Milledge would be out 2-3 weeks with a left shoulder strain sustained the previous day. Despite missing Milledge, Swallows got some timely hitting and clutch pitching to get back to .500 and extending their lead over the Carp.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swallows | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 1 |
| Carp | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| W: Oshimoto (4-0) L: Mickolio (3-5) S: Barnette (28) | ||||||||||||
Swallows | Carp |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yuhei (Takai) (CF) | 1 | Masato Akamatsu (CF) |
| 2 | Hiroyasu Tanaka (2B) | 2 | Tomohiro Abe (2B) |
| 3 | Yuichi Matsumoto (1B) | 3 | Eishin Soyogi (SS) |
| 4 | Wladimir Balentien (RF) | 4 | Brad Eldred (1B) |
| 5 | Shingo Kawabata (3B) | 5 | Yoshihiro Maru (RF) |
| 6 | Kazuki Fukuchi (LF) | 6 | Shota Dobayashi (3B) |
| 7 | Ryosuke Morioka (SS) | 7 | Soichiro Amaya (LF) |
| 8 | Yuhei Nakamura (C) | 8 | Yoshiyuki Ishihara (C) |
| 9 | Orlando Roman (P) | 9 | Kan Ohtake (P) |
The Swallows went into the ninth inning down a run, despite being up 3-0 earlier in the game. It seemed that with Mickolio in to close the game for the Swallows, the were looking for another demoralizing loss. But the Swallows weren’t ready to lie down and take the loss tonight. Miyamoto lead off the inning with a pinch hit, and Takeuchi followed with his second hit of the night. Yuhei bunted the men over which set the stage for Tanaka to be the hero. Hiroyasu was able to turn on a 2-1 fastball and cleared the bases. 5-4 Swallows
The Carp got two runners on against Yamamoto in the bottom of the inning, but Barnette was able to get the last out to close out the game and give the Swallows their first 4 game winning streak since April. The win was a team effort that got contributions from everyone, and managed to cover for some mistakes. The Swallows started the game with 1 run each in the first 3 innings, including a solo home run by Balentien in the second. Orlando Roman started the game and pitched 4 shutout innings to start the game but he gave up 3 runs in the fifth.
The Carp took the lead in the eighth after Soyogi tripled to lead off the inning and Eldred hit a sacrifice fly to score him. Despite the run, Tanaka’s hit gave Oshimoto’s fourth win of the year. Both Tateyama and the Swallows will be going for their fifth win in a row against Imai and the Carp.
Feels good to win!
About Kozo
