September 21st, 2012
Tokyo Swallows 4
Yomiuri Giants 6
Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: WWWWL
(Tokyo Dome)
I want to be remain thankful and happy that the birds swept the last two series at a time when they really needed to. But no, it’s hard to be grateful when you drop the game that ensures the pennant for Gomiuri.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| Yomiuri | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | X | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| W: Utsumi (14-6; 1.90 ERA) L: Masubuchi (2-6; 5.57 ERA) S: Nishimura (3-1; 30S; 1.06 ERA) | ||||||||||||
Just be thankful that you weren’t there to witness the celebration.
Nauseating.
Tokyo | Order | Yomiuri |
|---|---|---|
| Yuhei (CF) | 1 | Chono (CF) |
| Tanaka (2B) | 2 | Fujimura (2B) |
| Miyade (1B) | 3 | Sakamoto (SS) |
| Balentien (RF) | 4 | Abe (C) |
| Kawabata (SS) | 5 | Yano (RF) |
| Miyamoto (3B) | 6 | Murata (3B) |
| Iihara (LF) | 7 | Kamei (1B) |
| Nakamura (C) | 8 | Tani (LF) |
| Muranaka (P) | 9 | Utsumi (P) |
The only major change to the lineup was at first base where Miyade took over for Yuichi.
And the move paid off as Miyade had one of the best days at the plate that we’ve ever witnessed. His double and homer in consecutive at-bats accounted for three RBI, so he was largely responsible for keeping the Swallows in this game. The home run, his third of the year, came with the Swallows down 4-1 in the fifth inning. Miyade continued a little two-out rally started by Yuhei and Tanaka, and managed to tie the game up.
But the Giants eventually won it in the sixth when Masubuchi, entering his third inning of long relief (yup, Muranaka got yanked after only three frames),
Oops.
lost the strike zone a little bit. He eventually lost the game as well as both of those runners came around to score, and there’s your ballgame.
In addition to Miyade, Tanaka also had a great day at the plate. He was three for four and scored twice. Tokyo’s only other run, scored in the fourth, came with one out and both Tanaka and Miyade on base. Balentien smacked the first of his two singles into right field to bring the score to 1-4 in Yomiuri’s favor.
Yuhei also deserves props for his 2-5 night, and Kawabata also chipped in with a single.
Muranaka had a rough night on the mound and lasted only three innings. He was lucky not to factor into the decision. He threw 52 pitches and surrendered only two hits, but one of them was a solo shot by Abe in the second inning. He had zero strikeouts and five walks (one intentional) while getting tagged with three earned runs. His ERA blossomed to 3.94.
Masubuchi’s ERA heaved to 5.57.
Matsui faced only one batter and issued a five-pitch walk after Masubuchi had been yanked after the first two batters of the sixth inning. His runner didn’t cross home plate though. Both of Masubuchi’s did, however, and that’s why he got saddled with the loss.
Hidaka (3.28 ERA), Oshimoto (3.62), and Shoda (2.70) kept the Giants off the board for the remainder of the game.
Game two of this series is tomorrow starting at 2PM. Hopefully the Giants are still reeling from a four-alarm hangover tomorrow afternoon.
Notes:
Miyamoto, Iihara, and Nakamura were a combined 0-9 at the plate. Miyamoto earned the team’s only free pass on a walk in the fourth.
Yomiuri is going to win the season series against us. With two games remaining, they’re currently ahead with a 10-7-4 record.
46,290 allegedly paid to see this game.
Tanaka is on fire. Over the past seven games, he’s had three 3-hit and three 2-hit games. That’s a seven-game batting average of .586, and he’s also chipped in with three RBI, a walk, and a HBP.
Tokyo’s tall guy upstaged some bigger names in the lineup.
About Christopher Pellegrini
