The prize at stake is restoration of Swallows pride and much more importantly, a place in the Japan Series for the first time since 2001.

M will be sending us updates and thoughts from the road over the course of this week, and here’s his first instalment. Hope you enjoy it.

The Journey. Heading to the stadium on some kind of “Dragons train” on the Meijiro Line to Nagoya Dome-mae Yada. Not only is the exterior plastered with Dragons logos but all the advertising space on the sides of the train is taken up with player statistics (such as, I assume, how stupidly long Morino’s legs are along with the record breaking size of HIS ENORMOUS FACE) and pictures of former Dragons “triumphs”. All I can think (hope?) is that it all ends over the next week… Come on boys!!

The walk to the stadium involves traversing the “Dragons Road” – a tunnel of propoganda. I thought the reason we elected governments was to protect free thinking people from this kind of mental abuse. Nauseating.

First glimpse of the scene where we will secure our run to the Japan Series. A horrible place. Maybe fresh air is not something Nagoya-jin like so they thought they would put some protection on top of their baseball stadium. I guess with all the auto-production you don’t move here for the air quality.

A few ticket touts along the bridge to the stadium. Not normally seen. Place is seeing a steady stream of people. Could be a full-house by about 1830.

Pre-match. Pitchers just announced. A HUGE SURPRISE (judging by the ‘heeeeeeeeee’ from our fans) that Masubuchi is starting this one. I guess it was a toss-up between him and Tateyama. Maybe good to give Tats a longer rest given his blood issues.

Tsubakuro is facing the Dragons fans and swinging an imaginary bat at them.
Clearly a thinly veiled insult.

Our fans are in fine voice in the pre-game singalong. A palpable tension here. Better remember to do Balentien’s ‘arch in the sky’ in the other direction now we’re in left field.

Early feedback. Not the best start clearly with two deep hits. Swallows at least showing some hitting at the top of the second. The worry with the walk at the start of the second is that Masubuchi’s confidence will drop and against the top of the Dragons` order that would be disastrous.

Individual fans getting behind Masubuchi but no concerted ‘red shirt’ effort to lift him up against a vocal Chunichi crowd. Given the importance of every inning of these games I was hoping for a little more.

Mid-Game. Masubuchi’s runs hopefully won’t expose our own recent lack of run-support. Now rolling through the bullpen and I almost sense fans and players here have written this one off. Not in a depressed way, more one of resignation.

“Lucky” 7. A rather subdued Lucky 7 from the fans here – still doing their part but not much faith we can pull this off with our remaining six outs, but with that edge of hope lingering on the outskirts of resignation.

Lim has come on – a decision which again has met with some frowns from
Swallows fans with Sunday’s debacle fresh in their minds.

Game over. Crowd got back into it as the boys throw a lifeline. I think many are emotionally spent after Monday. Goes without saying that we absolutely have to win tomorrow. Until then……

Here is what they thought:

Game 1  (11/2): Tateyama

Game 2 (11/3): Ishikawa

Game 3 (11/4): Masubuchi

Game 4 (11/5): Akagawa

Game 5 (11/6): Tateyama

Game 6 (11/7): Ishikawa

Of course this is all guesswork, but one thing seems certain: Tateyama will start Game 1. He was after all ready to take the mound if needed in last night’s decisive First Stage Game 3.

But what the short (one day!) break between the First and Final Stages means, is that Tateyama (and Ishikawa if the above prediction is correct) will be making his first, and if needed, second appearance of the Final Stage on just three days rest. And for a guy who still has blood flow issues with his throwing hand, that is a concern.

What the above list of starters would also mean, is that Muranaka would continue to be used out of the pen, which given his key role in the defeat of Yomiuri, I’d be quite happy with.

Anyway, what are your predictions/hopes for the rotation over the coming week?

Yomiuri Giants 2

Tokyo Swallows  3

Series: Swallows Lead 1-0

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	F	H	E
Yomiuri	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	8	1
Tokyo	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	X	3	8	0
W: Muranaka L: Takagi S: Lim

Tokyo came from behind to down their beloved neighbours off the back of a Tateyama-Muranaka starter’s relay and, thank the lord of your choice, some timely hitting.

	Yomiuri		Tokyo
1	SS Sakamoto	1	LF Ueda
2	2B Terauchi	2	2B Tanaka
3	CF Chono	3	CF Aoki
4	C Abe	4	1B Hatakeyama
5	LF Ramirez	5	3B Miyamoto
6	1B Ogasawara	6	RF Balentien
7	RF Takahashi	7	SS Morioka
8	3B Furuki	8	C Aikawa
9	P Sawamura	9	P Tateyama

In a packed and buzzing Jingu it was Tateyama, not Ishikawa as expected, who took the mound to start the key game one of this best of three series. And he was made to work from the off as the pesky (no make that the completely f*cking annoying) Sakamoto battled eleven pitches before Tateyama got him to ground out to third. After striking out Terauchi for out number two, a single for Chono and a walk for Abe followed, but Swallows old-boy turned gurning Giants entertainer Ramirez grounded out to the pitcher to strand the two runners.

Sawamura on the other hand, had far less trouble sitting down Swallows batters early on, and it wasn’t until the third inning before they mustered a hit, via a single for Morioka.

And it was the Giants who got on the board first in the top of the 4th. With one out, Ramirez hit a pacey grounder to first, which the diving Hatake couldn’t quite come up with, meaning everyone’s favourite Venezuelan was safe at first. Ogasawara then singled to right, with Ramirez somehow managing to waddle his way to third, with him then somewhat questionably being called safe. Another single along the rightfield foul line followed for Takahashi, and it was 1-0 Yomiuri. With men again on the corners, Tateyama struck out Furuki to strand another pair of orange runners.

Miyamoto - key man

But Tokyo would tie things up in the bottom of the 5th. Back to back two-out singles for Morioka and Aikawa put two men on, and Jingu got a touch more anxious as Tateyama was sacrificed for Fujimoto. But, just as he did in the regular season closer against Hiroshima, he came up with the goods as he hit one back up the middle for a 1-1 scoreline.

With Tatayama now seated, it was Muranaka who got the call to try to pitch out the game, and he was in a word, immense. After giving up a single to get the 6th inning underway, he then sat down eleven men in order.

And he got himself a lead in the bottom of the 6th. Despite having thrown only 73 pitches, Sawamura was switched for Takagi. Which was good news for the Swallows, as if it was going to come down to a battle of the bullpens, then I’d put good money on ours vs their’s everytime. And my optimism was proved well-founded as Takagi allowed a one out single for Tanaka, and then Aoki got on board courtesy of a comical Ogasawara error at first. Takagi made way for the ultimate fugly, Nishimura, and he continued the theme by walking Hatake to load the bases.

Up stepped Miyamoto, and he hit a sacfly to centre, which was good enough to score Tanaka to give the Swallows a 2-1 lead. But Tokyo weren’t done yet, as with men on the corners Balentien hit a blooper, which just evaded Terauchi at second and made it 3-1 Tokyo.

And with Muranaka dominating on the mound, that lead never really looked threatened. And indeed, Kyohei came within one out of closing out the came, but a rather lucky swing for the pinch hitting Ohmura saw the ball just sneaking over the fence to the left of the scoreboard, and it was 3-2.

In came Lim to get Sakamoto to fly out to second, and that was good enough for a 3-2 Tokyo Final.

So then, a fairly comfortable win in the end for the Swallows, with the pitching of Tatayama (5IP/98P/6H/7K/2BB/1ER), and Muranaka (3.2IP/49P/2H/3K/0BB/1ER) giving the Swallows bats a platform to win. Which they did with some very uncharacteristic (for the month of October at least) timely hitting.

Muranaka and Miyamoto were selected for the post-game hero interviews, but by that point most of the Swallows supporting half of the stadium were likely too sozzled to listen to anything they had to say. Or perhaps it was just me.

Sunday’s game 2 starters are more than likely going to be Ishikawa for the Swallows, vs all around bitch-boy Utsumi for Yomiuri. Let’s hope we can make Utsumi cry like the bitch he is on the bench for the umpteenth time in his career.

Job done

Tokyo Swallows 4

Hanshin Tigers 0

Streak: Won 2   Last 5: LLLWW

(Koshien)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	F	H	E
Tokyo	0	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	4	12	1
Hanshin	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
W: Tateyama (11-5/2.05) L: Messenger (12-7/2.88)

After huffing and puffing for a while, the CL’s most boring team finally clinched their second straight pennant in Yokohama with…..a 3-3 tie. How apt. For a while Tokyo’s championship hopes looked like they may live to see another day as the Baystars were leading against the Dragons while the Swallows were always in total control of their game, but a Blanco three run game-tying homer, and some comedy play from Yokohama allowed the team from Nagoya to eek out a draw that was good enough for the title.

But the Swallows win wasn’t in vain, as it secured second place in the CL, and thus a home playoff series against the Giants awaits. But after leading the CL for so long this year, it all feels a little underwhelming.

	Us		Them
1	CF Aoki	1	2B Hirano
2	LF Ueda	2	CF Shibata
3	2B Tanaka	3	SS Toritani
4	3B Hatakeyama	4	3B Arai
5	3B Miyamoto	5	1B Brazell
6	RF Balentien	6	RF Murton
7	SS Morioka	7	LF Shunsuke
8	C Aikawa	8	C Fujii
9	P Tateyama	9	P Messenger

Aikawa does the initial damage

Despite the Swallows recent terrible form against the Tigers, this was a game that in all truth they were expected to win, what with Hanshin now out of the playoff reckoning along with the fact that their current manager is entering his last few games in employment. Nevertheless, a lights-out complete game performance from starter Tateyama and some lively batting meant that Tokyo wrapped up their season series (10W-14L) with the B-class Tigers with aplomb .

Tokyo’s runs all came off Hanshin starter Messenger. In the 2nd, singles from Miyamoto and Balentien, a Morioka sacbunt and a sacfly to centre from Aikawa made it 1-0 Tokyo.

And Aikawa brought home the bacon again in the 4th, bringing home Balentien after Coco had reached second with a two-out double, 2-0 Tokyo.

The Swallows final runs came in the 5th. Two two-out singles for Hatake and Miyamoto put men on the corners for Balentien, and the big man hit his second double (and third hit) of the evening along the leftfield foul line to bring in a run for 3-0. Morioka then smacked one over the infield to right and the evening’s run scoring was complete, 4-0 Tokyo Final.

Tateyama won his first game in a month for his superb 9IP/105P/4H/4K0BB/0ER performance. It was his 7th complete game (3rd without a run, 4th without issuing a walk) of the season, and who knows how much better his 11-5 record would be if he’d received better run support/bullpen support throughout the year.

And Shohei’s performance combined with the 12 hit evening for the offence (Miyamoto and Balentien with 3 hits evenings, with Aoki the only starter apart from Tateyama to not register a hit) bodes well for the impending playoffs.

But before we get to those, two more games to go, against the Dragons away tomorrow, and then Hiroshima at home next Tuesday.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1

Chunichi Dragons 3

Streak: Lost 2   Last 5: WLWLL

(Nagoya Dome)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	F	H	E
Tokyo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	6	0
Chunichi	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	X	3	7	2
W: Kawai (5-3/2.51) L: Tateyama (10-5/2.16) S: Iwase (37S/1.48)

Tokyo’s CL title hopes moved yet further into the distance as they fell to Chunichi once more in Nagoya. Tonight’s win means that the Dragons have now moved 2.5 games ahead of the Swallows and become the first team to secure their Climax Series berth.

	Us		Them
1	CF Aoki	1	2B Araki
2	2B Tanaka	2	SS Ibata
3	LF Ihara	3	3B Morino
4	1B Hatakeyama	4	1B Blanco
5	RF Balentien	5	LF Wada
6	3B Miyamoto	6	C Tanishige
7	SS Morioka	7	RF Guzman
8	C Aikawa	8	CF Oshima
9	P Tateyama	9	P Kawai

Tateyama started for Tokyo, and just like Ishikawa the night before, fell victim to an early two-run homer, as a 1st inning single from Araki was later followed-up by a Blanco shot to right to make it 2-0 Chunichi.

Shohei continued to struggle in the 2nd as two walks and a single loaded up the bases with no outs on the board. But Tateyama dug deep and struck out pitcher Kawai, before inducing back-to-back groundouts from the top of the order to escape the inning with the lead remaining at just the two runs.

Meanwhile Aikawa registered the Swallows’ first hit of the evening with a one-out single in the 3rd. Tateyama sacbunted to move the runner to second for out number two, but Aoki could only ground out to first to end the inning.

Tokyo put two men on in the 4th, with a Tanaka walk and then Ihara getting aboard via a fielders choice. But a flyout, strikeout and groundout from the heart of the order stranded those two men as Tokyo continued to waste chances in Japan’s most boring of domes (against Japan’s most boring of teams).

Tateyama crestfallen after walking in run number 3

Tateyama then had his first 1-2-3 inning of the night in the 4th before he fell into more trouble in what would turn out to be his final inning. In that 5th inning Kawai grounded out leaving Shohei to face the top of the Chunichi order with one out on the board. Two singles and a walk later the bases were loaded for Blanco. Shohei dug deep again and struck out the danger man for out number two.

He couldn’t quite pull it off against next man up Wada though, and despite thinking he had escaped again when a 2-2 count pitch appeared to paint the lower outside corner, it was called a ball. One foul later and another pitch low and outside walked Wada and brought in the third Chunichi run for 3-0. He did finally stem the bleeding, getting Tanishige to fly out to centre to end the inning.

That would be his last inning, as he left the game sporting a 5IP/6H/4K/4BB/3ER line. Pretty similar to his last few starts, not at his best, and it looks clear that he’s still not 100% since returning from injury in early September.

The bullpen team of Matsui (3.68), Oshimoto (3.12) and Matsuoka (2.61) did their job well in relief of their ace, restricting the Dragons to just the one hit through to the end of the 8th inning.

So it was a case of whether or not Tokyo’s flaccid bats could produce against the Chunichi pitching.

In the 6th, Aoki led off the inning with a single and made it to second on a Tanaka groundout. But the man was again stranded as Ihara and Hatake failed to get on base and the inning was done.

In the 7th Morioka singled with two outs, but Aikawa grounded out to third to keep Tokyo staring at a second straight shutout.

And so their big chance came in the 8th. After Noguchi (in for Oshimoto) grounded out for out number one (leading to starter Kawai being replaced by Kobayashi on the mound), Aoki registered his second single of the evening. Kobayashi then made way for Hirai to face Tanaka, and the second baseman hit a grounder to third, but a double error from Morino (fielding then throwing) allowed him to reach first safely while Aoki came to a halt at third.

In came the annoyingly good Asao to try and mop up the mess and face Sunday’s hero Fukuchi (in for Ihara), and he hit a grounder to second, the out was made at second, but Aoki was home for 3-1. Hatake then worked a walk to put two men on again. But the utterly impotent Balentien capped off his 0 for 4 evening (including 2 Ks) with a weak flyout to right and Tokyo’s chance to get back into it was over.

Tokyo would create one final chance in the 9th with Iwase on the mound. Singles for Miyamoto and Aikawa put men on the corners with one out on the board, but Noguchi hit into a game ending double play for a 3-1 Chunichi Final.

And there you have it. More disappointment. By the bucket load.

You have to hand it to the bullpen, they’ve performed well these last few games. And while Ishikawa and Tateyama both gave up three runs each, it’s those limp bats and brutal lack of run support that is putting paid to Tokyo’s championship hopes. And when you don’t bring home a win in either of the two games in which your no.1 and 2 rotation guys are on the mound, you’re not going to go very far. And at the moment, they can’t seem to release the handbrake.

The two teams return for game three of this increasingly soul destroying series tomorrow evening with Masubuchi due to start for the Swallows.

The dream is almost over

Hiroshima Carp  7

Tokyo Swallows  4

Streak: Lost 1       Last 5: LLLWL

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	F	H	E
Hiroshima	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	2	7	10	1
Tokyo	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	4	6	0
W: Aoki (2-4/3.40) L: Matsuoka (2-2/2.79) S: Imamura (1S/4.75)

On a night which saw Chunichi shut down and beaten by Yomiuri, a win for Tokyo would have sent them back to the top of the CL. But a battling come-from-behind performance was undone by another dose of misfiring bullpen.

	Us		Them
1	CF Aoki	1	2B Higashide
2	2B Tanaka	2	CF Akamatsu
3	SS Kawabata	3	3B Barden
4	1B Hatakeyama	4	1B Kurihara
5	LF Yuichi	5	RF Hirose
6	RF Balentien	6	LF Matsuyama
7	3B Morioka	7	C Shirahama
8	C Aikawa	8	SS Kimura
9	P Muranaka	9	Ohtake

Muranaka started for the Swallows but wouldn’t last four innings as he let the team in the midst of an eight game losing streak fashion an early lead.

In the 1st a two-out walk for Barden and a Kurihara home run made it 2-0 Hiroshima. And in the 4th, three hits combined with a walk put the Carp 3-0 ahead. Matsui came in in relief of Muranaka and got the final out of the inning.

After Ohtake held the ice-cold Tokyo bats to a solitary hit over the first three frames, Tokyo got on the board in the bottom of the 4th, as two hits and a Hatakeyama groundout to first was good enough for a 3-1 scoreline.

And the Swallows tied things up in the 6th. A solo homer from Aoki (no.4 for the year) made it 3-2 before Tanaka got on base via an infield hit. After Hatake drew a walk one out later, and Yuichi flew out for out number two, Balentien hit a broken bat bloop single to centre to put things level at 3-3.

Matsuoka lets things slip in the 8th

But all that hard work was undone in the 8th. With Matsuoka on the mound, a single for Kurihara and a two run shot to right for Matsuyama put the Carp back ahead at 5-3.

The Swallows did have a bit of fight left in them yet though, however their efforts were undermined by some hair-brained management in the bottom of the inning.

Tanaka was plunked to lead off the inning before Kawabata walked to put two Tokyo men on. Up stepped no.4 batter Hatakeyama, the CL’s current no.2 harvester of RBIs, and he was instructed to……..sacrifice bunt. Now if it was Miyamoto or someone of that ilk up next I could possibly understand that move. But it was the utterly ineffectual Yuichi up next (a man who should never have been in the starting lineup to start with, injury crisis or not), and he grounded out to second, Tanaka scored from third to make it 5-4. But that would be as close as they would get, with Balentien striking out to end the inning.

And so to the top of the 9th, and Hidaka put two outs on the board before giving up a single and a walk. On came Ichiba to take Hidaka’s place, and the pitcher, who hasn’t been seen much at all since his move from Rakuten in 2009 for good reason, gave up back-to-back run scoring singles to put the Carp out of reach for a 7-4 Hiroshima Final.

And that was that. Positives: at least Chunichi lost so their lead remains at 0.5 games. However, this Chunichi team is not losing a hell of a lot these days, and thus the Swallows capitulation, again late in a game, cannot be seen as anything other than an opportunity wasted.

The two teams will return for the final game of the series tomorrow evening, before Tokyo travel to Nagoya for the do-or-die four game series with Chunichi from Monday.

The Swallows' fans turned out in force, but ultimately, all that cheering would be in vain

Tokyo Swallows 3

Hanshin Tigers 9

Streak: Lost 1     Last 5: WLLWL

(Kyocera Dome)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	F	H	E
Tokyo	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	8	1
Hanshin	0	2	0	3	3	1	0	0	X	9	14	0
W: Nishimura (1-0/2.18) L: Ishikawa (9-8/2.72)

Tokyo’s season-defining twelve game stretch got off to the worst possible start as their ailing pitching staff were knocked about by Hanshin to the tune of fourteen hits and nine runs. Meanwhile in Nagoya, an almost inevitable Chunichi come from behind win against Hiroshima reduced the Tokyo lead to a solitary game.

	Us		Them
1	CF Aoki	1	CF Hirano
2	LF Fukuchi	2	2B Yamato
3	SS Kawabata	3	SS Toritani
4	1B Hatakeyama	4	3B Arai
5	RF Balentien	5	1B Brazell
6	3B Miyamoto	6	RF Murton
7	2B Tanaka	7	LF Kanemoto
8	C Aikawa	8	C Fujii
9	P Ishikawa	9	P Akiyama

After a spell out with pneumonia (yes, you read that right. The same illness is also responsible for Kyuko’s current, and possibly season ending, absence) Ishikawa started and looked laboured from the off, but he got through the 1st inning unscathed after a lead-off single from Hirano, stranding the runner at third.

And he found himself with a lead in the top of the 2nd against Hanshin starter Akiyama. Two singles from Balentien and Miyamoto got the inning off to a promising start, and the inevitable Tanaka sac bunt moved them both into scoring positions. Aikawa then hit deep enough to right for a run scoring sacfly, 1-0 Tokyo. After Ishikawa worked himself a walk, Aoki could only ground out to short stranding the two men on the corners.

But the lead wouldn’t last. In the bottom of the inning, two one-out singles for Murton and Kanemoto put two men on. Fujii then quite uncharacteristically came up with a timely hit (the beginning of what would prove a fruitful night for the sub-par catcher), through the infield to right, scoring a run to make it 1-1. Balentien then fluffed his pickup of the ball, allowing Kanemoto to make it to third on the error. An error which would prove costly, as Kanemoto would score on the subsequent groundout to Ishikawa, as the Swallows failed to turn the 1-4-3 double play, 2-1 Hanshin.

The Swallows showed they had a bit of life left in them though, as a Kawabata walk, a Hatakeyama single and a Balentien sacfly made it 2-2 in the 3rd.

After Ishikawa registered his first 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the 3rd, the game was effectively over as a contest after the 4th. A Brazell solo homer led off the inning for 3-2 Hanshin, before two hits put men on the corners with one out. Ogawa had seen enough of Ishikawa as he summoned the bullpen into action. And in all you need to know about the current state of said bullpen, Hashimoto, a farm team arm at best, took his place on the mound tasked with trying to get out of the jam. Cue a walk, a single, a sacfly and a 5-2 scoreline.

Hashimoto (4.40) was gone, with Katoh appearing in his place. And he managed to get Toritani to ground out to first to escape the inning.

Two walks and two hits in the 5th made it 7-2, with Katoh (9.00) then making way for Matsui who gave up another hit to make it 8-2 before getting out of the inning.

And Hanshin’s final run came in the 6th off Matsui (4.39), as a walk, a single and a run-scoring double play from Brazell brought up a 9-2 scoreline.

The only positive of the night was forgotten man Ichiba (5.40) working hitless 7th and 8th innings.

Tokyo’s bats were held to just two hits from the 4th to the 8th innings by the Hanshin bullpen (Akiyama only lasted 2.1 innings), and they added a consolation run in the 9th off reliever Kobayashi, as a walk for Morioka (in for Miyamoto), a single for Nakamura (in for Aikawa) and a RBI hit for Yuichi (in for the pitcher) made it 9-3 Hanshin Final.

Ishikawa took the loss for his brief 3.1IP/7H/2K/0BB/5R/4ER shift.

The two teams will meet again tomorrow evening. Things are not looking good, at least to these eyes. At all.

Hanshin Tigers 4

Tokyo Swallows 8

Streak: Won 2  Last 5: LLLWW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	F	H	E
Hanshin	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	9	1
Tokyo	3	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	X	8	9	0
W: Hidaka (1-0/7.50) L: Fukuhara (1-2/2.68)

After failing to grasp the chance to put some decent breathing room between them and the second-placed Dragons in Nagoya last week, every game for the remaining three weeks or so of the regular season is essentially a cup final for Tokyo. They simply have to find ways to win, as their margin for error is not what it was a few weeks ago. And tonight against Hanshin, they re-discovered some of that grit and fight that has served them so well over the season so far.

	Us		Them
1	CF Aoki	1	CF Hirano
2	2B Tanaka	2	2B Yamato
3	SS Kawabata	3	SS Toritani
4	1B Hatakeyama	4	3B Arai
5	RF Balentien	5	1B Brazell
6	3B Miyamoto	6	RF Murton
7	LF Ihara	7	LF Kanemoto
8	C Aikawa	8	C Fujii
9	P Murumaka	9	P Standridge

Muranaka was the starter for the Swallows, and he hasn’t faired so well against the Tigers this season, with just three losses to show for his four starts against them prior to tonight. And today he didn’t fair much better as he lasted just four innings and wouldn’t feature in the final decision. He never looked comfortable from the first inning as he gave up a lead-off single to Hirano, and later hit Toritani (though I can see the upside to that) to put two men on for Hanshin. Brazell then singled one up the middle to bring home Hirano from second for 1-0 Hanshin.

But their lead would be short-lived as the Tigers had an ineffectual starter of their own to contend with. In the bottom of the 1st with Standridge taking the mound, Aoki walked to get things up and running, before the inevitable Tanaka sacbunt moved him to second. Kawabata then proceeded to hit to the wall in centre for a double to bring home Aoki which tied things up at 1-1.

But that wasn’t all the scoring for the inning. Next man up Hatakeyama hit a two-run shot over the fence in left and into the sea of the great unwashed Hanshin fans, and Tokyo were ahead with the score now at 3-1 in the Swallows’ favour. It was Hatake’s 22nd long ball of the season.

Muranaka got through the 2nd unscathed, despite giving up two walks and a single, but he would become unstuck in the 3rd. A one-out walk and single put two men on for the third inning in a row, and Murton, possibly due to THE POWER OF THE SWEET LORD JESUS then hit into the same gurning crowd in left to wipe out the Tokyo lead for a 4-3 Hanshin scoreline.

After Tigers’ manager Mayumi rather harshly benched Standridge after barely two innings, the Swallows saw a procession on relievers from the Hanshin bullpen. They would see six in total through the course of the game.

In the 4th, two walks and a single from said bullpen loaded the bases with two outs for Aoki, but he only managed to ground out to short to strand three.

Muranaka meanwhile, was replaced by Hidaka in the 5th. And after escaping a hairy 5th in which he let three men on via two walks and a single, he had a swift 1-2-3 6th which led to the key inning of the evening.

With Fukuhara on the mound for Hanshin, Miyamoto led off the bottom of the 6th with a single. After Ihara took his turn at being bunt monkey for out number one, Aikawa hit through the infield to left to put men on the corners for Tokyo. Up stepped Keizo Kawashima to hit for the pitcher, and he hit a grounder straight back to Fukuhara. The pitcher attempted to stop the ball with an outstretched leg, the ball was deflected to Arai at third, but Miyamoto just beat the throw home in a forceful play at the plate and things were all tied up at 4-4.

Miyamoto gets home safely for run number 4

But as in the 1st, they weren’t content with just the one run. Fukuhara was replaced by Enokida, and he got off to an inauspicious start by plunking Aoki in the right knee and the Swallows had themselves a bases loaded situation. Hiroyasu Tanaka then decided to display some of the “chance taking” that the Swallows employed in Nagoya as he hit a gounder to short, the force out was made at home and Tokyo had themselves just one more out in which to get someone home.

But little did we expect them to do it in such style, as Kawabata clubbed a fastball left over the plate into the rightfield stands for his first career grand slam to make it 8-4 Tokyo. Cue scenes of Miyamoto going absolutely mental outside of the bench (Shinya, I love you). It was Kawabata’s 4th homer of the year.

Oshimoto (3.02) took the mound in the top of the 7th, and he almost let the Tigers back into it, allowing two singles which put men on the corners with two outs for Murton. He hit a decent flyball to left, but an excellent running catch from Ihara ended the inning with the lead intact at four.

Matsuoka (2.65) worked a 1-2-3 8th before it fell to Lim to close things down in the 9th. And Lim (2.21), being Lim (at least the Lim of most of 2011) made things difficult as he issued a walk and gave up a single to start the inning. But just as the Hanshin fans were starting to pee their no doubt already urine stained clothing in excitement, Toritani hit a grounder to second for a double play, and all that was left was for Arai to strike out swinging for a 8-4 Tokyo Final.

Kawabata was the undoubted star of the show after his 2 for 4/5 RBI performance while Hidaka earned his first career win for his gutsy two innings of work. Miyamoto (.291) and Aikawa (.246) both had two hit evenings as well.

 With Chunichi coming back to win in Hiroshima, Tokyo’s lead remains at 2.5 games. Tokyo and Hanshin will return to Jingu tomorrow evening for game two of the series, with the Tigers still leading the season series 10-7.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2

Chunichi Dragons 6

Streak: Lost 3  Last 5: LWLLL

(Nagoya Dome)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	F	H	E
Tokyo	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	8	0
Chunichi	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	X	6	7	0
W: Asao (4-2/0.49) L: Kyuko (5-2/2.62)

One of these teams has a boatload of experience of being in contention down the home stretch of the season, while the other doesn’t.  After Tokyo wasted chance upon chance and had a late inning bullpen collapse which allowed Chunichi to slash the CL lead to 2.5 games, one wonders how key this disparity in experience will prove from here on in.

	Us		Them
1	CF Aoki	1	2B Araki
2	2B Tanaka	2	SS Ibata
3	SS Kawabata	3	3B Morino
4	1B Hatakeyama	4	1B Blanco
5	RF Balentien	5	C Tanishige
6	3B Miyamoto	6	RF Hirata
7	LF Takeuchi	7	LF Matsui
8	C Aikawa	8	CF Oshima
9	P Ishikawa	9	P Nelson

Ishikawa started for Tokyo, making up the “two” of a Tateyama-Ishikawa one-two punch of starters for the first two games of this crucial four game series. But just like Tateyama the night before, Masanori struggled with his control early on as he issued two two-out walks in the bottom of the 1st. But while Shohei lasted five innings before finally succumbing to the Dragons’ bats, Masanori couldn’t escape the first unscathed as veteran catcher Tanishige hit a rather lucky shot to right, which just landed fair before rolling into the corner. Two runs scored to make it 2-0 Chunichi.

That lead would be halved in the top of the 2nd against Chunichi starter Maximo Nelson, as Balentien hit to left, with the ball just creeping over the top of the wall for a 2-1 scoreline. It was Coco’s CL leading 28th homer of the year.

A chance to draw level, or perhaps even better presented itself to Tokyo in the 3rd. Two two-out singles for Tanaka and Kawabata brought up Hatakeyama to the plate. But the big man could only manage to fly out to centre and the Swallows remained behind.

And in the 5th and Aikawa lead off double off the leftfield wall was followed up by an Ishikawa sac bunt to put a man on third with one out for the top of the order. But that top of the order couldn’t deliver as a flyout to short (Aoki) and a tame groundout to second (Tanaka) stranded the tying run at third.

After giving up a hit in each of the first two innings, Ishikawa then proceeded to shut down the Chunichi bats, not allowing another hit or walk through to the end of the 6th. That would prove to be his final inning as he left the game with a 6IP/2H/5K/2BB/2ER line for his afternoon’s work. He ultimately wouldn’t feature in the decision and his ERA now sits at 2.56.

Matsui pitched a hitless 7th and then the Swallows would finally draw level in the 8th, an inning that saw equal measures of Chunichi generosity and yet more Tokyo wastefulness. Aoki led off the inning with a single to centre and he was bunted to second by Tanaka. Ochiai then benched Nelson, calling on the lefty Kobayashi from the bullpen. Ogawa then made a switch of his own, bringing in the righty Ihara for Kawabata and Yasushi drew a walk to put two men on.

Kobayashi was gone, with the “looks 14 but is actually 26″ Asao appearing in his place to face Hatakeyama. Cue more generosity as Hatake walked to load the bases, before Balentien was issued a free pass of his own to walk in the tying run for 2-2. Cue the Tokyo wastefullness, as a second-pitch shallow flyout to centre for Miyamoto, and a first-pitch flyout to leftfield for Takeuchi let the clearly edgy Asao off the hook.

And just as most Swallows fans feared may well happen, all those wasted chances would come back to haunt Tokyo in the bottom of the 8th. After managing just those two hits to that point, Chunichi unleashed on Kyuko who was in for Matsui. After two pretty straightforward outs, an Araki double and an Ibata single made it 3-2 Chunichi. The Ibata single was to centre, and Aoki really should have thrown Araki out at home to end the inning, only his throw was to the right of home plate, meaning Aikawa had to dive to his left to apply the tag to the sliding runner, a tag which he couldn’t apply in time. Things got worse after that as a Morino double then made it 4-2.

Kyuko feels the heat

Kyuko was replaced with Oshimoto, but that didn’t stop the rot as a Blanco double made it 5-2, and Tanishige was issued an intentional walk before a single from a Donoue made it 6-2. The five hit-four run 8th came to and end when the ninth man to the plate for the inning, Hidenori, hit a caught liner to short to end the inning.

All that remained was for Suzuki to pitch out the 9th and Chunichi had themselves a 6-2 Final scoreline.

Rather ominously, Chunichi have now won four straight while Tokyo have now lost three. The two teams will return tomorrow afternoon for game three of the four game series.

I just hope that the nature of today’s loss hasn’t taken any remaining wind out of the Swallow’s sails, and they can pick themselves up for the remaining two games so that they’re not staring down the barrel of a paltry 0.5 game lead come Sunday evening.

Hiroshima Carp  

Tokyo Swallows  

Streak: Lost 1       Last 5: WDLWL

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Not surprisingly, given the typhoon that seems to be hitting the Tokyo area as I write this, tonight’s game against the Carp has been cancelled. Expect the game to be rearranged for sometime in mid-October.

The Swallows will now travel west for four games under the cover of the Nagoya Dome.