Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1

Chiba Lotte Marines 5

Streak: Lost 4   Last 5: WLLLL

(QVC Marine Field)

Whatever shortcomings our own Messrs. Watkins and Pellegrini may find in its charms (listen to the podcast), the PL continues to demonstrate it’s aplomb in one area of particular interest, viz. baseball.

Despite staying close to the Marines in terms of hits, the Swallows’ run production continued to be AWOL. Let us hope it merely stopped at Disneyland and will soon run out of money, forcing it to return to work. Moving Milledge to center didn’t appear to make much difference.

Former Swallow (and Giant, but we’ll leave that out) Seth Greisinger pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up only four hits, but stuck to his pitch count and left the game having tossed 104 pebbles at our guys.

Meanwhile, young Akagawa owned the Seagulls from Afar for four innings, giving up only one hit and one walk. In the fifth, a Tanaka error at second let Kakunaka on. A walk of Satozaki put a second man on, and a hit by Imae drovein the first run of the game. 1-0 Chiba.

The sixth inning was worse. Akagawa started by giving up a double to Nemoto. This was followed by an Iguchi single, putting men on the corners. Then Kakunaka tripled to center, the jerk. Two runs in.

Masubuchi took over pitching duties. A Kiyota groundder back tot he mound was enough to bring Kakunaka home. 4-0 Chiba.

Yamamoto hurled in the seventh for the Birds. An Imae hit was followed by a Nemoto RBI triple. Another RBI triple. 5-0 Chiba.

In the top of the eighth, Rosa took over for Chiba and gave up a double to Aikawa. Tanaka walked and a Fukuchi pop up to right moved Aikawa to third, whence he was driven home by a Milledge single. 5-1 Chiba, Final.

Onodera notched one K and gave up a double while getting Tokyo safely through the bottom of the eighth.

Uchi struck out Hatakeyama, then struck out Miyamoto on three pitches, then got Yuichi to pop out to end the game.

The rain make up and shot a revenge (and at preserving some dignity) is tomorrow.

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 3

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 14

Streak: Won 1   Last 5: LWDLW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

The Birds started off the 2012 Interleague campaign, when we get five more teams to support, by hosting the reigning Hawks.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Fukuoka	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	10	2
Tokyo	2	2	1	0	1	2	2	4	X	14	15	0
W: Ishikawa (3-4); L: Yamada (4-3)

One would have to go all the way back to 2008, and the dawn of the Tsubamegun site, to find a time when Tokyo even drew even with Fukuoka (2-2). Over the past three years, the Swallows have been bested by their more predatorial avian counterparts a combined 3-8-1. How did Fukuoka’s hemorrhage of talent in the off-season match up against a Tokyo squad looking stronger than it had in quite a while?

	Fukuoka		Tokyo
1	Akashi (2B)	1	Tanaka (2B)
2	Imamiya (SS)	2	Morioka (SS)
3	Uchikawa (CF)	3	Milledge (LF)
4	Pena (LF)	4	Balentien (RF)
5	Matsuda (3B)	5	Hatakeyama (1B)
6	Kokubo (3B)	6	Miyamoto (3B)
7	Tamura (RF)	7	Yuhei (CF)
8	Yamazaki (C)	8	Aikawa (C)
9	Yamada (P)	9	Ishikawa (P)

The scoring started early, with Akashi hitting the second pitch he saw and Imamiya sac-bunting him over to second on the first pitch he saw. After Uchikawa grounded out, Pena hit an RBI double and Matsuda followed that with an RBI pop out. 2-0 Fukuoka.

Tokyo struck back quickly, when Morioka drew a walk on five pitches and Milledge put the first pitch he saw, an outside slider, over the centerfield fence for a two-run round-tripper, his third of the season. 2-2.

The Swallows added to their lead in the second when Miyamoto walked, then got nabbed on his way to second after a Yuhei grounder back to the mound. Yuhei stole second and made it home on an Aikawa single. Ishikawa bunted Aikawa to second. Tanaka was then walked on four straight pitches, and Morioka drove Yuhei home. 4-2 Tokyo.

A bit more padding was added in the third. Balentien doubled, made it to third on a Hatakeyama ground-out, and scored on a Miyamoto single. 5-2 Tokyo.

An Uchikawa solo homer two outs into the top of the fifth narrowed the gap. 5-3 Tokyo.

But hits by Balentien, Miyamoto, and Yuhei in the bottom half of the inning set that right. 6-3 Tokyo.

Yoshikawa pitched the fourth and fifth for the visitors and was the most successful of their hurlers tonight.

Masubuchi took over for Ishikawa in the sixth and went 1-2-3 with a K. Kanazawa did the honors on the other side.

In the sixth, a Balentien walk, followed by a Hatake double added a run. After that, Miyamoto drove Hatake home for another one. 8-3 Tokyo.

Hidaka went 1-2-3 for the home team in the seventh. Hirai gave up one hit in he eighth. Abe finished the game 1-2-3. Nice pitching all around.

That was not the game, though. Oh no, young Tsubamegunin. The Birds tried to make up for years past tonight.

In the seventh, young Kayama took the mound for Fukuoka. He would throw 21 pitches to five batters, which takes about the same amount of time as it does to write his name in Japanese. In the course of that, he walked Tanaka with two outs, then gave up a hit to Morioka, Both runners advanced on a passed ball soon after.

Milledge hit one into center, driving in two runs, but getting nabbed on his way to second. 10-3 Tokyo.

Special offer, fans. You want more? You got it.

In the eighth, Kayama walked Balentien, who was replaced on the bases by Miwa (because the Swallows really needed a run – I won’t bitch about plays being decided sans regard for the game situation during a rout, though). Hatake was also walked. Miyamoto singled to right and was replaced by Araki. Bases loaded, no outs yet.

Imamiya fumbled a Yuhei grounder to make the Hawks’ night a little longer and allow Miwa to score, leaving the bases loaded. Aikawa singled, driving in two more runs and was replaced by Nakamura. Noguchi pinch hit and popped out, but moved Yuhei to third. Tanaka then hit a sac-fly to right for one more run and a score of 14-3 Tokyo, Final.

Akagawa (3-1, 2.00) takes on Otonari (3-2, 1.50) tomorrow evening.

Yomiuri Giants  5

Tokyo Swallows 1

Streak: L1 Last 5: LLWDL

(Akita Komachi Stadium)

Sometimes you lose in spirit by tying and sometimes you just actually lose. This one was fairly close until the end, which adds excitement and agony.

The first spate of runs came in the second, when Murata and Abe hit, Tateyama walked Takahashi, then Tani and Bowker hit back-to-back RBIs before Tateyama got it together to manage three outs in a row. 2-0 Yomiuri.

The Swallows didn’t answer until the eighth, when Mathieson took over pitching duties for the Giants. Milledge doubled, Balentien singled and was replaced on the basepaths by Hiyane, bringing up Hatake with men on the corners. Hatake hit into a double play, but Milledge made it home. 2-1 Yomiuri.

In the top of the ninth, Hirai took the mound for Tokyo and promptly gave up a hit to Tani, who was replaced by Suzuki, whom Bowker then sac-bunted to second, and that was it for Hirai. Kyuko took over.

Kyuko continued the trend, giving up a hit to Kamei, then an RBI to Chono. Then things got ugly. Fujimura hit one back to the mound, at which point an Aikawa error left the Birds down one more run and facing runners on first and second.

Exeunt, Kyuko. Enter, Abe, off of whom Terauchi hit an RBI double. 5-1 Yomiuri, Final.

Tokyo now gets a merciful couple of days off, to return fresh and ready to thump SoftBank on Wednesday.

Tokyo Swallows 3

Chunichi Dragons 8

Streak: Lost 3 Last 5: WWLLL

(Gifu Stadium)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tokyo	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	3	7	0
Chunichi	3	0	2	2	0	0	0	1	X	8	17	0
W: Nakata (3-1); L: Muranaka (3-2)

Chunichi widened their lead over Tokyo in the standings with a convincing win. Not a fun game for the Swallows, to say the least.

	Tokyo		Chunichi
1	Tanaka (2B)	1	Oshima (CF)
2	Fukuchi (CF)	2	Araki (2B)
3	Milledge (LF)	3	Ibata (SS)
4	Balentien (RF)	4	Wada (LF)
5	Kawabata (SS)	5	Blanco (1B)
6	Morioka (3B)	6	Fukuda (3B)
7	Hatakeyama (1B)	7	Hirata (RF)
8	Nakamura (C)	8	Tanishige (C)
9	Muranaka (P)	9	Nakata (P)

Muranaka’s first three batters singled, sac-bunted, and singled again. After a weak Wada grounder moved the runners to scoring position, Muranaka fed Blanco two fastballs right down the middle, the second of which Blanco cranked into the stands. Muranaka followed that with a hit to Fukuda, a walk of Murata, and another hit to Tanishige, on which play, mercifully, Fukuda got caught for out three. 3-0 Chunichi.

In the top of the second, Kawabata was pulled in favor of Araki  just before his first at-bat. Despite a couple of hits, the Swallows failed to score any runs.

After pitching just about as god-awful a first inning as possible, Muranaka found his feet and struck out two in the second. He also gave up a double and let Oshima reach third, but managed to avoid disaster.

The Birds finally scored in the top of the third, when Fukuchi doubled to left and was driven in by a Balentien broken-bat single. 3-1 Chunichi.

Then the bottom of the third, and Muranaka’s trade to the Dragons was apparently complete but for the uniform. Wada, hit. Blanco, hit. Fukuda, ground out to put runners in scoring position. Hirata, walk to load the bases. Tanishige, two-RBI double. Then, finally, Nakata struck out in an act of huminatarian compassion for a fellow pitcher. 5-1 Chunichi.

In the bottom of the fourth, Muranaka finally sat down. Hirai took over and did only marginally better, giving up a two-run home run to Wada with Araki on base. 7-1 Chunichi.

Abe, Masubuchi, and Kyuko then each pitched an inning for Tokyo, giving up hits, but not runs. In the bottom of the eighth, though, the Swallows pushed their luck by leaving Kyuko on the mound and Blanco hit his second round-tripper of the night. 8-3 Chunichi, Final.

Wait. How did the Birds score?

In the top of the seventh, Hatakeyama started the inning with a single and was driven in by Masakazu Fukukawa, who hit a two-run homer for his first hit of the season (and raised his batting average from .000 to .500). At one point, it was 7-3 Chunichi.

Tokyo and Chunichi travel to Nagoya tomorrow, where the Swallows will try to avoid the sweep and close the standings gap.

Hiroshima Carp  4

Tokyo Swallows  8

Streak: Won 1       Last 5: LWWLW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Miyamoto got his two-thousandth hit, which got the Swallows more TV coverage than they’ve had in an age, but that was hardly the most exciting part of this afternoon’s slug fest.

The rain-soaked early innings were kind to Tokyo. The foul weather didn’t deter a capacity crowd from gathering for a holiday afternoon game at which the Swallows’ senpai of senpai stood almost certain of reaching the 2,000-hit milestone.

Akagawa gave up two walks (vs. one K) in the first, but pitched a 1-2-3 second, which brought up Balentien to start a bonanza for the Birds. On a 2-1 count, Coco knocked one just left of the Kirin ad in center to, as Nakamura’s entrance tune puts it, “just knock one out, even if I’ve got to do it solo.”

Kawabata walked, then Miyamoto batted a low and away fastball (Fukui’s control was  not to be envied) to center for hit number two-thousand. Pause for hullabaloo.

Hatakeyama then singled to drive in Kawabata. Fukui then walked Nakamura to load the bases and made everyone wait in the rain while he blamed it on the mound. The runners went into the dugout, the grounds crew came out, the spectators soaked up the rain, then play resumed.

Akagawa popped out, but Tanaka drove in a run on a sac fly (a stat a bit too oft-rewarded, methinks). Ueda followed that with a double to drive in Hatake. All the mound’s fault, mind you. Milledge grounded out to end the inning. 4-0 Tokyo.

In the top of the third, the Carp got some revenge. Fukui hit (good thing, given that he couldn’t pitch today), as did Hirose. Nick then homered them in. 4-3 Tokyo.

What to do, feathered friends? Start the bottom of the third with Balentien again. Wham! (But, like, with two George Michaels. And Lemmy.) Homer to left.

Kawabata doubled. Miyamoto walked. Nakamura hit an RBI single. 6-3 Tokyo.

Dobayashi led off the the fourth for the Carp and hit one to deep center. Ueda went back, back, back. . . and crashed into the wall so hard it hurt Aoki in San Francisco. Dobayashi made it to third, and Ueda stayed in the game after a chat with the trainers. He was replaced by Fukuchi when Tokyo went on offense, though. The greater Tsubamegun, obviously, hopes our center-fielder is all right.

The Carp made the obvious choice and pulled Fukui in favor of the pinch-hitting Maru, who hit an RBI single. 6-4 Tokyo.

In the bottom of the fourth, Fukuchi and Milledge singled. Kawabata grounded out, but drove in a run. 7-4 Tokyo.

Masubuchi took over on the mound in the fifth and did very well indeed.

On offense, Hatake doubled and Nakamura singled him to third. Tanaka hit a big RBI single when he came up. 8-4 Tokyo, Final.

Hirai, Oshimoto, and Barnette all pitched decent innings for the home side. (Barnette again wound up his work on a low count – a mere eight pitches.)

As always, the Hiroshimans proved to be our favorite guests. We like it when they lose, but we must admit that we pull for them against any other CL team except, maybe Yokohama.

No, scratch that. We feel bad for Yokohama’s long-suffering fans, but Carp fans are better. We want to end Hiroshima’s season in game three (aka “four”) of Stage Two at Jingu in the Fall. They’re good folks. Another game against them tomorrow evening.

As tomorrow’s another holiday, why not have a burger? Try topping it with blue cheese, browned onions, and bacon. Call it the “Jingu Burger”.

Tokyo Swallows

Yokohama BayStars 

Streak: Won 2    Last 5: WWLWW

(Yokohama Stadium)

Rained Out

This one was a wash-out. Literally. It’ll get made up at the end of the season, when, I predict, it will mean squat to Yokohama, but might be useful to Tokyo. The Swallows remain tied for first and Miyamoto remains just shy of 2,000 hits.

The Birds are slated to take on the ‘Stars tomorrow afternoon, but there’s a 90% chance of rain in the morning, giving way to a mere 40% chance at game time. If you’re down there anyway, we recommend getting some good barbecue and great beer at the Bashamichi Taproom, a short walk away from Yokohama Stadium. Come to think of it, the stadium is just about the only thing in that area that’s not rather nice.

Chunichi Dragons 1

Tokyo Swallows 1

Streak: Tied 1  Last 5: WWWWD

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
Chunichi	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	10	0
Tokyo	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	11	2

Ties are when everyone loses. Both teams lose, the fans lose, ecology loses. Maybe the beer girls win. Well, their managers win.

	Chunichi		Tokyo
1	Tanaka (2B)	1	Oshima (CF)
2	Ueda (CF)	2	Araki (2B)
3	Milledge (LF)	3	Hirata (RF)
4	Balentien (RF)	4	Wada (LF)
5	Miyamoto (3B)	5	Blanco (1B)
6	Morioka (SS)	6	Ibata (SS)
7	Hatakeyama (1B)	8	Tanishige (C)
8	Nakamura (C)	8	Donoue N. (3B)
9	Ishikawa (P)	9	Nakata (P)

Tokyo looked a bit better, purely subjectively, but the numbers don’t show it. This game was almost as evenly matched as a tie could be. This particular corner of the Tsubamegun sees ties as being far closer to losses than to wins, so let us begin with a couple of highlights, to gin up the strength to report, shall we?

• Lastings Milledge is working out very well. Our good cheer at his signing has carried over unabated. He singled, doubled, drew an intentional walk, and happened to be at bat when Ueda scored from third on a wild pitch. He also hit almost equally to left, center, and right and played a mean left field, making an impressive sliding catch and showing good form on every ball hit to left. The guy also has an arm.
• Ueda is turning out to be solid. If he’d stop using Aoki’s (crappy) music, he’d be a quite suitable new center-fielder.
• Ishikawa had a reasonably good start, giving up six hits, no walks, and one run vs. five strike-outs in 115 pitches over seven innings.
• Barnette continues to get his work done efficiently and to settle into the role of closer. He gave up a hit, but threw only seven pitches against three batters to finish the ninth.

The game proceeded uneventfully early on, although it is worth pointing out the shades of Takadaism that popped up. To wit: Bottom of the second, the fleet-footed Morioka on second, Hatakeyama on first, Tokyo’s inexperienced, but not-too-shabby catcher, Nakamura, at the plate, to be followed by the pitcher, Ishikawa. Now, Ishikawa hits better than many pitchers, but what’s the smart play here? Surely, it is not to have the catcher bunt, get an out, only to bring up the pitcher. Best case (likely) scenario? The Chunichi defense makes the play at first instead of third and Morioka is on third with two out and Tanaka up. Worst case (likely) scenario? Hatake is on second, Nakamura is on first, and Tanaka is up with two outs.

Luckily, the best case occurred, but this was the double plus ungood sort of small ball – everything comes down to one man in a pressure situation, just like in big ball, only this time you’re not betting on a three-run homer.

The second-inning sac-bunt should be grounds for immediate dismissal.

Tanaka grounded out. Because the Swallows got an out on purpose in order to get to a likely out, the side was done.

The Birds’ run came in the third, and it was good fun.  Ueda tripled to deep center. Nakata, being afraid to pitch to Milledge, threw one so low and away that Tanishige couldn’t get to it and Ueda scored. 1-0 Tokyo.

In the fourth, Milledge made a dramatic sliding catch for out two, then made a routine catch for the third out – the Dragons liked hitting to him.

In the top of the seventh, with two outs, Tanishige hit a solo home run to left to tie the game. 1-1.

In the bottom of the ninth, with one out, Hatake popped one up in the first base line foul territory, a sure catch for Tanishige. Not to be, though, Blanco also went for it and broke up the catch. Tanishige saw it bounce out of his glove. (*Thanks to commenter Jo, and apologies to Blanco.) Hatake popped out on the next pitch.

With no time to start another inning, the bottom of the eleventh brought a bit of drama. After a Miyamoto ground-out, Iihara came in and drilled a liner to left. He was replaced by Noguchi on the basepaths. Hatake grounded out, and Nakamura came up to hit a line drive to center. With two outs, Noguvhi was left with little option but to press his luck and try for home, which he did. He didn’t make it.

Tie game. With this tie, the Swallows remain tied for first with the Dragons, which makes tomorrow good fun. Muranaka (2-0, 1.93/1.29 vs. Chunichi) will face the dreaded Yoshimi (3-1, 1.50/1-0, 0.00 vs. Tokyo).

Tokyo Swallows  3

Hanshin Tigers  2

Streak: Won 1   Last 5: LWWLW

(Koshien Stadium)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tokyo	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	3	6	0
Hanshin	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	7	0
W: Tateyama (1-0, 2.14); L: Kubo (1-1, 2.46); S: Barnette (1-0-5, 0.00)

A win, dear friends, is a win. Tokyo’s durable starter, Tateyama, tossed 103 pitches over eight innings, giving up six hits, a walk, and two runs, while striking out seven on the way to his first win of the season (if you care about wins).

	Tokyo		Hanshin
1	Tanaka (2B)	1	Hirano (2B)
2	Ueda (CF)	2	Shibata (CF)
3	Milledge (LF)	3	Toritani (SS)
4	Hatakeyama (1B)	4	Arai (3B)
5	Kawabata (SS)	5	Brazell (1B)
6	Miyamoto (3B)	6	Murton (RF)
7	Balentien (RF)	7	Kanemoto (LF)
8	Nakamura (C)	8	Komiyama (C)
9	Tateyama (P)	9	Kubo (P)

Tateyama started off by walking Hirano. Hanshin is as stupid as any team, so Shibata bunted him to second. Toritani then pushed him to third with a single to left before Arai knocked him in on a ground out. 1-0 Hanshin.

The Tigers added to the lead in the third when the top of the order got on again. Hirano singles this time, then moved to second when the cocky Tigers thought they needed only two outs. Arai drove in the run again, this time with a line drive single to center. 2-0 Hanshin.

In the top of the fourth, Tokyo’s new regulars earned their keep. Ueda hit a line drive to center and Milledge put him in scoring position with a hit and run. Hatakeyama then hit a sac fly to bring in the run. 2-1 Hanshin.

In the sixth, Tanaka added one more mark to the having-your-number-two-hitter-routinely-get-out-on-purpose-is-idiotic column when hit. Ueda did, too. Kubo walked Milledge and Hatake grounded in a run, although Milledge got nabbed on the way to second. Kawabata followed that with another RBI before Miyamoto struck out to end the inning. 3-2 Tokyo, Final.

Barnette gave up one hit while earning his fifth save as the new closer. Tsutsui pitched the last two innings for the bad guys.

More base-balling fun to-morrow, when the home team puts Ando on the mound against Ishikawa.

Yokohama BayStars  7

Tokyo Swallows 0

Streak: Lost 1    Last 5: LWWWL

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Yokohama	2	0	5	0	0	0X				7	7	1
Tokyo	0	0	0	0	0					0	7	0

The lowly BayStars snapped a six-game losing streak and managed to notch their second win of the season by slapping Masanori Ishikawa around like, well. . . like Ishikawa on a bad night. That the game was called in the top of the sixth put a merciful early end to an unpleasant outing.

	Yokohama		Tokyo
1	Kinjoh (RF)	1	Tanaka (2B)
2	Yamazaki (SS)	2	Ueda (CF)
3	Morimoto (CF)	3	Milledge (LF)
4	Ramirez (LF)	4	Hatakeyama (3B)
5	Nakamura (3B)	5	Kawabata (SS)
6	Koike (1B)	6	Miyamoto (3B)
7	Tsuruoka (C)	7	Balentien (RF)
8	Ishikawa (2B)	8	Aikawa (C)
9	Yamamoto (P)	9	Ishikawa (P)

Two outs into the top of the first, having walked Yamazaki and given up a single to Morimoto, Ishikawa faced Nakamura with men on the corners, both of whom scored when Nakamura drilled a double into center field. 2-0 Yokohama.

Tokyo came close to evening things up when Hatakeyama came to bat with Ueda in scoring position and Milledge on second. Alas, while Hatake singled, Ueda got nabbed, and no runs made it onto the board.

That was the closest point in the game.

In the third,  Yamazaki singled, Ishikawa hit Morimoto, then Ramirez doubled, driving in two. Nakamura followed this with a single, putting men on the corners. Koike then cleared the bases with a round-tripper to left and Ishikawa’s evening was over. Abe came in to end the bleeding. 7-0 Yokohama, Final.

Masubuchi pitched the fifth and faced two batters in the sixth (one walk, one ground-out) before the game was called.

Newcomer Roman is tasked with restoring the Birds’ dignity against Miura tomorrow evening.

Hanshin Tigers 5 

Tokyo Swallows 5 

Streak: Tied 1   Last 5: WWLD-

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Hanshin	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	3	0	5	12	0
Tokyo	1	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	7	0

	Hanshin		Tokyo
1	Hirano (2B)	1	Tanaka (2B)
2	Shibata (CF)	2	Ueda (CF)
3	Toritani (SS)	3	Milledge (RF)
4	Arai (3B)	4	Hatakeyama (1B)
5	Brazell (1B)	5	Kawabata (SS)
6	Murton (RF)	6	Miyamoto (3B)
7	Kanemoto (LF)	7	Balentien (RF)
8	Fujii (C)	8	Aikawa (C)
9	Messenger (P)	9	Tateyama (P)

Some ties you’re happy to get, some are a letdown; the box score lets you know which one the Birds’ delayed home opener was.

Shinya Miyamoto, the koshu of Jingu.

Tateyama took the mound for Tokyo and got off to a pleasing start: three batters, one strike out, and a mere nine pitches. The offense quickly added to the fun when Ueda was walked, moved to third by a Milledge single, then brought in by a Hatakeyama grounder. 1-0 Tokyo.

Improving on his hot first inning, Tateyama notched another K, throwing only seven pitches to the next three batters in Hanshin’s order.

Miyamoto, then pounded hit number seven into left, putting him only eighteen away from the Meikyukai’s 2000 benchmark with 140 games to go. Unfortunately, this was followed by Balentien grounding into a double play (and giving up not evenhalfway down the basepath, which won’t win him any new fans out in the bleachers) and Aikawa grounding out.

Tateyama then gave up a hit to Fujii, but made up for it by striking out the bunt-attempting Messenger, then Hirano.

The Swallows’ bats then gave their hard-working moundsman some serious support. Tateyama walked, Tanaka singled, then Ueda popped out after briefly sparking your narrator’s overly sensitive consternation trigger by setting up to bunt. Milledge then struck out before Messenger started to come apart, walking Hatake to load the bases, then Kawabata to add another run to the home team’s column.

Miyamoto then sent hit number eight into right field for an RBI before Balentien drove in two more, making hoi polloi like him again. 5-0 Tokyo. 

Another ground out and another K for Tateyama, then Arai drilled a hole in the board just behind the center field fence. 5-1 Tokyo.

To no one’s surprise, Hanshin yanked Messenger and put Tsuru on the mound in the bottom of the fourth and he did his job well: 2 Ks against three batters.

Tokyo’s ace then started to show some wear: Murton, Fujii, and Hirano all hit, adding one more run to the visitors’ side: 5-2 Tokyo.

Watanabe then needed only eleven pitches to retire the home side 1-2-3. Oshimoto took the mound for Tokyo and had 1K vs. 1H.

In the sixth, Kawabata hit safely, but three of his teammates couldn’t get Watanabe’s stuff to leave the infield.

It may be this guy’s bad memory or failing eyesight, but Matsuoka looks a bit chubbier this year. He certainly threw chubbier: a lucky K when Kanemoto swung at a bouncing pitch, which, in fairness, might have counted as a strike back when Kanemoto was a rookie and the oldest of the Tsubamegun‘s authors were just beginning to shave. Matsuoka then beaned Fujii, walked Sekimoto, who was attempting the hit and run, and loaded the bases with a single to Hirano.

While fielding the ball and making a not-quite-handsome throw from right, Balentien appeared to injure either his wrist or his pride. Either way, he was yanked in favor of Iihara.

Not Matsuoka’s day. Would Masubuchi save the day?

Yes! (You didn’t expect that, did you?) Pop out, then a K to stave off disaster.

In the bottom of the 7th, Tanaka showed again what we here have long said: having him continually bunt Aoki over to second was a stupid decision; the man can hit. Sadly, no one else did.

Masubuchi then uncorked the swearing of a crowd already looking to go home, some of whom did after he gave up a single to Arai and a centerfield homer to Brazell, then single to Murton and Kanemoto.

Kanemoto took his Zimmer frame off the field to be replaced by the fleeter-footed Yamato, as Masubuchi was replaced by Hidaka.

After Hidaka got the first out of the inning, Shunsuke managed to bunt Murton in for another run.

You know what, Shunsuke? You’re only allowed to go by one name after you’re famous, you cocky little snot.

Hidaka’s strike out of Hirano finally ended things. 5-5.

The Swallows tried to manufacture a run against Enokida, putting Hiyane on the basepath after Hatake walked. Miyamoto also walked (Is this guy getting hotter in his 40s?), but Ks of Takeuchi of Aikawa ended the inning.

Barnette came in to close. He gave up a hit to Asai, got Toritani to ground out, then struck Arai in an epic ten-pitch battle. It took him five pitches to sit Brazell down and give the Birds a chance to slap Fujikawa around for the win.

Didn’t happen.

Ishikawa faces Ando as the Swallows host the grubs from Hyogo again tomorrow night.