Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Yokohama BayStars 2

Streak: Won 1    Last 5: LLWDW

(Yokohama)

This game got a little wild at the end, but it ended on the right note for the visiting Tokyo Swallows.

Tonite’s lineup:

1. Aoki CF
2. Tanaka 2B
3. Iihara RF
4. Whitesell 1B
5. Hatakeyama RF
6. Aikawa C
7. Miyamoto 3B
8. Kawabata SS
9. Yoshinori P

Yoshinori gave up a hit to the first batter he faced, but he was rock solid after that. He allowed only two more runners (HBP; single) through seven innings.

The front half of Tokyo’s lineup didn’t do a whole lot to reward Yoshinori for his good behavior.  The fearsome foursome of Aoki-Tanaka-Iihara-Whitesell only managed three walks between them through the first seven innings, and none of them crossed home plate.

The only player in a Tokyo player to make it home was Hatakeyama. Twice. He scored the first run of the game in the fourth when his double was eventually cashed in by Kawabata on a single to left. 1-0 Tokyo.

And his single to lead off the sixth translated into another run when Miyamoto singled past second base. 2-0 Tokyo.

Aoki finally got into the act in the eighth when he came to the plate with two outs and men on first and second. Yoshinori’s attempted suicide squeeze bunt didn’t work on the preceding play, so Aoki made up for it (a little bit) by swatting a double into right field to bring another run home. 3-0 Tokyo.

But Tokyo witnessed an almighty Yoshinori wobble in the bottom of the ninth. With the first two batters retired, Yoshinori allowed a walk and three base hits which amounted to two earned runs. 3-2 Tokyo.

Lim was called in to do some serious damage control with runners on first and third.

And he earned his paycheck tonite. Lim got Castillo to chase a 2-2 slider low and away to end the game. 3-2 Final.

The win was Yoshinori’s (3.62 ERA) 10th of the season and the first double-digit win tally of his career. The save was Lim’s (1.42) 28th of 2010. Despite that shaky ninth inning, Yoshinori pitched a good game overall. He gave up six hits and two runs. Only one of those six hits was for extra bases (Murata double in the ninth). He also recorded 11 Ks against 1 BB and 1 HBP.

The birds started the day 5.5 games behind Chunichi and the third playoff spot. However, Chunichi beat Yomiuri this evening and leapfrogged them in the standings. That means that Tokyo now trails Yomiuri by five games which is even better really.

Game two of the series is tomorrow night at 6PM at Yokohama Stadium.

Random notes:

Tokyo laid down no less than five bunts in this game. At least three of them were Tak-bunts (Tanaka, Aikawa, Miyamoto). Yoshinori also bunted twice. A bunting apologist would only be able to argue that one of those bunts helped lead to a run (man bunted over to third with no outs).

Yoshinori might have been left in too long, but he has reacted well to abject failure in the past. Araki may have been trying to figure out where Yoshinori was mentally. I think we all learned that it’s probably better to yank him after that second hit in a row.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Yomiuri Giants 3

Streak: Drew 1   Last 5: WLLWD

(Tomiyama)

After finishing out a very respectable August with an 18-8 record, by far the best W-L tally in the Central League, the birds began September with a draw.

Lineup:

1. Aoki CF
2. Tanaka 2B
3. Iihara RF
4. Whitesell 1B
5. Hatakeyama LF
6. Aikawa C
7. Miyamoto 3B
8. Kawabata SS
9. Ishikawa P

Ishikawa gave up three hits and one run in the first to make things interesting. 1-0 Yomiuri.

He allowed just one more runner in the three following innings, but Yomiuri got to him again in the fifth when another three hits resulted in two runs.

This was just after Tokyo had tied things up in the fourth care of a Whitesell single and an Aikawa RBI double to left. 3-1 Yomiuri.

But the Swallows slowly clawed their way back into the game. A one out Hatakeyama double in the sixth was followed by a two out Miyamoto double to cut the deficit to one. 3-2 Yomiuri.

It was then Miyamoto’s bat that tied the game for good in the eighth when his single past Sakamoto at short scored Fukuchi who was pinch-running for Hatakeyama. 3-3 Final.

The birds were far more dangerous than Yomiuri from the 9th through the 12th inning–six baserunners to the Giants’ one–but no more runs were scored.

Ishikawa put in six innings of eight hit, three run baseball. His ERA blipped slightly to 3.83 while his record held fast at 10-8.

Ogawa used a total of six relievers in this game–two of them faced only one batter each. Oshimoto (3.38 ERA) pitched the seventh, and Watanabe (3.86) threw a grand total of two pitches in his effort to get rid of Ogasawara. He was successful (fly ball to right) and was awarded with a seat on the bench.

Matsuoka (2.51) finished out the eighth and also pitched a scoreless ninth. Lim (1.43) then entered the game in the 10th and pitched not one but two perfect innings.

Lee (24.00), making his first appearance in eons, was then called into a high pressure situation with the draw on the line and responded by striking out the two batters he faced.

Not wanting to allow Lee to ruin a good thing, Ogawa opted to sit him down in favor of Matsui (3.91) to face pinch hitter, Tani, with two outs on the board. The move proved effective as Matsui struck out Yomiuri’s last man to safeguard the draw.

Offensively, both Aikawa and Miyamoto had 3-6 evenings at the plate. Aoki also chipped in with a pair of hits and a walk.

The birds now have the day off before heading to Yokohama tomorrow to begin a three-game series against the worst team in NPB.

Random thoughts:

Tanaka is second in the league with 36 Tak-bunts. Number 36 came in the first inning and was unsuccessful in eventuating a run for Tokyo. Number 37 nearly came in the ninth as he wasted the majority of his at-bat in a bunting stance before eventually grounding out to second (however, he was able to move the runner over).

Tanaka’s real Tak-bunt stance and his fake Tak-bunt stance (ie. he’s actually planning to swing) look nothing alike. The infielders didn’t move in at all on the fake version.

The second best August record in the Central went to Chunichi (14-12).

The Swallows are now five games behind third place Chunichi.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 12

Yomiuri Giants 8

Streak: Won 1   Last 5: LWLLW

(Kanazawa)

After being fairly well beaten in the last two games against the Tigers this weekend, the Swallows took some of the bad taste from their mouths with a win against our other favourite CL brethren.

1. Aoki (CF)
2. Tanaka (2B)
3. Ihara (RF)
4. Whitesell (1B)
5. Hatakeyama (LF)
6. Aikawa (C)
7. Miyamoto (3B)
8. Kawabata (SS)
9. Muranaka (P)

Tokyo got the wheels turning in the 1st against Yomiuri starter Tohno who’d lost in his last start against the birds. A leadoff single from Aoki, a Tanaka flyout for out number one, another single from Ihara were followed up by a timely single from Whitesell to right to make it 1-0 Tokyo. Hatakeyama’s letters then received a brush from a Tohno pitch inside and the bases were loaded for Aikawa, and the catcher singled to left to bring home another run for 2-0. Miyamoto then hit one to Sakamoto at short, but he couldn’t hold onto it, allowing one more to score on the error and the bases to remain loaded with the score now at 3-0. Tohno was then spared further embarrassment by Kawabatya hitting into an inning ending double play.

Muranaka gave up a run off the one hit, a leadoff solo shot from Sakamoto, in the bottom of the 1st for 3-1.

Fortunately, the let’s all laugh at Tohno party continued in the 2nd unabated.  A leadoff walk for Muranaka, an Aoki double and a Tanaka hit to centre made it 5-1 and that was it for Tohno, off for his trademark red-eyed blubfest on the bench. What. A. Bitch. He. Truly. Is.

Replacing him on the mound was 19 year old Lin, but he didn’t fair much better, allowing singles for Ihara and Whitesell (6-1) before Hatake grounded out to third for out number one. A single from Aikawa made it 7-1 and then Miyamoto hit a liner to short that was caught for out number two. One up the middle from Kawabata added yet another run (8-1) before Muranaka earned his second walk of the inning to load the bases. And it was another walk, this time for Aoki, that would score the final run of a big inning leaving the score at 9-1 Tokyo.

Muranaka joined in with the walk-parade in the bottom of the 2nd as a single and three walks scored Yomiuri’s second run for 9-2, but he escaped the inning without further damage as Tani struck out with the bases juiced.

Three more Tokyo runs followed in the 3rd, with singles from Ihara, Hatake and Aikawa (10-2) and a two-run double from Kawabata making it 12-2.

With the Swallows shooting their load so early before being kept quiet by a procession of Yomiuri relievers, it was a case of trying to stem the inevitable Yomiuri fightback. Muranaka gave up two runs in the 4th and three more in the 7th before being replaced. His final pitching line read 6.2IP/12H/9K/3BB/1HBP/7ER as he left the game with the score at 12-7. Oshimoto (3.45) came in and got the final out of the 7th.  Matsuoka (2.59) gave up a run in the 8th (12-8) but it was of the unearned variety after the eventual run scorer Matsumoto reached base on an error from substitute shortstop Araki.

After that Lim (1.50) did his thang in the 9th to earn his 27th save of the year and that was that, 12-8 Tokyo Final.

Muranaka took the win, his record now standing at 10-7/3.33.

Tokyo outhit the opposition 18-13 with 14 of those hits coming in the first three innings. Aoki (.350), Ihara (.282), Aikawa (.297) and Kawabata (.336) all had three hit evenings while Aikawa and Kawabata both led in the RBI stakes with three each.

They will now travel to Toyama for the final game in the quick two-game countryside series, then get a day off Thursday before the weekend series in Yokohama.

Hanshin Tigers 12

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5

Streak: Lost 2  Last 5: LLWLL

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

The Swallows’ insistence on going with a 6-man rotation costs the team dearly… The Birds’ lineup was the usual, except the starting pitcher.

1. Aoki CF
2. Tanaka 2B
3. Iihara RF
4. Whitesell 1B
5. Hatakeyama LF
6. Aikawa C
7. Miyamoto 3B
8. Kawabata SS
9. Yamamoto P

With Barnette back with the farm team, the Swallows decided to start Hiroki Yamamoto in this all important game against the Tigers. Yamamoto, was making his first start for the season, and only his second first team start overall, pitched as you would expect a young inexperienced pitcher would pitch against a loaded offense like the Tigers.

The Tigers struck quickly in the first inning, using the very Japanese formula of Murton hit, Hirano sac bunt, and Toritani timely single. One wonders how bad things would have been if Toritani was allowed to swing away aginst the young Yamamoto. Nevertheless, the Tigers had the early lead. 1-0 Tigers

In the bottom of the first inning, Aoki gave the Swallows faithful some hope by launching the fifth pitch he saw against Kubo into the right field stands. Unfortunately none of the remaining Swallows were able to follow Aoki’s lead, and the rest of the order went down without much of a fight. 1-1 All

The Tigers came right back against Yamamoto in the top of the second when Kanemoto, professional Swallows killer, took a pitch down the middle into the right field stands. Not to be outdone, Johjima quickly followed Kanemoto’s lead, and hit a homer into left field. Ymamoto manged to get the bottom two men of the Tigers’ offense out, but proceeded to give up back-to-back-to-back hits to Murton, Hirano, and Toritani to score another run for the Tigers. If Aikawa hadn’t managed to throw Toritani out attempting to steal second base, I get the feeling the Tigers would have continued to be on offense for a long time. 4-1 Tigers

Instead of responding to the Tigers’ offensive performance, the Swallows went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the second inning. The top of the third inning saw Yamamoto being replaced by Kosuke Matsui. Matsui held the Tigers off the board despite giving up a hit to Kanemoto. Once again, the Swallows fail to respond going down in order in the bottom  of the inning. Matsui gives the Swallows faithful a bit of a heart-attack by giving up a leadoff hit and walk to Murton and Hirano, but manages to strikeout the next three batters to keep the score as it was.

The bottom of the fourth saw the Swallows start to fight back when Tanaka drew a walk to start the inning, and Hatakeyama managing to get him home on a home run to left field. But like in the previous innngis the Swallows were unable to put anymore pressure on Kubo. 4-3 Tigers

After 2 scoreless innings, Matsui finally breaks in the top of the fifth inning. After getting two outs from Arai and Brazell, Matsui gives up (another) hit to Kanemoto and a homer to Johjima. 6-3 Tigers

From this point on, the Swallows do manage to get a single an inning but nothing more until the ninth. The Tigers managed to further widen their lead in the sixth with a single and homerun by Toritani and Arai. 8-3 Tigers The Tigers widened their lead even further in the eighth through three straight singles by Murton, Toritani, and Hirano, followed bit later by a Brazell homer. 12-3 Tigers

The Swallows finally managed to string some hits together in the bottom of the ninth when Whitesell and Hatakeyama managed back-to-back doubles, against former Tigers’ starter Tsuru, for one run. 12-4 Tigers The Swallows capped the scoring when Takeuchi got a hit against Tsuru to score Hatakeyama. 12-5 Tigers But at that point, it was too little too late and the Tigers cruised to an easy win.

Notes

• The Tigers got 20 hits overall, with Murton and Toritani collecting 4 hits apiece, and Hirano, Kanemoto, and Fujikawa managing 3 hits apiece.
• The Tigers managed to get at least 1 hit in every  inning.
• Every Swallows pitcher (Yamamoto, Matsu, Oshimoto, and Matsuoka) save Hashimoto, who pitched the top of the ninth, allowed at least 2 earned runs.
• Kubo’s record against the Swallows moved to 4-0 in 4 starts.
• The Swallows’ overall record against the Tigers fell to 7-13 overall.
• The Swallows once again find themselves in the negative side of a .500 record.
• The Swallows will look to bounce back against the Giants in a 2 game series against the Giants in the Chubu region starting Tuesday.

Hanshin Tigers 9

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2

Streak: Lost 1   Last 5: WLLWL

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

What poison can overcome the elation of a thumping of the Tigers?

A thumping by the Tigers.

This sucked. Good news first:

Eulogio De La Cruz is a badass (except at pitching). His warm-up music shows it to be so.

“Kyodai bune” by Ichiro Toba.

Not to be completely outdone, Masaru Sato warmed up to Pink Lady’s hit, “Southpaw”. (And blew it on the mound just as hard.)

All players should have such good taste in music. Sadly, the pitching didn’t live up to the tunes.

All players being:

1. Aoki
2. Tanaka
3. Iihara
4. Whitesell
5. Hatakeyama
6. Aikawa
7. Miyamoto
8. Kawabata
9. Nakazawa

. . . for Tokyo.

1. Murton
2. Hirano
3. Toritani
4. Arai
5. Brazell
6. Kanemoto
7. Johjima
8. Fujikawa
9. Akiyama

. . . for the degenerates.

The game sucked. Shall I spell it out?
Murton got revenge for last night. On Tokyo’s side, the guys just plain sucked.

In the first, Murton led off with a hit and was eventually brought home by an Arai hit out to the fence. In the third, Murton reached on a Tanaka fumble, was moved to second by another Hirano sacrifice, and was brought in this time by a Toritani hit.

In the fifth, a Murton solo home run gave Hanshin their third run. Yes, the red-headed geek scored all three of the first three runs for the enemy. In the sixth, Arai hit a solo home run, making it at least not an all Murton show.

A Hatake double in the second was followed by a Miyamoto RBI, which means the score was tied at 1 for a third of an inning.

By the time Nakazawa was yanked with one out in the sixth, after walking Kanemoto with the bases open, the score was 4-1 Hanshin.

Mercifully, no one scored in the seventh or eighth (unfortunately, that includes our side). De La Cruz created conditions for drinking to the enka he had piped in when he gave up two hits, a walk, and hit, registering only one out in the process. The last of those hits was a three-RBI double by, you guessed it: Murton. Fucker. He’s going to stick around a bit and eventually sign with Yomiuri.

Sato took over from the ailing De La Cruz with a nice musical choice of his own, but failed to live up to it just about as badly. He managed an out, but Murton moved to third and was brought in by Toritani, who was moved to third by Arai, then brought in by Brazell. Keeping track of the score still? I wasn’t. It was bad. 9-1 Hanshin.

Bottom of the ninth. In theory the game wasn’t over. Kawabata got another hit – making up for a lackluster performance in last night’s win. Nitta came to the plate again and got another hit. Aoki even drove Kawabata in, but it wasn’t enough. 9-2 Hanshin.

If you’re wondering, Oshimoto pitched a scoreless 7th and Watanabe a scoreless 8th for Tokyo. Hanshin did their thing where they put in a dozen pitchers when each pitcher was doing all right.

Hanshin got 15 hits, the Swallows 7. Starter Akiyama (1-1) took the win, Nakazawa (7-8) the loss. Again, though, Tokyo’s relievers made sure they contributed to the loss, cementing it. Making sure there was no element of hope or thought that the game might have turned on one play. No, this was a thorough sucking. Like a Shop-Vac in outer space.

The Birds get a chance at redemption and the series tomorrow.

Hanshin Tigers 0

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 6

Streak: Won 1   Last 5: WWLLW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

What balm can soothe the sting of a loss to the BayStars?

Turning around the next night to spank the Tigers.

The Spankers:

1. Aoki
   

   A suitably heroic pose for Iihara.

2. Tanaka
3. Iihara
4. Whitesell
5. Hatakeyama
6. Aikawa
7. Takeuchi
8. Fujimoto
9. Tateyama

The Spankees:

1. Murton
2. Hirano
3. Toritani
4. Arai
5. Brazell
6. Kanemoto
7. Johjima
8. Fujikawa
9. Messenger

Shohei “Fucking Cyborg” Tateyama threw another complete game shut-out, this one with six hits, but seven strike-outs (four against Murton) and no walks.

Tag. That's two.

Messenger actually got off to a bit of a better start than Tateyama, letting none of our guys on base for the first 3 2/3 innings. When the Birds did get into the action in the the fourth, though, they made it count: defensively, there was a bit of noteworthy niceness when a Toritani whiff on a hit and run was combined with Aikawa making the throw and nabbing Hirano at second for two outs in dramatic fashion.

On offense, Iihara walked and Whitesell knocked him in with home run #14 of the season (and remember Tokyo’s only had him for a couple of months). 2-0 Tokyo.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Swallows send Messenger packing when an Aoki single and a Tanaka Tak-bunt were followed by Iihara’s 14th home run of the season. 4-0 Tokyo.

Egusa had a good relief inning for Hanshin in the seventh and in the the eighth, Sajikihara took the mound, hit Aoki, then tossed a near replay of the sixth inning: Tanaka Tak-bunt (idiotic, of course), followed by Iihara heroics, this time in the form of a triple out to the right field fence. That was quickly followed by a Whitesell double and Whitesell’s inevitable replacement by Fukuchi on the basepaths. Sajikihara then walked Hatake, but got lucky in that Aikawa and Takeuchi both had lackluster evenings at the plate. Nonetheless, 6-0 Tokyo, Final.

Tateyama (8-5) got the win, of course. Messenger (3-4) took the loss.

Adding tot he fun, Hiroshima and Yokohama came through and helped Tokyo drag the top half of the table down a notch.
The whooping continues tomorrow night.

Standings & Results – Player Stats

Yokohama BayStars 9

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Streak: Lost 1    Last 5: LWWWL

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Damned BayStars.

OK, OK, I’ll admit the they’ve-got-our-number thing is a bit exaggerated, but damn them anyway.

Our Boys in the (rather nice) ‘Hood:

1. Aoki
   

   Nice recovery, and the glory days threads suit you, but it's all about first impressions.

2. Tanaka
3. Takeuchi
4. Whitesell
5. Yuichi
6. Miyamoto
7. Kawabata
8. Kawamoto
9. Yoshinori

The Basket-case by the Bay:

1. Uchikawa
2. Fujita
3. Harper
4. Murata
5. Sledge
6. Shimozono
7. Castillo
8. Takeyama
9. Fujie

Yoshinori seems to start shaky and get better as he gets going. Tonight, four hits and two walks in the top of the first, put the visitors up early. 3-0 Yokohama.

The top of the second brought more nerve-racking situations, but no more runs, thankfully. After that, Yoshinori settled in and actually pitched a heck of a game, giving up no more runs: 7 innings with 8 hits, 4 walks, 3 earned runs, but 11 strike-outs. Not too shabby a recovery, although he, somewhat unjustly, took the loss – such are the quirks of the system.

The Birds struck in the bottom of the fourth. Tanaka walked, then Takeuchi doubled, bringing him home. Whitesell then hit the first pitch he saw in the at-bat for a line drive RBI single. 3-2 Yokohama.

De La Cruz came in in relief in the eighth and the BayStars added a run to their lead. Castillo hit, Takeyama sac-bunted him to third, and Kinjoh, in as a pinch hitter, hit an RBI single. De La Cruz struck out Uchikawa, but that was followed by Fujita reaching first on a Tanaka error, which got De La Cruz yanked in favor of Watanabe, who struck out Harper to end the inning. 4-2 Yokohama.

The bottom of the eighth saw Whitesell hit a solo home run off Sanada, but it wouldn’t be enough. 4-3 Yokohama.

The top of the ninth was the stuff nightmares are made of. Yamagishi and Matsui combined for a thorough sucking. Yamagishi’s first pitch was nailed for a line-drive single by Murata. He then threw four sorry balls to Sledge, who luckily swung at one. Not that it mattered, as the first pitch to enter the strike zone wound up under the scoreboard. 6-3 Yokohama.

They weren’t done, though. Yamagishi walked Shimozono, hit Castillo, and finally managed an out when Takeyama sac-bunted those two into scoring position, which they did, but not before Yamagishi was pulled in favor of Matsui, who upped the suck without delay, giving up an RBI single to Yamazaki, the first batter he faced. Uchikawa then grounded out, but managed an RBI in the process. He then gave up hits to Fujita and Inada, the latter of which was another RBI, before he finally got Murata to pop out to the infield after throwing five pitches more or less low and away. 9-3 Yokohama.

The bottom of the ninth 28-year-old Genki Nitta get an at-bat and a hit, but to no avail, no one else did.

D’Antona got an at-bat in the 7th (he grounded out), and Onizaki played the last two innings, as the Ogawa continued to mix things up to get bats in place, which, on the whole, seems to be working. Alas, not tonight.

The Swallows host our favorite ill-mannered guests through the weekend and are going to have to light a fire under the bullpen’s collective ass. Livelier lumber wouldn’t hurt, either.

Standings & Results – Player Stats

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 7

Yokohama BayStars 6

Streak: Won 3    Last 5: WLWWW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Despite a late wobble, the Swallows continued their journey into positive territory with another win over the Baystars. Tokyo are now just the third team in history to recover from being 19 games or more under .500 to get their heads back above water.

1. Aoki (CF)
2. Tanaka (2B)
3. Ihara (RF)
4. Whitesell (1B)
5. Hatakeyama (LF)
6. Aikawa (C)
7. Miyamoto (3B)
8. Kawabata (SS)
9. Ishikawa (P)

After a Castillio two run homer made it 2-0 Yokohama in the 2nd, the Swallows wasted no time getting back into it in the bottom of the same inning.

Against Yokohama starter Takasaki, a one-out Miyamoto single and a Kawabata double put two men in scoring positions. After Ishikawa grounded out for out number two, Aoki then bounced one up the middle to bring home both runners to tie things up at 2-2.

And they pulled ahead in the 4th. With one out on the board, Whitesell hit to centre and advanced to second on a fluffed catch attempt error by Shimozono. Hatakeyama walked before Aikawa singled to bring home the go-ahead run to make it 3-2 Tokyo. Miyamoto then singled to load the bases for Kawabata who struck out looking for out number two. Up stepped Ishikawa, who continued his good form with the bat by poking one through the inflield to right which scored two for 5-2. A single for Aoki added another run before Tanaka grounded out to third to end the inning with the score at 6-2.

Another Tokyo run came along in the 6th, via an Aoki single, Tanaka sacbunt a Ihara walk and a Whitesell timely single which made it 7-2, after which the wobble commenced.

In the 7th, Ishikawa gave up two runs off three hits as the lead shrank to 7-4, Oshimoto  (3.29) was then summoned to get the final out.

The seemingly exhausted and obviously out of sorts Matsuoka (2.01) came in to work the 8th. A leadoff dead ball and a Harper homerun shrank the lead to just one, 7-6, after which Matsuoka toiled to escape the inning, and did so with the slender lead intact, despite giving up a double and a walk.

Lim (1.54) then worked a nine pitch perfect 9th to bring home the win as well as registering his 27th save of the season. 7-6 Tokyo Final.

Ishikawa won his 8th straight start (6.2IP/6H/6K/1BB/1HBP/4ER) and is now at 10-8/3.80. It marks the third straight year Masanori has registered 10 wins or more.

With the bat, the man of the match award must go to Aoki, who went 4 for 5 (his 4th multi-hit game in a row) with 3 RBIs and is now batting .350. He is 41 hits away from the 200 mark, and has 33 games in which to reach that mark. Given how hot he’s been during this month, you wouldn’t want to bet against him getting there.

The two teams will meet again Thursday evening for the final game of the series before Hanshin and their uncouth army come to town from Friday.

Standings & Results – Player Stats

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 13

Yokohama BayStars 5

Streak: Won 2    Last 5: WWLWW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

After three exceedingly tight games in Nagoya this last weekend, Tokyo unloaded on the omni-shambles that is the Yokohama Baystars as they saw their record finally return to some semblance of respectability. So come one, come all, let us rejoice for the Swallows are now at .500!

1. Aoki (CF)
2. Tanaka (2B)
3. Ihara (RF)
4. Whitesell (1B)
5. Hatakeyama (LF)
6. Aikawa (C)
7. Miyamoto (3B)
8. Kawabata (SS)
9. Muranaka (P)

After a quiet first two innings this one would spring to life in the bottom of the 3rd. Facing Baystars starter Shimuzu, back to back hits for Aoki and Tanaka got things rolling for the Swallows. After Ihara tak-bunted the runners along for out number one, Whitesell hit to centre to bring home the game’s first run, 1-0 Tokyo. With runners on the corners, Hatakeyama hit a double off the leftfield wall to bring home another run for 2-0 Tokyo before a dead ball juiced the bases for Miyamoto. He hit to second, with Castillo making a decent diving play, but the infielder delayed, and then made a bit of a pig’s ear of the throw to first, allowing Miyamoto to reach second on the error and two runs to score making it 4-0 Tokyo. But the Yokohama ineptitude would continue as Kawabata came to the plate with two men in scoring positions. The shortstop hit a grounder to the pitcher, but he completely screwed his throw to first, the ball ended up in front of the visitor’s bench, and two runs scored on the error. 6-0 Tokyo.

In the 4th, two solo homeruns from first Harper and then Whitesell moved the score along to 7-1 Tokyo. Whitesell’s monster shot to right was hit 11th of the season.

Things then quietened down a little until the 7th. In the top of the inning a double and an Uchikawa timely single made it 7-2, before the Swallows brought down the hammer in the bottom of the inning. Whitesell flew out for out number one, and then a Hatakeyama single and then a walks for Aikawa and Miyamoto loaded the bases. Kawabata then squeezed one through the infield to left, one run scored for 8-2 with the bases remaining stocked. Next man Muranaka grounded to short, but only the out at second was made as another run came home, 9-2. Aoki then worked a walk to reload the bases before Tanaka hit one up the first base foul line that stayed just fair for a double which made it 11-2. And with two men still in scoring positions Ihara brought the inning’s scoring to a close with a hit to centre with the score at 13-2.

A double, an(other) error from Kawabata at short, a single and another double in the Yokohama 8th yielded three runs to make it 13-5, and after another single Muranaka was seated with Matsui (3.44) coming in from the ‘pen. He gave up a walk to put three on for Uchikawa, but the bite-sized outfielder helped Tokyo (and Muranaka) by hitting into an inning ending double play.

With De La Cruz (2.16) pitching a perfect 9th that was that as the Swallows finally made it back up to .500, 13-5 Tokyo Final.

Muranaka took the win after his 7.1IP/11H/4K/1BB/5R/3ER performance and his record is now at a very respectable 9-7/3.03.

Tokyo outhit Yokohama 14-11 with Aoki (.345), Tanaka (.324), Whitesell (.329), Hatakeyama (.293), and Kawabata (.330) all having two-hit evenings.

The Swallows record is now W54, L54, D2 and they are 4.5 games behind the 3rd placed Dragons, and indeed “just” 7 games back of the league-leading Giants. My how far we’ve come post-Takada.

After the powder blue of last week’s Hiroshima series, the Swallows are modelling throwback home uniforms for this series with the Baystars. And I’d forgotten quite how much I’d missed the distinctive red pinstripes after years of designer blandness for home unis. I for one would be quite happy to see both sets of uniforms stay for good but there’s absolutely F.A. chance of that happening. Oh well.

The two teams will return to Jingu tomorrow evening.

Standings & Results – Player Stats

Chunichi Dragons 2

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Streak: Won 1   Last 5: WWWLW

(Nagoya Dome)

Today’s rubber match against the Dragons seemed to be following the same script as last night’s game, with the Birds taking the early lead and giving it up in one bad inning. However, today the Swallows were able to snatch victory from the clutches of defeat.

Today’s lineup featured the same lineup as last night with Tony Barnette as the starting pitcher:

1. Aoki CF
2. Tanaka 2B
3. Iihara RF
4. Whitesell 1B
5. Hatakeyama LF
6. Aikawa C
7. Miyamoto 3B
8. Kawabata SS
9. Barnette P

Both Barnette and the Dragons’ starter Nakata were somewhat sloppy throughout as both pitchers scattered hits and walks in most of the innings they pitched. However, both managed to keep damage to a minimum most of the way.

The Swallows struck first in the top of the third inning. Iihara got the offense started with a 1 out double. After Whitesell went down on a foul out, Hatakeyama watched 6 pitches go by and earned a walk without ever swinging his bat. With two out and men on first and second Aikawa came up to the plate. Aikawa managed to take the second pitch he saw from Nakata and put it into center allowing Iihara to score from second. Miyamoto wasn’t able to keep the offense going as he struck out on three straight pitches. 1-0 Swallows

Despite allowing 2 runners in 4 out of 5 innings, Barnette somehow managed to keep the Dragons scoreless through 5 innings. Unfortunately, in the bottom of the sixth inning Barnette’s luck ran out. Barnette managed to get the first batter, Fujii to ground out harmlessly on just two pitches. It was the last out Barnette would manage to get out of the Dragons. Tony walked the next two batters he faced. The next batter up was the pitcher, Nakata. As expected, Nakata came out bunting. Unfortunately,  instead of getting a free out and lowering the Dragons’ chances of scoring, Barnette missed the throw to first allowing a run to come around to score. Still one out with men on first and second, couldn’t stop the Dragons. Barnette allowed a hit to Araki to load the bases, and bring out Ogawa to end his night. In order to match up against the lefty Nomoto, the Swallows brought out Watanabe from the bullpen. Watanabe promptly gave up an infield single to Nomoto on his first pitch, allowing another run to score. Matsui was brought out to face the dangerous Wada, and he finally ended the Dragons’ run by inducing a 5-4-3 double play. 2-1 Dragons

Both sides’ pitching finally settled down in the seventh and eight innings recording perfect innings. The Swallows got their perfect frames from Matsui who continued pitching into the seventh inning, and Oshimoto who came into pitch the eighth. With the Dragons’ closer Iwase due to come up in the ninth, it was beginning to look like yesterday’s game.

Iihara hits the go-ahead single

Today’s Swallows weren’t going to go down without a fight. Miyamoto lead off the inning with a single to left. Kawabata followed with an ultimately useless Tak-bunt to bring Noguchi, running for Miyamoto, to second. Iwase proceeded to walk D’Antona, hitting for Oshimoto, and Aoki to load the bases. Tanaka quickly got behind against Iwase but managed to hit a high chopper to second for an infield single that scored Noguchi from third. With the score tied and the bases still loaded, it was Iihara’s turn to take the lead. Iihara took the second offering from Iwase and poked it into right field allowing the go-ahead run to score. While neither Whitesell or Fukuchi were able to further capitalize on the bases loaded situation, the Swallows went into the bottom of the ninth with a lead. 3-2 Swallows

With a 1 run lead the Swallows handed the ball off to Lim to close out the game. Ever the attention seeker, Lim decided to do his best Iwase impression for the Nagoya fans before he finally dashed their hopes for victory. Lim started off the inning by giving up a 1 pitch single to Araki. Nomoto dutifully lowered his team’s chances of scoring by bunting Araki over to second. Lim then got Donoue the elder to fly out to center. Then, Lim made things interesting by walking Morino and Blanco to load the bases. Up to bat was Fujii, who had 2 hits up to this point in the game. Luckily for Swallows fans, Lim decided to go after Fujii and managed to get him to strikeout swinging to end the game.

The Swallows are once again just 1 game under .500 (53-54-2), and will look to bring their record into positive territory against the Yokohama BayStars at Jingu Stadium starting on Tuesday night.

Notes

• Oshimoto earned the win for his perfect eighth inning. Lim earned his 26th save for the year.
• Barnette pitching line read 5.1 IP / 6 H / 5 BB / 1 HB / 2 R / 1 ER.
• Watanabe’s 1 pitch appearance was his fourth in 7 appearances.
• Aoki, Iihara, and Kawabata each had 2 hits in the game.

Standings & Results – Player Stats