Yomiuri Giants 4

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2

Streak: Lost 1   Last 5: LWLWL

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Tokyo couldn’t pull off the series win after starter Nakazawa fell victim to the long ball as the Swallows lost to their beloved neighbours.

1. Aoki (CF)
2. Fukuchi (2B)
3. Tanaka (2B)
4. D’Antona (1B)
5. Ihara (RF)
6. Aikawa (C)
7. Miyamoto (3B)
8. Fujimoto (SS)
9. Nakazawa (P)

Tokyo took an early lead off the ultimate Giants bitch-boy starter Utsumi in the top of the 1st, with a leadoff single for Aoki followed up by an RBI single from D’Antona two outs later for 1-0 Tokyo. Despite his struggles this year, Jamie still is the team RBI leader with 38.

Nakazawa kept the Giants bats in check fairly well early on, until the homers came. The first came in the 4th, via our old-friend turned wanker Ramirez which tied the scores up at 1-1. And he was at it again in the 6th to make it 2-1, before a single from Tani and another dinger from the thoroughly hateable Chono extended the lead to 4-1 Yomiuri.

Tokyo pulled back a run in the 7th with singles for Miyamoto and pinch-hitter Hatakeyama, a walk for pinch-hitting Guiel followed up by a run scoring groundout for Aoki for 4-2.

But outside of their two run scoring innings, the Swallows threatened very little with Utsumi and the Yomiuri bullpen keeping them at arm’s length. 4-2 Yomiuri Final.

Nakazawa took the loss for his 5 and 2/3 innings of 8 hit 4 run baseball and his record now sits at 4-4/3.92.

Next up at Jingu are the Hanshin Tigers who the Swallows host for three games from tomorrow.

Yomiuri Giants 3

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4

Streak: Won 1   Last 5: LLWLW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Tokyo fell behind early but battled back to take a slender lead, with the bullpen putting in a lights-out shift to bring home the much needed victory.

1. Aoki (CF)
2. Fukuchi (LF)
3. Tanaka (2B)
4. D’Antona (1B)
5. Takeuchi (RF)
6. Aikawa (C)
7. Miyamoto (3B)
8. Fujimoto (SS)
9. Tateyama (P)

With Tateyama on the mound, for the second night in a row the Swallows fell behind early from run scoring off a wild pitch, with Yomiuri adding another to take a 2-0 1st inning lead.

That lead was halved in the 2nd, as a Takeuchi solo homer (no.4 for the year) off fugly Giants starter Nishimura made it 2-1.

But the two run lead was restored in the top of the 4th as piggy-boy Abe hit a solo shot of his own which made it 3-1.

And it was in the bottom of the 4th that the tide would turn in Tokyo’s favour. A walk for D’Antona and a dead ball for Takeuchi, with the runners then advancing on a wild pitch that Abe couldn’t control, left men on second and third for Aikawa. He hit a chopper that bounced high over the infield to left, scoring D’Antona from third to make it 3-2. A single to right for Miyamoto tied things up at 3-3 before outs for Fujimoto, Tateyama and a HBP for Aoki loaded the bases with two outs for Fukuchi.

He hit a feeble grounder to short, but a combination of his lightning speed and first baseman Takahashi not coming up with the throw from Sakamoto meant that Tokyo had themselves the go ahead run for a score of 4-3 Tokyo.

Tateyama worked relatively trouble free 5th and 6th innings before Ogawa turned it over to the bullpen. And what a job they did.

Masubuchi (2.57) worked a perfect 7th off 12 pitches, Matsuoka (0.96) took just 9 for his perfect 8th, before Lim (0.86) sat down Ramirez, Abe and Tani in order off 13 pitches to secure the win and earn his 12th save of the year.

Tokyo could have scored more in the 7th and 8th as they put runners on base with no outs, however both times a Tak-bunt was called, both times (Takeuchi and Onizaki) they lead to the most advanced runner being thrown out and both times no a solitary soul made it home. Great.

Tateyama took the win after giving up the 3 runs off 6 hits (8 strikeouts, 1 walk) and his record is now at 4-5/4.05.

The Swallows outhit their beloved neighbours 10-6 with Tanaka (.309) and Aikawa (.302) both registering 2 hits for the evening.

The two teams meet again tomorrow evening with Tokyo looking to take a series against the evil ones for the first time since the season’s opening series.

Yomiuri Giants 5

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1

Streak: Lost 1   Last 5: WLLWL

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Yomiuri brought their brand of thoroughly unlikeable baseball and mentally challenged fans to Jingu for the first time this season. And as they more often than not tend to do, they left with a win. Wonderful.

1. Aoki (CF)
2. Fukuchi (LF)
3. Takana (2B)
4. Guiel (RF)
5. Hatakeyama (1B)
6. Aikawa (C)
7. Miyamoto (3B)
8. Onizaki (SS)
9. Muranaka (P)

Muranaka actually pitched pretty well in this one, but although he gave up just 2 hits in his first 5 innings, he ended up falling behind 2-0. In the 2nd he gave up a single and a walk, later allowing the game’s first run to score on a wild pitch for 1-0 Yomiuri. And in the 4th a solo homer from Alex Ramirez made things 2-0. That was no.20 for the year for the ex-Swallow and marked the 10th consecutive season he has hit 20. Well. Done.

Yomiuri starter Tohno kept the Swallows off the board until the 5th inning. A two-out Aoki double was followed up by a single from Fukuchi to make it 2-1. A Tanaka deadball and a walk for Guiel loaded the bases for Hatakeyama, but his fierce line drive to left was snagged for the last out of the inning. That bullet dodged, Tohno was then free to go and nervously twitch on the bench with relief like the little bitch he is.

That solitary run in the 5th would be it for Tokyo, and although they did have further chances to score, a steady stream of Giants relievers (5 in all) managed to keep any runners from reaching home.

Yomiuri added another run in the 7th off Oshimoto (though the run was charged to Muranaka who had started the inning, giving up a single and a walk). The 7th was also notable as it saw the Swallows debut for recent aquisition Watanabe who came into the game with one out and men on first and second, and he did manage to get the two outs needed without another run scoring, despite giving up a walk between his two outs.

And in the 9th De La Cruz brought his brand of speed and minimal control to the field as he gave up two hits, the second of which was a two run homer to Chono to left which brought the evening’s scoring to a close, 5-1 Yomiuri Final.

Muranaka was tagged with the loss after his 6 and 1/3 innings of 3 hit, 3 run (4K, 2BB, 2HPB) baseball and his record is now at 4-6/3.62.

The Swallows outhit the Giants 9-6, and in fact kept the opposition hitless in 5 innings, with the Giants scoring in every inning in which they managed a hit, which is one of the reasons why they are sitting pretty on top of the CL. The other reasons are all related to the fact that they are pure evil.

The top of the Swallows order was the only functional part of the lineup tonight, with Aoki (.316), Fukuchi (.259) and Tanaka (.306) each managing 2 hits.

The evil returns to Jingu tomorrow evening. Don’t forget to bring your crucifix.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4

Hiroshima Toyo Carp 2

Streak: Won 1   Last 5: WWLLW

(Mazda Stadium)

Tokyo rallied late against the Hiroshima bullpen as they came from behind to win against the Carp.

1. Aoki (CF)
2. Tanaka (2B)
3. Takeuchi (RF)
4. D’Antona (1B)
5. Ihara (LF)
6. Aikawa (C)
7. Miyamoto (3B)
8. Fujimoto (SS)
9. Yoshinori (P)

Yoshinori was facing off against Carp starter Alvardo and both starters went 7 innings. But while Yoshinori was decent enough, giving up 2 runs (one in the 2nd and one in the 5th) off 5 hits, Alvardo was better as he shackled the Swallows bats, shutting them out off the same amount of hits as his opposite number.

It was the top of the 8th when the game swung in Tokyo’s favour. With veteran Takahashi taking the mound in relief, a Guiel walk (in for Yoshinori), an Aoki double and another walk for Tanaka loaded the bases with no outs. Takahashi then managed to strike out Takeuchi and he was then replaced by Umetsu on the mound. The change mattered little though as D’Antona was walked on four straight pitches to make it 2-1. Fukuichi (in for Ihara) then poked one through the infield to right which scored one run to tie things up at 2-2. Aikawa poked another one through the infield, this time to left, and two runs scored to make it 4-2 Tokyo. Fukuchi was tagged out trying to make it to third during that play and then a Miyamoto flyout to right ended the comeback inning.

Tokyo then turned to their bullpen, who as it turned out were far far more reliable then Hiroshima’s, with Matsuoka (1.00) and Lim (0.93) working a hitless inning each and that was the game, 4-2 Tokyo Final.

The Swallows could have won by more as they loaded the bases with two outs in the 9th, but Ueda could only strikeout.

Yoshinori took the win to move his record to 3-5/4.24 with Lim earning his 11th save of the year.

Tokyo outhit Hiroshima 10-5, with half of those hits coming in the last two innings of the game. Aoki (.315) and Tanaka (.301) both had  two hit afternoons.

The Swallows now return to Jingu for back-to-back series against Yomiuri and Hanshin, the CL’s No.1 and 2 placed teams, starting Tuesday.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1

Hiroshima Toyo Carp 5

Streak: Lost 2   Last 5: WWWLL

(Mazda Stadium)

Tokyo had to wait an extra day to re-start their Central League program after yesterday’s game in Hiroshima was rained out.  And for a while their return to CL duties was a tightly contested affair, until a disastrous 6th inning derailed the Swallows efforts.

1. Aoki (CF)
2. Tanaka (2B)
3. Guiel (RF)
4. D’Antona (1B)
5. Ihara (LF)
6. Aikawa (C)
7. Miyamoto (3B)
8. Fujimoto (SS)
9. Ishikawa (P)

Ishikawa started this one and fell behind in the 1st via a leadoff Higashide double and a Shima sacfly one out later for 1-0 Hiroshima.

Facing Carp ace Maeda was never going to be easy for the Swallows, and so it proved, as he largely held the Tokyo bats at bay throughout his 7 innings, giving up just 5 hits. His only major pinch came in the 3rd, as two two-out singles for Aoki and Tanaka, followed by a HBP for Guiel loaded the bases for D’Antona. But Jamie could only strike out and Maeda’s slender lead was safe.

After Ishikawa gave up two hits in the 2nd (but escaped with the Hiroshima lead still at one) he wouldn’t give up another hit until that fateful 6th. An inning in which, with one out on the board, he gave up: A solo homer to Shima (2-0), another solo shot to Huber (3-0), a single to Hirose and then a two-run homer to Akamatsu (5-0). All in consecutive at bats. Ouch.

That was it for Ishikawa as he was replaced by Oshimoto who got the final two outs of the inning.

And indeed that was about all she wrote for this one, with the Swallows adding a run in the 8th via a pinch-hit Hatakeyama solo homer (his first of the year) making it 5-1, but that would be the sum of all the Swallows scoring for the day as it ended 5-1 Final.

Ishikawa took the loss to put his record at 2-8/4.36.

De La Cruz and Takaichi both pitched hitless innings in relief, with the former making his second and latter making his first appearance of the year.

The two teams both registered 7 hits apiece, with that nasty 6th inning being the difference between the sides.

Tokyo return to Mazda ZOOOOOOM ZOOOOOOOOM Stadium tomorrow afternoon for the last game of the rained-shortened series.

The Swallows were facing Lions’ starter Hsu, and all the scoring in the first 5 innings came by way of the solo homer. Kataoka led off the top of the 1st with a solo shot for 1-0 Saitama before the red-hot Aikawa evened things up in the 2nd (no.3 for the year) for 1-1. And the scores remained tied until the 5th when firstbaseman Hirao joined in the party with a homer of his own to put Seibu ahead 2-1.

The wheels started to fall off for Ishikawa in the 6th, as he gave up a double followed by two singles which put the scores at 3-1. That was it for Masanori as he was replaced by Ryo Kawashima from the bullpen, with men on first and second and no outs on the board. He got Takayama to hit into a double play which left a runner on third, a runner who eventually made it home from a GG Sato single which made it 4-1 Saitama.

Tokyo pulled two back in the 7th, with an Aikawa walk, a Miyamoto single being followed up by a sac bunt from Fujimoto, which set the table for pinch hitter Ueda who hit a two-run double to make it 4-3.

Only a single and a Hosokawa homerun off Oshimoto in the 8th put the lead back at three as the Lions made it 6-3.

The Swallows stranded two in the 8th before a late rally in the 9th. A two-run homer from Aaron Guiel (no.15 for 2010) pulled them back into touching distance of the Lions, but they would come up just short as the game ended 6-5 Saitama Final.

Ishikawa took his first loss since May 4th (since when he’s had a ND, ND, Win) to put his record at 1-7/4.29.

So then, that long overdue series win will have to wait, but the way the Swallows fought right to the last this afternoon perhaps wouldn’t have happened last month. Things are certainly moving in the right direction, and given the kind of season that it’s been so far, that’s a very good thing.

They’ll be facing the Chiba Lotte Marines at Jingu for two games starting tomorrow afternoon.