We need to officially change the name of this column, since it’s not Monday and I don’t want to be limited by the title. It’s something we’ll have to work on in the offseason. In the meantime, I’ll be giving you some news updates and roster analysis to mull over before the start of the Climax Series next Saturday.

Senryokugai Players: Earlier this month the Swallows announced that 8 players will be cut by the team at the end of the season. The players are LHP Masaru Sato, RHP Shun Takaichi, RHP Hiromitsu Takagi, RHP Masahiro Yoshikawa, LHP Naoya Okamoto, C Atsushi Kinugawa, INF Ryo Yoshimoto, and OF Toshihiro Nakao. Of the listed players, Kinugawa will be given a front office position with the team, and many of the other players were undecided as to what they wanted to do in the future. No major surprises here, and we wish all these players the best in their future endeavors.

Potential Roster Moves: The Swallows have been going crazy with roster moves since the last Monday Review, and we won’t be going over them all. Instead, we’ll be examining where certain players are now and how our post-season roster is shaping up. As of today the Swallows only have 23 players out of a possible 28 on their active roster. Any player removed from the active roster on or before the 19th would be eligible to return in time for Game 1 of the Climax series on the 29th. Among the players not on the active roster who may get recalled in the playoffs are Ishikawa, Kawabata, Whitesell, Kyuko, Barnette, Muranaka, Yoshinori, Shichijo, and Iihara. I’ll give a quick update on the status of each player.

• Ishikawa was removed from the active roster on the 19th, and he should be expected to return on the 29th. Many outlets are now reporting that Ishikawa will be the Swallows’ game 1 starter, and that he may throw in a Phoenix League (fall league) game as warm up. The chances of Ishikawa NOT getting recalled seems slim to none at this point.
• Kawabata was removed from active roster at the same time as Ishikawa. Apparently he had been feeling pain in his left wrist since a game against Hiroshima in September, and was taken off the active roster for that reason. The pains may have been what contributed to his 5-for-45 batting in October. He’s said he’ll be aiming to return in time for the CS, but the status of his health is concerning.
• Whitesell was taken off the roster with right flank pains on the 9th. But there have been no other reports as to his status since. Obviously having Whitesell’s bat on the bench would be a big help to a team struggling to get its offense going.
• Kyuko returned to the team on the 11th, but had a couple of rocky outings (2.1 IP, 5 ER, in 3 appearances) and was taken of the active roster on the 20th. No word as to whether Kyuko is injured and whether he can be expected back for the playoffs. Since Kyuko was taken off the active roster on the 20th, he would only be eligible to return for Game 2 of the first round.
• Barnette’s case is even more mysterious than Kyuko’s case. Barnette was recalled to the active roster at the same time as Kyuko but was taken off the roster 3 days later without ever getting into a game. Barnette has not pitched in a first team game since September 3, and hasn’t pitched in ni-gun games as far as I can see. No details have been released as to Barnette’s condition. Like Kyuko, we’d love to have a prime Barnette back for the playoffs, but it would be a concern if he takes the mound for the first time in the CS.
• Muranaka was taken off the active roster on the 15th after pitching ineffectively on the 14th. Muranaka is healthy as far as we know, so I’d expect him back on the roster for the playoffs.
• The current word on Yoshinori is that he could potentially return if the team makes it to the Nippon Series, but not any sooner.
• Shichijo was demoted from the team after a series of rough outings in late September, but would be available to the team unless he has a hidden injury. He was not on the initial Phoenix League roster so he may be rusty if he were to join the team.
• Finally Iihara would be available to the team if he is needed.

As you can see from the above list our team has been suffering through injury and our roster is somewhat in flux and other players have not been able to fill in the gap. As reported earlier by Chris, Keizo Kawashima will not be able available to the team as he underwent ligament surgery (possibly Tommy John surgery?) on his right elbow and will be out for a whole year.

Left Field: One of the first topics I ever handled on the Monday Review was our left field situation. At the time, the solution was putting Hatake in left, and that worked for a while. However, the big man’s defensive inability in left combined with some cooling off by Whitesell led to a re-opening of the hole in left. The team has tried Iihara, Ueda, and Fukuchi over the last month. While all of them are more than adequate replacements in left field they haven’t been able to make up for the offense lost by having Whitesell come off the bench. It seems the team has settled on Ueda for the stretch run.

Have we settled on a left fielder for the playoffs?

2011 Draft: The 2011 Draft will occur on the 27th. I will be posting a draft preview sometime next week. Let me know if there are any players you’d like me to cover.

Retirement Game: Our last game is on Tuesday, and as predicted in the last Monday Review, the final game will be a retirement game. Hirotoshi Ishii will be given an opportunity to pitch in one last pro game prior to his retirement. There were no comments in regards to Hamanaka and Guiel, but it seems those players will not be coming into the game.

I Want Love: As mentioned by Chris and Dave in their last podcast, I”m in need to love and feedback for this column. Let me know if you like this column and if there’s anything I can do to make it better.

Tokyo Swallows 10

Yokohama BayStars 7

Streak: Won 5   Last 5: WWWWW

(Yokohama Stadium)

After last night’s drubbing handed out to the Baystars, tonight’s game was more of a tightly contested affair despite Tokyo outhitting the opposition 17-9. But in the end class told as the Swallows came out on top at the end of this rollercoaster of a game.

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

Facing rookie Yokohama starter Kaga, Tokyo took a 1st inning lead after a single from Tanaka and a Takeuchi double set the table for Whitesell. The American, who can seem to do no wrong since his arrival here, hit a double to right which brought home two runs for 2-0 Tokyo.

Swallows’ starter Nakazawa gave up seven runs in his previous start, also against the Baystars last Saturday. Today he would not fair much better but would get a lot more run support this time round. So it wasn’t the most auspicious of starts as he gave up three consecutive hits to begin the game, the last of those a three run homer to Harper which saw his lead dissapear before putting an out on the board as the score moved to 3-2 Yokohama.

But this post-Takada, post-allstar break Swallows team are a resilient bunch, and they proved it as they struck back in the top of the 2nd. Back to back singles for Miyamoto and Kawabata got the inning rolling before Nakazawa layed down a sacbunt to move the runners along. A pitch low and way inside hit Aoki (who was not best pleased to put it mildly) to load the bases for Tanaka. He could only strikeout tamely, but next man up Takeuchi got the job done with a two run single that put the birds back ahead at 4-3.

Another run followed in the 3rd. A single for Hatakeyama was followed by two outs, the upshot of which meant the chubby-one was now residing at second. Kawabata was then given the intentional pass to first which brought up pitcher Nakazawa. He, no doubt inspired by Tateyama’s heroics the night before, hit one over the head and out of the reach of  third baseman Murata which scored Hatake from second for 5-3.

An enormous homer to right  from Whitesell (no.8 for the year) followed in the 4th off reliever Fujie which made it 6-3 Tokyo. But just as things looked like they may be mirroring the night before, Yokohama fought back.

In the bottom of the 4th a solo shot from Castillio narrowed the score to 6-4, before two hits and a Murata three-run shot in the 5th put the Baystars ahead. 7-6 Yokohama.

Luckily for Nakazawa, the Tokyo resilience saved him as they got right back in the game in the 6th. A two-out Takeuchi single and walk for Whitesell put two on for Hatakeyama. And he did not fail to deliver as he doubled to the wall in left to score both men and put Tokyo back in front, 8-7 Tokyo.

Takagi (4.15) and Watanabe (6.75) combined to work a scoreless 6th before the familiar procession of Masubuchi (2.96) and Matsuoka (1.54) followed to work hitless 7th and 8th innings respectively (though Masubuchi did give up two walks).

Insurance runs followed in the 9th (Kawabata one-out single, Noguchi pinch-hit sacbunt, Aoki RBI double, Tanaka RBI single) to make it 10-7 which meant that it was Lim-time in the bottom of the 9th. He looked less than convincing as he gave up a two-out walk and a single to Harper. Up stepped slugger Murata with a chance to send this one into extra innings, but he hit a fly to right which was snagger on the run just before the wall by Ihara and this one was done, 10-7 Tokyo Final.

Nakazawa was the rather fortuitous recipient of the win after his 5 innings of 8 hit 7 run baseball, and his record now sits at 7-6/4.72. Lim earned his 23rd save of the season and his ERA is now at 1.53.

Everyone in the starting 1-8 spots had multi-hit evenings bar Aikawa who was hitless in his 5 plate appearances.

Tokyo have now edged ahead 8-7 in the season series against the CL’s worst, and they will go for the sweep tomorrow evening, still very much in the hunt for that final playoff berth.

Standings & Results – Player Stats

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1

Yokohama BayStars 3

Streak: Lost 2   Last 5: WWWLL

(Home away from home game in Iwaki)

The two unearned runs surrendered in the eighth were the difference in this game as the birds dropped their second in a row to sixth-place Yokohama.

Tokyo’s lineup:

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

Yokohama got one run in the first on a walk and two base-hits. 1-0 Yokohama.

Not counting a very hairy, yet ultimately scoreless, sixth inning, Barnette only allowed one more runner after the first.

Unfortunately for Barnette, while he was busy locking the Yokohama bats down with good pitched, the Tokyo offense wasn’t able to get any good clusters of production at the plate.

The game-leveling run finally came in the bottom of the seventh when a Tak-bunt (arguably) led to a run being scored. Aikawa was able to score from second on Kawabata’s single to center with one out (Miyamoto Tak-bunt). 1-1.

But the wheels fell off in the eighth with Matsuoka on the mound. Uchikawa led off by drawing a walk on a full count, and then Ishikawa recorded the first out by grounding out to second (Uchikawa safe at second).

Guiel then misplayed Harper’s fly ball to right which allowed Uchikawa to reach third and Harper to find second with one out. Matsuoka then threw a wild one which allowed Uchikawa to score the game-winning run. 2-1 Yokohama.

Pinch runner, Nonaka (in for Harper), was then able to scamper home on a groundout to short. 3-1 Yokohama.

And that’s all she wrote.

Even though he didn’t factor in the decision, Barnette had one of his better games of the past eight weeks. He lasted seven full innings and gave up just one run off of three hits. His pitch count reached 117, and he had six Ks against three walks.

Barnette’s record remains at 3-5 while his ERA improved marginally to 5.89.

Matsuoka (2-2, 1.65) took the loss despite not giving up any earned runs. He didn’t exactly absolve himself of all guilt, however, as he had a walk and a wild pitch in his one inning of 22-pitch work.

Takagi (4.77) and Watanabe (7.20) tag-teamed the ninth.

The most potent bat in the Tokyo lineup was probably Aikawa who reached base three times (BB, single, double). Tanaka also had two singles.

Tokyo has the day off Monday before welcoming the third-place Chunichi Dragons to town for three game series starting on Tuesday at 6PM.

Random thoughts:

The birds outhit the BayStars 8-3 in this contest.

The Swallows are now 6-7 against the last place Yokohama BayStars.

Tokyo is 8.5 games behind third place and a spot in the playoffs.

The Chunichi Dragons have scored only five more, and allowed only three fewer, runs than the Swallows so far this season.

Chunichi leads the Central League (and is second in NPB) with a team ERA of 3.71. Tied for number two in the Central are Tokyo and Hanshin at 3.96. Hokkaido leads NPB with a 3.70 team ERA which is, incidentally, only good enough for fifth in the Pacific League.

]]> http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/08/01/8110-yokohama-home/feed/ 1 http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/04/28/42810-hanshin-home/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=42810-hanshin-home http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/04/28/42810-hanshin-home/#comments Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:19:24 +0000 Christopher Pellegrini http://tokyoswallows.com/?p=6111

April 28th, 2010

Hanshin Tigers 9

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Streak: Lost 3   Last 5: LWLLL

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Ishikawa took the mound for the birds in an attempt to finally get a win after seeing his record wander to a dismal 0-4 mark to start the season. But he wound up having a rough first inning, and Tokyo ran into a very solid Kubo, as Hanshin managed to heap more pressure on Ishikawa by handing him his fifth loss of 2010 (he recorded seven losses in all of 2009).

Tokyo’s lineup:

1. Tanaka 2B
2. Miyamoto 3B
3. Aoki CF
4. Guiel RF
5. Iihara LF
6. Yuichi 1B
7. Morioka SS
8. Aikawa C
9. Ishikawa P

You’ll notice that D’Antona is conspicuous by his absence from this lineup. As detailed in this article, he has been less productive at the plate recently and  Takada has a history of being impatient when D’Antona’s numbers tail off.

But the real story was Hanshin’s starter, Kubo (3-2, 3.16). He was perfect through five and two-thirds innings, and only allowed four hits and two earned runs (solo home runs by Aoki and Takeuchi) through eight. He gave up a couple of hits in the ninth, but Fujimoto’s sac fly only bought back a single run as the righty notched a complete game victory on 121 pitches.

Ishikawa (0-5, 4.66), on the other hand, gave up three earned runs off of 10 hits (including a two-run Toritani homer) in six innings of work. All three runs came in the first inning. He struck out three and didn’t issue any walks.

Takagi (0-1, 5.06) also got abused during his two innings of middle relief. He surrendered four earned runs care of a Johjima three-run long ball in the seventh, and a leadoff, pinch-hit Kanemoto solo shot in the eighth. Hashimoto (1-0, 8.10) allowed a towering two-run Brazell homer in the ninth.

Aoki definitely gets the nod for best bat on the Tokyo bench today. He went 2-4 with a home run (his fourth), and a grounder to center that he stretched nicely into a double.

Random notes:

Aoki’s vitals continue to impress: .355 BA/.430 OBP/.533 SLG.

Guiel is currently hitting .228/.383/.543.

D’Antona clocks in at .242/.294/.475.

Iihara leads the league in beanings (6). He was hit once tonight.

Fujimoto leads the league in sac flies (3). He brought home Tokyo’s third run in the ninth by forcing a very nice catch by Sakurai at the warning track in right.

Johjima Tak-bunted in the third (something I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do before). As per the expected runs matrix, no runs scored. He is currently hitting a dismal .229/.265/.385.

]]> http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/04/28/42810-hanshin-home/feed/ 0 http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/04/22/42210-chunichi-away/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=42210-chunichi-away http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/04/22/42210-chunichi-away/#comments Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:48:22 +0000 David Watkins http://tokyoswallows.com/?p=6096

April 22nd, 2010

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1

Chunichi Dragons 3

Streak: Lost 1   Last 5: LWLDL

(Nagoya Dome)

The right ingredients were mostly there: another good start from Tony Barnette and 8 hits for the Swallows to the Dragons 6. But the one thing missing was the one thing that has plagued Tokyo for the last few weeks – the inability to string hits together and develop the momentum to bring home runs. For all of these games in Nagoya this week, the starters have done their level best to give the team a chance to win, but at the moment things are just not working at the offensive end of the team.

Tonight’s lineup saw just one change from the re-jigged version from the night before, with Morioka coming in at short for Fujimoto:

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

After getting a hit off Chunichi starter Yoshimi in each of the first three innings and stranding a runner in scoring position each time, Ihara took matters into his own hands in the 4th, hitting a one-out solo homer to left (his first of the year) to make it 1-0 Tokyo.

Barnette gave up just one hit over his first three, but saw the lead slip straight out of his hands in the bottom of the 4th. Consecutive doubles from Morino and Blanco made it 1-1, and then two outs later, with Blanco now on third, an Aikawa passed ball needlessly allowed the go-ahead run home to make it 2-1 Chunichi.

Tokyo’s next chance to get back in the game came in the 6th. Finally the Swallows strung together some hits with singles from Aoki and Guiel put two on with no outs for Ihara. The same Ihara who hit a home run off Yoshimi early in the game, so give him the sign to swing away right? Wrong. Not with Takada in da house. No, he called for a sac/tak bunt to move the runners along, which Ihara just about pulled off for out number one. Momentum deflated. Next man up D’Antona, a man who, despite his home run last night, hasn’t been in the best of form of late, could only strike out for out number two. Aikawa then did the same an the inning was over with the runners stranded.

Another chance came and went in the top of the 8th. Ihara came to bat with two outs on the board, and hit one deep to the wall in left centre. Chunichi centre fielder Cesar got his glove to the ball while running back towards the wall, but he couldn’t come up with it before he ran into the wall and fell over, allowing Ihara to make it to third. It was rather harshly judged to be an error to Cesar. But it made no difference as D’Antona then struck out once more to leave Ihara at third.

And in the bottom of the 8th, Chunichi would make sure of their victory. With Takagi on the mound having also worked the 7th, Tony Blanco hit a solo homer to left to make it 3-1 Chunichi.

Iwase came in for his nightly shift in the 9th, but allowed a two-out single to Tanaka which brought up Hatakeyama (pinch hitting for Morioka). After laying off two balls, and watching another pitch for a strike, he clubbed one to right that left the field, only it was just to the right of the foul pole and the comeback wasn’t to be. He then grounded out on the next pitch and it was all over 3-1 Chunichi Final.

Barrnette took the loss, despite his decent 6 innings of 4 hit 2 run (1 earned) baseball. He struck out 4 and walked three, and his record now stands at 2-1/1.73.

Tanaka was again the only batter in any kind of form, going 3 for 5 with his average now at a very healthy .344.

Coming into today’s game the duo of Aaron Guiel and Jamie D’Antona were in the midst of quite a slump. Guiel was 2 for 34, and D’Antona 4 for 36, which is bad enough in itself. But factor in 15 Ks for Aaron and 18 for Jamie and you can see a big factor in Tokyo’s recent offensive impotence.

Both managed a hit each this evening though, however D’Antona’s usual knack for bringing home men was nowhere to be seen tonight with his two Ks with men in scoring positions. Guiel is currently batting .218 with D’Antona on .258. Hopefully they can both re-discover some of their early season form sharpish.

So two losses and a draw in Nagoya, not great. But there are reasons for optimism. All three of these games with this very decent Chunichi team were very close affairs, with not a great deal between the two teams. Plus the pitching, both starting and in relief is definitely doing it’s bit. Those bats just need some viagra. Oh shit, and there’s Takada at the helm which just brings the optimism needle back down again. Oh well.

From here, Tokyo head to Yokohama for three games starting tomorrow evening. Hopefully the curse of Yokohama has been firmly left in 2009.

April 21st, 2010

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2

Chunichi Dragons 2

Streak: Drawn 1   Last 5: WLWLD

(Nagoya Dome)

After four hours and ten minutes of toil this one ended up in the Central League’s first stalemate of the new season, with Ishikawa again failing to register his first win of the 2010 campaign.

Takada gave the lineup the biggest shakeup of the year so far for tonight’s game, with the in form Tanaka moved to leadoff, Aoki to the no.4 hole, Miyamoto and Fujimoto to the first half of the order and D’Antona now batting 7th:

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

And the new order had a good chance to impress, facing Chunichi’s least fearsome starter in Ogasawara.

And they put him under pressure in the 1st inning, a Miyamoto double and an Aoki infield single put runners on the corners with two outs for Guiel, but he was only able to ground out to second and the chance was over.

But Tokyo would take the lead in the 2nd. Ihara led off the inning by taking a ball to the left knee, and D’Antona then battled with Ogasawara, fouling off four pitches before hitting the seventh pitch he saw deep into the left field bleachers for 2-0 Tokyo. This was Jamie’s first home run since his monster performance 11 games ago against Hiroshima.

Ishikawa on the other hand was far more assured, not giving up a hit until the 4th inning, but he finally came unstuck in the 7th. Blanco hit a high fly ball to right, that landed fair in the no-man’s land between the infield and out. The ageless Wada then blasted a two-run shot to left and the game was tied at 2-2.

Ishikawa almost surrendered the lead in the 8th, with a one out double from Araki setting the table for Ibata. The second baseman could only fly out to bring the dangerous Morino to the plate. He hit a fierce line-drive to right, but an excellent jumping catch from Tanaka saved what would have been the go-ahead run.

The Swallows would do the same in the 9th off recently untouchable reliever Asao, with Ihara reaching second with a two-out double, only to be stranded there by a D’Antona strikeout.

That was it for Ishikawa, who can take heart from his most assured start to date, giving up the 2 runs off 6 hits in his 8 innings of work. Though it should be noted that he was again undone by the longball.  Wada’s homer was the 6th homerun Masanori has given up in his 5 starts. He struck out 6 and walked none as his record remains at 0 and 4 with his ERA dropping to 4.68.

Tokyo then dodged a bullet in the bottom of the 9th as Oshimoto (1.08) took the mound in relief. A Blanco lead off single was followed by a walk for the red-hot Wada to put two men on with no outs. Nomoto then layed down a bunt which was exellently fielded by D’Antona who threw to third to register the first out of the inning. Pinch hitter Cesar hit the first pitch he saw to short allowing he Swallows to turn the double play and send the game in to extra innings.

In the 10th, Dragons closer Iwase took the mound. Aikawa led off with a shot that hit the leftfield wall for a double and was replaced by pinch-runner Miwa. He was moved to third by a Yoshimoto (in for the pitcher) bunt and Tanaka took the plate. He only managed to hit a weak grounder to Iwase, who threw home with Miwa easily tagged (why on earth did he run?) out to end what would be Tokyo’s last real threat of the game.

Matsuoka (1.00) took the mound for the bottom of the 10th, and after a single a walk and a wild pitch found himself in a men on the corners two-out jam. But Morino again came up short as he hit a weak fly ball to left centre to take the game to an 11th inning.

After Takahashi made light work of  Miyamoto, Aoki and Guiel in the top of the 11th, Lim (0.00) worked a hitless bottom of the inning, giving up just a walk.

With Hirai working a hitless 12th for Chunichi, it was just left to Takagi (1.59) to try and hold on for the tie. He did allow a runner to reach second, but escaped the inning to leave things at 2-2 Final.

Chunichi outhit Tokyo 8-6, with only Miyamoto (.276) managing a two-hit game. Guiel was 0 for 5 and is now batting a lowly .216.

The two teams will meet for the final game of the series tomorrow evening, with Tony Barnette the likely starter for the Swallows.

April 7th, 2010

Hiroshima Toyo Carp 1

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 7

Streak: Won 1   Last 5: WWLLW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

This game was all about Jamie D’Antona racking up RBIs. But before I get to that, let me give you tonight’s lineup:

1. Fukuchi LF

D'Antona went 4-4 tonite with 6 rbi's.

2. Tanaka 2B
3. Aoki CF
4. D’Antona 1B
5. Guiel RF
6. Hatakeyama 3B
7. Araki SS
8. Kawamoto C
9. Tateyama P

As you can plainly see, a couple of big changes were made to the lineup that started last night’s loss to Hiroshima, the Carp’s second win of the season.

Hatakeyama started in place of the not-very-hot-at-the-moment Miyamoto, and Araki got another start at short with lefty Saito on the mound for the visitors.

But sorry, I’m getting off topic here.

Jamie. D’Antona.  Owned. This. Game.

His dominance went a little something like this:

1st inning – with Tanaka and Aoki reaching on consecutive singles, D’Antona brings Tanaka around for the game’s first run on a single to center. 1-0 Tokyo.

6th inning – Iihara, in his second at-bat as a sub for the injured Fukuchi, draws a two out walk before Tanaka comes through with his second single of the game. Aoki also draws a walk to load the bases for D’Antona. Hiroshima manager, Nomura, decides that he better work the averages and brings in a righty, Umetsu, to face Jamie with the bases juiced. Not long after that, D’Antona parks one in the bleachers in right. Grand slam. 6-1 Tokyo.

8th inning – another bases loaded situation (Iihara single, Tanaka HBP, Aoki BB), this time with no outs, and D’Antona delivers again. This time it’s by way of a sacrifice fly to center, and Iihara scores from third. 7-1 final.

Tateyama and D'Antona share "hero" duty.

In short, D’Antona was responsible for all six of Tokyo’s RBIs (one run was also scored in the fifth, but no RBI was involved) and I didn’t even mention the singles he had in the third and fifth innings. D’Antona went 4-4 on the evening.

It should also be mentioned that Tateyama had a much more praise-worthy start today than he had when collected that win last week. He lasted eight innings (129 pitches), gave up six hits, struck out eight, walked two (plus two wild pitches due to the rain), and gave up one unearned run. His record now stands at 2-0, and his ERA shrank to 2.81.

Takagi (0.00) pitched the ninth and got out of the inning on only seven pitches.

Game three is scheduled for tomorrow night – same time, same place.

Random notes:

The birds outhit the fish 12-6 in this contest.

Tokyo drew eight walks and one beanball off of Hiroshima’s three pitchers while Tateyama gave up two walks in return.

Aoki went 1-2, but he reached base three extra times via walks.

Iihara, Tanaka, Hatakeyama, and Kawamoto all reached base at least twice in this game. Tanaka actually got on base four times.