This one did not start well for Yu Darvish and team Japan. Darvish threw far more balls than strikes in the first inning of this game. His first three pitches were balls above the strike zone, and his first two pitches to Korea’s second, third and fourth batters were outside the zone. Behind in the [...]
Japan announced their arrival in the second round of the 2009 WBC with a comprehensive victory over the much fancied Cubans in San Diego on Sunday afternoon. The victory was based around strong pitching, with a majestic start from Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Japanese ace pitched 6 innings of five hit ball, striking out eight and walking [...]
November 6th, 2008 Yomiuri Giants 7 Saitama Seibu Lions 3 (Seibu Dome) A seventh inning Wakui meltdown was the story of this game. One out into the inning, riding a decent six frames of two-hit, one-run baseball (with six K’s against one walk), the wheels came completely off the Wakui express.
June 15th, 2008 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3 Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 1 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: LWWLW (Away Game: Sapporo Dome) Swallows veteran shortstop Shinya Miyamoto got his 1500th career hit and starter Kyouhei Muranaka got his first win since May 9th as Yakult downed Nippon Ham in Sapporo. Muranaka pitched a shutout seven innings with 9 strikeouts [...]
June 8th, 2008 Chiba Lotte Marines 4 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3 Streak: Lost 2 (Home game: Jingu Stadium) The Tokyo pitching staff struck out 13 over 10 innings, but that still wasn’t enough to take care of the visiting Chiba Lotte Marines. Tokyo starter Matsui struck out seven, walked one, and didn’t give up a [...]
June 7th, 2008 Saitama Seibu Lions 5 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3 Streak: Lost 1 (“Home” game for Tokyo at Hitachinaka) Recap: Seibu won a close-fought game at Hitachinaka in Ibaraki prefecture to split the Interleague series between the sides at two a piece. 24 year old Lions pitcher Takayuki Kishi pitched 7 and 2/3 effective [...]
This is a project that needed doing. As I sit here, my beloved Tokyo Yakult Swallows have, once again, begun their predictable, but still disappointing plummet to the depths of Nippon Pro Yakyu‘s Central League. As of this writing, on the night of Thursday, June 5th, 2008, the Swallows are in fifth place with a [...]
