But Darvish calmed down after that. He started locating his slider a little bit better in the second and he struck out all three batters he faced. He also looked to be in very good control during the third and fourth innings where he was able to get four infield ground outs, an infield pop fly and a strikeout. He also recorded one strikeout and gave up only one hit during those two innings.

In the fifth he retired all three batters he faced including two guys striking out swinging. His last pitch of the game was a 94 mph heater. The Yu Darvish that left the game at the end of the fifth was a very different pitcher from the one that limped to the bench after the first.

Team Japan got a run in the top of the fifth when Ichiro managed to bring Fukudome in from third on yet another force out (Iwamura thrown out at second). 3-1 Korea.

Then the pitching changes started, and the game slowed way down. The only thing of  note to occur over the next two innings was that Johjima was ejected from the game for leaving his bat in the box in protest of a called third strike that he disagreed with. This meant that  Ishihara had to come in and catch, so only Abe was left in the bullpen. That, of course, made things more challenging for Japan’s manager, Hara, as there was no element of surprise involved with who would be the next pitcher coming out of Japan’s bullpen.

Then things fell apart a little bit more. Korea loaded the bases in the bottom of the eigth with the help of three walks–two by Wakui (the second intentional) and then one by his replacement, Iwata. Iwata then got two quick strikes on the next batter but ended up giving him a free pass to first in the end which resulted in an insurance run crossing the plate. 4-1 Korea.

In the top of the ninth, Japan’s last chance, Inaba got things started with a single up the middle, and Fukudome managed to move him over to second, but that was as far as things got. Tokyo Swallows closer, Chang-yong Lim, came in to button things up for team Korea. He got Abe (Japan’s third catcher of the night to make it into the lineup) to fly out harmlessly to left before Iwamura was called out on a check-swing third strike.

Final score: Korea 4-1 Japan.

Observations:

Korea’s first baseman, Tae-kyun Kim, has a good glove. He made three great plays at first. Nothing got by him in this game.

Darvish looked like his old self by the end of the fifth. His slider was nasty at that point, and he was flirting with both sides of the plate with a lot more confidence. Mixing in the curve ball was also a nice touch.

Ichiro still doesn’t have a hit in the second round of this tournament.

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 none. Iwakuma, Mahara and Fujikawa pitched an inning each in relief to shut out the Cuban bats that had been so frightening in the previous round.

Hara made a couple of changes to the batting lineup, Kataoka replacing his Seibu teamate Nakajima at short, Ogasawara was the DH while Uchikawa started at first.  

Young pitching phenom Chapman started for the Cubans, a man who can throw a plus 100mph heater one pitch and follow it up with a sub 80mph breaking ball the next.  Chapman was not on his greatest form Sunday though, walking Ogasawara and Uchikawa in the 2nd, but escaped as he picked off the daydreaming Ogasawara at first followed by Uchikawa trying to steal second.

Japan got on the board in the top of the 3rd. Jojima hit a single to centre to lead off the inning. Iwamura singled to put men on first and second. Ichiro then layed down one of his trademark bunts, but Jojima’s lack of speed meant he was thrown out at third, to leave two men on with one out.

Kataoka then singled to load the bases, which was the last action Chapman saw as Cuba went to the bullpen. The new pitcher Gonzalez promptly threw two strikes past Aoki before a wild pitch allowed Iwamura to score from third and the runners to advance to make it 1-0 Japan. Aoki then blooped a single to right which allowed another run to score and it was 2-0. Next man Murata hit a sacrifice fily to right to allow Kataoka to score to make it 3-0 Japan.

The bottom of the 3rd saw the sun come into play, as Ichiro droped a Paret fly ball in foul territory for a rare error, followed by Jojima dropping one behind the plate for a second error. Matsuzaka then took matters into his own hands and struck out Paret looking to let his two teammates off the hook.

Japan added on a run in the 4th. The bright conditions came into play again as a Jojima fly ball to right was lost in the sun by the Cuban fightfielder Despaigne and Jojima was able to reach second. Iwamura then singled before Ichiro brought home Jojima for 4-0.

And another came in the 5th. Murata was hit by a pitch to put him on first with one out. Ogasawara hit a line drive to right, with Murata hustling on the basepaths to put men on first and third. Uchikawa then poked one through the middle to score his Yokohama teammate and extend the lead to 5-0.

Japan’s final run would come in the top of the 9th. Kawasaki, pinch hitting for Kataoka, singled before Aoki sac-bunted to move him to second with one out. Next man Murata then singled to score Kawasaka to bring the scoring to a close at 6-0.

So Japan managed 6 runs off 12 hits, 2 errors and 9 men left on base.

Cuba managed 0 runs off their 8 hits, 0 errors and left 6 men on.

Other points of note in the game:

Iwamura, who struggled in the Tokyo round, went 2 for 3 with a run and a walk, to add valuable production from the bottom of the order.

Ogasawara, while getting himself two hits still showed his chump-like tendencies by allowing himself to be picked off at first in the 2nd. Also, while on second base in the 5th, with Uchikawa on first and Fukudome at the plate, a wild pitch that should have allowed the runners to advance almost saw Uchikawa thrown out retreating to first. Ogasawara was seemingly daydreaming again and moved not a jot, as Uchikawa made the jump toward second. Sure, Uchikawa should have followed the lead (or lack of it) of the man at second, but it was an opportunity lost because of Ogasawara’s sloth-like reactions.  Fukudome eventually singled but that would only move the Yomiuri man to third, which is as far as he advanced that inning.

Jojima seems to have brought his good form from the last round with him as he went 2 for 4 with a run. Good news for fans of both Japan and the Mariners.

I opted to avoid the endless commercials by watching the game on Satellite TV instead of Japanese terrestrial coverage. MLB international supplied the footage and English commentary to boot. Aside from the continual botched pronnunciations (Norichika AYoki anyone?), it was interesting to note that whenever stats were listed on the screen for the Japanese, the Japanese league recieved a name change from NPB to NBL. I didn’t realise that I’d been watching the Nippon Baseball League all these years! Come on MLB, is it too hard to employ someone to make sure you get the simplest of things (such as the name of the Japanese equivalent of the MLB) right?

So Japan now get a day off to watch Cuba play the loser of the Mexico-Korea matchup, and they will play the winner of said game on Tuesday evening for a place in the semi-finals.

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.

Prior to the great unraveling, Saitama was protecting a 2-1 lead. The Lions managed to score a single run in both the first and third innings off of Yomiuri starter, Kouji Uehara (who lasted only three innings, by the way), and Wakui had given up a solo home run to Abe in the second.

But then the tune of the downhill slide went a little something like this:

First, Ramirez doubled, then Abe brought him around on a single to right. All tied, 2-2.

Then Kamei immediately doubled to center to put guys on second and third.

That was followed by a triple by Wakiya that just barely stayed in the park. 2-4, Yomiuri.

Wakiya promptly trotted across home plate when Sakamoto roped a double to left. 2-5, Yomiuri.

And that was the end of Wakui’s night.

The truly shocking thing was that most of those hits only required one or two pitches. It wasn’t like guys were battling Wakui and fouling off pitch after pitch. The pitches just kept floating right over the middle of the plate, and the very next camera angle (for five batters in a row) generally showed the ball ricocheting off the outfield wall.

And now with the emergence of Daisuke Ochi as a postseason pitching machine, the Yomiuri bullpen is arguably better than the starting rotation–and I’m not really even counting Kroon.

Yes, Kroon was partly responsible for several dozen of his team’s wins during the regular season, but I’ll take Kiyoshi Toyoda (a former Seibu Lion) in the postseason anyday. When Toyoda pitches in the playoffs, batters do not make it to first base. Period.

Speaking of Kroon, he came on in the ninth and gave up a home run and a single before recording the third out.

Yomiuri now leads this series three games to two. The teams head east to Tokyo Dome for games five and six (if necessary).

Game five is on Saturday and starts at 6:15 PM.

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 giving up 4 hits in a return to the kind of form he showed earlier this year.   Fighters starter Glynn never looked convincing giving up 10 hits in his 6 innings of work.

Miyamoto brought home ex-Fighter Keizo Kawashima from third to take the lead in the 3rd inning, with Kawashima just beating the ex-Swallow Miki’s  throw to homeplate to score the go-ahead run.

Yakult would stretch their lead in the 5th. Miyamoto got his second hit of the night, and 1500th career hit to open up the inning.  He was then brought home from first by a double over the centre fielder’s head by Aoki to make it 2-0.   Aoki would then be brought home two batters later with a double from Yuichi.  3-0 Yakult.

Muranaka was relieved by another ex-Fighter Oshimoto who pitched a scoreless 8th.   Closer Lim then took the mound in the 9th and struck out both Inaba and Sledge before giving up a solo homer to pinch-hitter Oda, followed by a hit from Miki before the game was wrapped up with Fukuchi making a good catch in deep left field foul territory off Kudoh to secure the win for Yakult and Muranaka, along with Lim’s 16th save.

The Swallows next game is Wednesday in Nagano for a “home” game against the Softbank Hawks, followed by a long overdue return to Jingu on Thursday evening.

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 run (only two hits), but was pulled after 4 2/3 innings when Chiba’s best hitter, Nemoto, came to the plate in the top of the 5th. Satou was called in and Nemoto struck out.

Chiba’s bats got going late in the game as they overcame a one run deficit (first inning rbi by Tanaka; Miyamoto scored) and some gifted runs (Chiba middle reliever Kubo walked in a run, and then his replacement, Kawasaki, let another one come around on a wild pitch) to beat Tokyo at Jingu Stadium on a huge solo blast to center by Chiba second baseman, Ortiz, in the top of the 10th inning.

Former Tokyo Yakult reliever, Brian Sikorski, got the win for Chiba. Lim took the loss for Tokyo.

Tokyo shortstop Shinya Miyamoto went three for four on the night and got on base four times in the loss. Matsui also looked good on the mound in his first start of the season.

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 innings, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits for the win.

The Lions struck first in the top of the first inning, with Craig Brazell’s two run homer deep into the right field bleachers off Yakult starter Ryo Kawashima, who was making only his third start of the season.

The Swallows struck back in the bottom of the same inning with a two run dinger from Aoki into the same bleachers Brazell had just disturbed.

The Lions then retook the lead in the third with a fielder’s choice grounder to third base from catcher Hosokawa. They then extended their lead with a bases loaded walk from Kawashima, followed by another RBI for Hosokawa with a grounder to make it 5-2 Lions.

The Swallows would score one more run in the seventh when Hiroyasu Tanaka brought home Yuichi from second, but despite a couple more hits in the bottom of the ninth off Seibu closer Alex Graman, they held on for the win to halt Yakult’s mini-revival at two wins.

The Swallows return to Jingu Stadium tomorrow and Monday for two games against Bobby Valentine’s slumping Chiba Lotte Marines.

On the bright side, the next Central League series at the Swallows’ actual home, venerable Meiji Jingu Stadium, in a scenic patch of Tokyo’s Shibuya ward (near JR Shinanomachi and Sendagaya stations and Tokyo Metro Gaienmae station, should anyone reading this want to take in a game), will be against the Yokohama BayStars, the only team in Japan with a worse win percentage, so there’s a decent chance of an invigorating sweep.

That said, Chris Pellegrini and I, whom you’ll soon meet here, have trekked down to Yokohama Stadium twice so far, only to see Tokyo, led by new acquisition, Spanish-American pitcher Daniel Rios, blow two leads for two dispiriting losses. (At least the bartenders in the neighborhood of the stadium are friendly and, it being Yokohama, not all that aware that the BayStars had just played – things are different down there.)

Anyway, I’m rambling. It’s late and I just wanted to get something up.

This is a blog by and for Tokyo Yakult Swallows fans, about, obviously, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Check back here for regular commentary and analysis of the team, its players, its management, its stadium, and, yes, its fans, from Chris Pellegrini, Dave Watkins, and myself.

You can find us at Jingu Stadium.  Stop by, say hi, buy us a beer from the Beer Oji, laugh and cry about baseball with us. If you can’t do that, check back here often and find out what’s going on with the Tokyo Swallows.

Thanks for reading, we’ll be back soon with more.