Did you know that Miyade used to be kind of good?

Here are a few things that you might not remember about the players currently on the Tokyo roster:

• In Fukuchi’s first year with the Swallows (2008), he hit .320/.366/.449.
• Keizo Kawashima stole 20 bags in his first year with the team (2008) while only getting caught once. However, in 2009 he stole eight but got picked off seven times.
• Kawamoto has had a batting average under .200 for three years running.
• Yuichi logged a career high 151 plate appearances in 2005. He hit .241 with 33 hits including two home runs.
• Miyamoto has played in more than 130 games just six times in his career. Meanwhile, Tanaka has done so five times already even though his pro career is less than half as long as Miyamoto’s.
• Iihara finished the 2010 season with a batting line of .270/.351/.435 (492 plate appearances in 130 games).
• Lim set a personal Japan career high for appearances (65) and innings (62.1)  last season. Not uncoincidentally, he also allowed a Japan career worst 22 walks, three hit batters, and three wild pitches.  At the same time, he had his best season in Tokyo in terms of home runs allowed (2), and he tied his 2009 tally (40) for second place on his resume in hits allowed. Overall, 2011 was almost identical to 2009 for Lim.
• Highly touted pitching prospect, Mikinori Katoh, has pitched more than 20 innings only once (2008) and had his best season in terms of ERA in 2010 (6.60).
• Even though he posted a 3.17 ERA over 45 appearances in 2007, Tateyama finished the season with a 3-12 record.
• Hatakeyama was a major contributor during the 2008 season when he hit .279/.364/.406 in 416 at-bats. Up until last season, 2008 was the first time that he had played in more than 100 games (121) and tallied more than 100 hits (116).
• Miyade was an everyday outfielder for the Swallows back in 2006. He hit .275/.335/.405 and had 116 hits (nine homers) in 422 at-bats while playing under player-manager Atsuya Furuta.

Which factoid was the most surprising for you?

The hits just keep on coming.

As if things weren’t already bad enough on the injury front, Tokyo has at least one new headache to deal with. It was reported in the Chunichi Sports online paper that second year infielder, Takahiro Araki, sustained a fractured left ankle during practice.

He will miss all future 2011 games.

We covered this a bit in Sunday’s podcast, but Araki has company at the hospital right now. The 24 year old, who was just brought up from the farm team on the 14th, is the latest in a string of injuries and illnesses to sting the left side of the Tokyo infield. Kawabata is out with a wrist injury, and it was announced last week that Keizo Kawashima had season-ending (and 2012 season-killing) elbow surgery.

That’s three shortstops down, so who’s left?

It looks like Morioka is the last man standing, so expect to see him starting next to the hobbled (two balky hamstrings) Miyamoto at third.

Oh, and according to the same Chunichi Sports article, no fewer than 16 Tokyo players have gone down with injuries or illnesses in 2011. It was mentioned that Aoki curbed the intensity of his workouts over the weekend due to back tightness. All of this may help Tokyo fans to recall a wave of influenza that washed over the team the only other time they made it to the Climax Series in 2009.

Wonderful.

What does all of this mean? Could rookie inflielder, Tetsuto Yamada, get a call-up and be grudgingly gifted his top team debut?

Well, the left side of the infield is now potentially far more porous than it was has been at any other time this season. Miyamoto can’t really play short with two injured legs (Ogawa has said as much), so you have Morioka, and then…Yamada or Fujimoto as a backup.

Yamada has had the better run of the two this season on the farm team. Yamada logged the most at-bats (409) on Tokyo’s minor league squad and hit .259/.320/.342. Fujimoto, on the other hand, has only had 111 at-bats. His top team experience could come in handy though, even if his defensive lapses at short are well-documented.

Losing Miyamoto for even a short period of time is also a cause for concern although it does seem like we have better cover on the corners. Hatakeyama has occasionally played third, and that could mean that Whitesell would see more time at first which is definitely a good thing.

Noguchi’s stock has also risen it seems, but he’ll likely still be second in line behind Takeuchi for defensive duties at first should it come to that. Here’s a quick question: has anyone ever seen alleged speedster, Noguchi, successfully steal a base? I’m only half being a smartass here.

It will also be interesting to see if Yoshimoto gets called up even though he’s been told that his contract will not be renewed next season.

As of the time of posting, the Yakult Swallows website has not been updated with any further information regarding player movements or other injury concerns. Check back here periodically after tonight’s regular season-ending game against the Hiroshima Carp for information on how the team reshapes itself before Saturday’s game one versus Yomiuri.

Keizo had surgery at a hospital in Gunma Prefecture, and the team predicts that it will take about a year for the 28 year old shortstop to make a full recovery.

—–

There’s also some speculation that Tateyama will have hand surgery sometime after the Swallows conclude their postseason play. It was reported that he has been having problems with his middle and ring fingers on his throwing hand.

Toshihisa Nishi, who used to play for Yomiuri and Yokohama, had a similar blood-flow problem that he solved by receiving an incision on the side of his fingers.

Tateyama was apparently apprehensive that the surgical procedure would affect his ability to throw forkballs, but felt better after hearing about the operation firsthand from Nishi.

After a couple of weeks of feeling like there wasn’t much to write about, we’re back with another Monday review! This week we’ll cover the major roster moves made this week, well as go over all the retirement announcements made recently, and we’ll also spend a lot of time going over the stretch run from multiple view points.

Looking Back

Roster Moves: Due to injury and ineffectiveness our roster has been in flux recently. Muranaka was taken off the active roster on September 28 citing tightness in his throwing shoulder after a string of ineffective starts. Shichijo took his place on the roster, but lost it a day later after an ineffective start against the Tigers. Meanwhile Ishikawa and Kyuko both reportedly had fevers. Kyuko was taken off the active roster with Shichijo to get some rest, while Ishikawa missed his scheduled start but remained on the active roster. LHP Okamoto was brought up with the Kyuko/Shichijo demotion, but lost his top team spot on the 2nd in a major roster shake up. Okamoto, Tetsuya Yamamoto, Takeuchi, and Miwa lost their spot on the active roster in favor of Hitoshi Yamamoto, Kato, Hashimoto, Fukuchi, and Yuichi. One day later, Keizo Kawashima was taken off the active roster. The Swallows’ active roster currently stands at 26 men, which means that 2 spots are open for a call up. Kyuko and Muranaka would be eligible to return this upcoming weekend. Yoshinori was rumored to be coming back during the Swallows’ 9 game stretch in September, but subsequent rumors have mentioned that he would not be able to return during the regular season. Tony Barnette was supposed to be shut down for 3 weeks at the beginning of September, so he may be coming back soon, but there is no news on Tony’s present condition.

While the moves on the offensive side are mostly cosmetic since our starting core has been fairly established, the moves on the pitching side point to a team in flux. We’re starting to run out of quality starters and we’ll have to hand the ball to a group of younger unproven relievers if the starters can’t go deep. The absence of Kyuko and Barnette also puts a lot of pressure on the shoulders of Matsuoka and Oshimoto late in the game in key situations. Our current rotation is Tateyama, Masubuchi, Akagawa, Hitoshi Yamamoto (?), and Ishikawa (assuming he returns tomorrow). Not quite the rotation that got us here.

Retirement News: We’ve already covered the retirement announcement of Aaron Guiel, but two more Swallows announced their intention to retire after the season. Hirotoshi Ishii and Osamu Hamanaka will be retiring after the season.

Hirotoshi Ishii

Hirotoshi Ishii is a life-long Swallow that was drafted in the 4th round of the 1995 draft. Starting in 1999, Ishii started getting regular playing time as a lefty arm out of the bullpen. He had a breakout season in 2002 in which he appeared in a league high 69 games, and posted a 1.51 ERA with a 0.84 WHIP, on his way to be named Most Valuable Reliever. Ishii and Ryota Igarashi made up the duo ‘Rocket Boys’ as the top lefty/righty pair out of the bullpen after the departure of Shingo Takatsu in 2004. Beyond his play with the Swallows, Ishii has played for Japan in the 2004 Olympics and the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006. Ishii had always expressed a strong desire to play in the Majors, but the team would not post him. The team initially promised to post him after the 2004 season, but reneged on the promise after the team changed managers in the off-season. The team finally promised to post Ishii after the 2006 season if he pitched one more full season. Unfortunately, Ishii injured his shoulder during that season and would not pitch at the top level again. Ishii has been rehabbing his shoulder ever since and has appeared in a handful of ni-gun games over the years. Ishii announced his decision to retire on the 29th and thanked the club for giving him the opportunity to try to return to baseball.

Osamu Hamanaka joined the Swallows prior to this season as a potential right handed bat off the bench. After a hot spring, Hamanaka was the team’s opening day stater in left field but lost the job to Hatakeyama after only 3 games. Hamanaka was drafted in 1996 by the Tigers and spent 11 years with the club before moving to the Orix Buffaloes in 2008. Since 2003, Hamanaka has been bothered by a right shoulder injury which has kept him out of the line up on and off for years. Hamanaka cited the injury and his inability to give it his all on the field as reasons for retiring after the season.

Quo Vadimus

The Schedule Up Ahead: The Swallows are about to start a stretch in which they will play 12 games in 12 days. Things will kick off at the Kyocera Dome tomorrow with a 3 game series against the Tigers, followed by a 3 game weekend series at Jingu. Then, the Swallows will travel to Nagoya for a critical 4 game series against the Dragons which may decide the pennant race. The marathon will cap off with a rain make up game against the Tigers at Jingu, followed by another make up game at Yokohama. After that insane stretch, the Swallows will get 2 days off before visiting Koshien for a game, and a game at Nagoya the next day. The Swallows will have 5 days rest before finally wrapping up their regular season with a home game at home.

Win Percentage Table: The final standing are calculated by winning percentage in which ties do not count, formula is W%=W/(144-T).. Therefore a team with 14 ties will have their winning percentage calculated out of 130 games, rather than 144 games.  Thus, with the season winding down, you can make a table of what the team’s win percentage will be depending on their record in the remaining games. Using the table you can see how you compare with other teams depending on their records. Thus we present the win percentage tables as of October 3rd for the top 4 teams in the Central League.

The first thing you may notice is that the Swallows have already guaranteed themselves a winning season. The table also illustrates the gulf that exists between the Swallows and the Tigers, meaning the Swallows’ place in the Climax series is quite safe. You can also use the table to figure out the minimum number of wins the team will need depending on how they do in a head to head. So if the Swallows take 4 out of 5 games from the Dragons, the Dragons would finish with a .5735 winning percentage if they win all their other games. Thus, the Swallows would need to go 5-5 in their other games to finish above the Dragons. Obviously, as games get played you can eliminate possible records and narrow the list of scenarios. If any teams tie the table will need to be reworked to lower the denominator.

Retirement Ceremony Scenarios: The team has traditionally used the last home game of the year to recall the retiring players to the top team to give them one last chance to play at Jingu and give the fans a chance to say goodbye. While imports have typically not received this kind of treatment, the team has hinted that they would try to work something out with Guiel in response to the outpouring of support by the fans. However, this year, depending on where we end up in the standings the team may not be able to afford removing an active player from the roster lest we lose their services for the beginning of the playoffs. Because players removed from the active roster cannot be re-added for 10 days, the team will have to know their playoff situation at least 10 days prior to their first Climax Series game (Oct. 29 for round 1, Nov. 2 for round 2).

Hoping for some more fun times!

Tokyo Swallows 3

Hiroshima Carp 4

Streak: Lost 1  Last 5: LLLWL

(Mazda Stadium)

The Swallows were not able to ride the momentum from last night’s victory, as they fell 4-3 to the Carp in Hiroshima. The lineup was tweaked slightly by getting Keizo Kawashima’s hot bat into the lineup and giving Tanaka the night off.

The Swallows struck first in the opening frame as Keizo got a 1 out single, and Whitesell followed with a double, to put men on second and third. Hatakeyama cashed in Keizo with a ground out to second. 1-0 Swallows

Tateyama gave the run back in the second inning, when he gave up his first hit of the night, an one out Maru homer to straight away center. 1-1 All

Before Swallows came right back in the next frame to take the lead from the Carp. The inning began with a Keizo walk. After Whitesell struck out looking, Hatakeyama took an 1-0 fastball down the middle and launched it into left. 3-1 Swallows Balentien followed with a double (his first hit in 16 at bats), Miyamoto got a single of his own, and Kawabata was walked to load the bases with 1 out. Unfortunately, neither Aikawa nor Tateyama could do anything to extend the lead any further.

After his lone mistake to Maru, Tateyama looked like he was cruising as he never got into any serious trouble. Things got off to a rocky start in the sixth, howver, as Tateyama opened the inning with a walk to Ishii. Higashide followed with a single to put men on first and second with no out. After Kimura bunted the runners over to second and third, Tateyama was replaced with Matsuoka. Matsuoka’s second pitch hit Hirose to load the bases. The Carp got a run off a sac fly by Kurihara after battling Matsuoka for 7 pitches, in which Kurihara fouled off 6 pitches. 3-2 Swallows Matsuoka was able to limit the damage to that single run as he got Maru to ground out.

After that the Swallows bat that had so tormented Fukui fell silent and the Birds were unable to muster a single hit. The lead was squarely in the hands of the bullpen to protect. Oshimoto and Kyuko were able to keep the Carp off the board in the seventh, and the team naturally went with Barnette in the eighth. Barnette, who was coming off a shaky appearance the previous night, could not shut down the top of the Carp line up. The inning started with a walk issued to Higashide, who advanced on a Kimura bunt. Hirose was hit by the pitch for the second time in the game, and the Carp had two men on with just one out. Higashide tied it up 2 pitches later as he singled to left. 3-3 All Before Barnette could settle himself down, Maru seized a pitch inside and belted it to right for a double to score the go-ahead run. 4-3 Carp Barnette got the next two batters out without any trouble, but the damage had already been inflicted.

The Carp sent in Safarte to close out the game, and he did his job by getting 3 quick outs.

Notes

• The Swallows’ season series against the Carp is now tied 6-6-2.
• Tateyama lasted 5.1 innings, giving up 4 hits, a walk, a hit batsman, and 2 ERs. Tateyama has given up 2 ERs in his last 7 starts.
• Barnette took the loss and has given up 3 ER in his last two appearances, after giving up 3 ERs in his first 36 appearances.
• The Swallows will return home to face the Hanshin Tigers starting tomorrow. It’ll be the first time the Tigers play at Jingu this year. The Tigers are coming off consecutive 1-0 losses to the Dragons.
• Keizo went 2-for-3 with a walk, a HBP, and 2 runs scored. He has hit safely in his last 5 games in which he has had a plate appearance.

Swallows look dejected

Yomiuri Giants 2

Tokyo Swallows 2

Streak: Tied 1  Last 5: LWLWD

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

After gritty pitching win last night, the Swallows looked to take the series win against the Giants at Jingu.

	Swallows		Giants
1	CF Aoki	1	SS Sakamoto
2	SS K. Kawashima	2	3B Kamei
3	3B Kawabata	3	LF Ramirez
4	LF Hatakeyama	4	CF Chono
5	1B Whitesell	5	RF Y. Takahashi
6	2B Tanaka	6	C Abe
7	RF Balentien	7	1B Ogasawara
8	C Aikawa	8	2B Fujimura
9	P Yoshinori	9	P Tono

 With Miyamoto taking a rest day the Swallows start Keizo at short and move Kawabata to third. Furthermore, Tanaka is moved down the lineup to the sixth spot where Miyamoto batted last night.

Yoshinori’s comeback start did not start with a bang as he walked Sakamoto to start the game. After Kamei bunted Sakamoto to second, Yoshinori managed to induce a ground out from Ramirez to make it 2 out with a man on third. Unfortunately, Yoshinori couldn’t get his pitches under control and walked Chono and Takahashi back-to-back to load the bases. Yoshinori’s control issues finally came to a head as he pluncked Abe to force in the opening run of the game. 1-0 Giants Thankfully, Yoshinori was able to limit the damage to just that run as he got Ogasawara to fly out to left.

Things did not start smoothly for the young Yoshinori.

The Swallows came right back in the bottom of the inning. Keizo hit a one out single to center to get a man on board. While Kawabata could only manage a foul out, Hatakeyama was able to draw a walk to get 2 men on base with 2 out for Whitesell. Josh took the second pitch he saw and hit a towering shot towards left field. The ball narrowly missed clearing the fence, but it bounced off the wall for a double, scoring Keizo from second. 1-1 All

Yoshinori settled down after his first inning mis-adventures.

After the first inning both pitcher’s settled down somewhat, in that they allowed multiple runners on base a few times, but managed to hold the other team off the board. The Swallows finally got on the board again in the sixth. Balentien open the inning by getting on base thanks to a bad throw by Kamei. Aikawa singled to center to put men on the corners with no out. Yoshinori did his part by bunting Aikaws to second for the first out. With one out, the Giants decide to intentionally walk Aoki to load the bases. Keizo made the Giants pay by getting a fly ball deep enough into right center to score Balentien from third. 2-1 Swallows The sac fly ended Tono’s night, and Takagi came in to face Kawabata for the final out.

With one out and a man on first in the top of the seventh inning, the skies opened up and forced a 20 minute rain delay. After play resumed, Yoshinori managed to get Sakamoto to fly out for out number 2. Yoshinori, who had thrown 102 pitches at that point, was taken out in favor of Kyuko. Kyuko managed to get the last out to end the seventh.

The Swallows offense couldn’t extend the lead any further and Barnette kept the Giants off the board in the eighth, setting the table for Lim in the ninth. After getting a fly out from Ogasawara to open the inning, Lim gave up a walk to Fujimura. Fields followed with a broken bat blooper to put men on first and second with just 1 out. Lim reestablished control by striking out Sakamoto to get to within an out of the save. Unfortunately Lim was not able to close the door as he allowed a single to center to Tani. 2-2 All It was no consolation that Lim got Ramirez to end the inning soon after.

With the game already well past the 4 hour mark, the Swallows only had the bottom of the inning to get a win. Takeuchi got things going by getting a lead off single. Kawabata followed with a bunt over to second for the inning’s first out. Predictably, the Giants chose to intentionally walk Hatakeyama to face not Whitesell, who was removed earlier in the game for Miwa. Not-Whitesell turned out to be Yuichi, who came close to grounding into a double play, but some alert running by Hatakeyama allowed the runners to advance. With two outs and men on second and third it was up to Tanaka to win the game. Unfortunately Hiroyasu was not able to be a hero, as he grounded out to second to end the game.

A disappointing tie as the Swallows came within an out from getting the outright win. Tonight’s blown save was Lim’s second against the Giants this season. In 8 appearances against the Giants this season Lim has gotten a win, a hold, and 3 saves to go with his 2 blown saves. Tonight was also the third time in his last 5 appearances in which he has given up runs. Ogawa noted after the game that Lim has not quite been himself this year, but it doesn’t seem like the team is willing to make a move in the closer position.

The Swallows look to win the series tomorrow night at Jingu.

Just as it did last year, the new Swallows Official Goods Catalogue popped through my letterbox this last week, goading me to waste yet more money on stuff I don’t need.

While the available tat hasn’t really changed all that much from last year’s selection (the “highlights” of which can be found here), what has changed is the wondrous cover illustration. Last year’s you’ll remember, featured the “stars” of the Swallows (plus Shiroishi and Katoh) in a series of lovingly illustrated poses.

But as you can see from the picture above, this year’s has gone all super-deformed. No-doubt the part-time office intern in the yogurt research department with a flair for art has left for pastures new, leaving the new illustration to the Junior High School student currently doing their work experience with Yakult.

Well, let’s just be grateful that said artist resisted the temptation to feature Tsubamegun favourite Shiroishi in the new rogue’s gallery, as he has now left his playing days behind to coach the first team on how to be not very good.

So who do we have this year then? Well, clockwise from top left we have baby-faced starter Yoshinori, veteran infielder Shinya Miyamoto, the always razor-sharp manager Shigeru Takada (whose face is no doubt beaming that he still manages to draw a healthy paycheck for being a clueless muppet), then we have franchise man and newly crowned “Mr.Swallows” Norichika Aoki, and what looks like starter Masanori Ishikawa.

We’ll skip the next guy for a moment, next to whom stands king of steals Kazuki Fukuchi with ace Shohei Tateyama (finally getting some recognition from the Swallows “marketing department”)  finishing up the crew in the bottom left.

But who’s that front row and dead centre? I honestly didn’t have much if an idea initially after simply looking at the picture. I racked my brains trying to think of any of the top-tier guys it could be. Closer Lim? No…….he’s foreign, they wouldn’t put him on there. Muranaka? Mmm, doesn’t look much like him plus he’s holding a bat. Hiroyasu “Beavis” Tanaka? Again, doesn’t look much like him, not to mention that Takada doesn’t like the man. Aikawa? Don’t think so.

And you know what, I had no idea. But then I thought about who made the cut last year, namely Mr.Shiroishi, and then it dawned on me who it must be. As I hypothesised in the following excerpt from “show me the money”, we may well have a new Shiroishi on our hands, and his name is………..

Keizo Kawashima - The perfectly unspectacular KK will see his salary rise by 10M yen this season, up to 35M for the year.

Now I may be being harsh here (well ok, not maybe), but given that the main way he seems to contribute to the organisation is being popular with the ladyfolk (he’s small and cute you see) and thus no doubt contributing handsomely to merchandise takings, the reason that he continues to start so many games and has gotten such a pay jump must be due to one or all of the following:

1. He came from the Fighters, as did our “manager”, a manager who likes to look after his own.
2. He and the “manager” have a “special” relationship (maybe Takada likes ‘em cute……?).
3. (As suggested by  Tsubamegun reader Rob) Takada likes his walk-on music (a cover of Toto’s Aftica) so much he keeps putting him in the lineup so he has something to occupy his mind during games, as it sure as hell is not occupied by baseball.

Of course I’m (kind of) jesting, but i’m not sure why Keizo saw a 40% pay rise while others didn’t. He hit the same .255 in 2009 that he did in 2008 (his first year with the birds), though he did increase his homer tally (by 8 ) to 12 last season.

Whisper it: could we have ourselves another Shiroishi on our hands…….?

So, the similarities with our recently retired darling continue, and I’m gonna call it – Keizo Kawashima is the new Noriyuki Shiroishi.

That said, I’m still not 100% sure that’s who it is, given the exceptional quality of the artwork. What do you think?

Muranaka, a fourth year lefty from Kanagawa, has been one of 2009′s bigger letdowns as far as the rotation is concerned. He resurfaces on the parent club after a solid performance (or two?) on the farm team (September 1st versus Chiba is the only evidence I can come up with). Before being called back up, his record was 0-4 with an ERA of 8.25.

Katoh, also a lefty from Kanagawa, received his first call-up of the year after starting the season on the farm team. In eight Eastern League games, he compiled a 2-2 record with a 4.89 ERA. Why those numbers merit a spot on the top team is definitely up for debate. He was most likely added to the roster simply because he throws with his left hand.

Making room on the top team roster were relievers Kenichi Matsuoka (5-4, 4.89) and Hidehiro Okamoto (0.00 ERA in one appearance).

Katoh was, however, sent back down the very next day (September 19th) after giving up five earned runs in 0/3′s of an inning in a game against Yomiuri (note: I can’t provide an ERA because he didn’t record even a single out). Also dropped to the farm team was Keizo Kawashima who is nursing a sore right elbow. Keizo has appeared in 118 games, racked up 12 homers (43 rbi’s), and is hitting a modest .255/.314/.379.

The two guys appearing on the top squad that day were pitcher Satoshi Nishizaki (no. 30) and infielder Yuji Onizaki (no. 46).

Third year righty, Nishizaki, has a 3.09 ERA in 19 Eastern League appearances for the farm team. He reportedly suffered from some pain in his right shoulder in mid-August, but he was in and out of rehab in no time (read: his shoulder probably still hurts) and will hopefully do some good for the team during Tokyo’s late season playoff push.

Onizaki (throws right, bats left), a second year player for the Swallows, has played in 101 farm team games and batted .241 with 37 rbi’s (3 homers). While those numbers don’t look particularly convincing, he had one hell of a game against Hiroshima yesterday afternoon.

Then, on the 20th, Yoshinori (no. 11) brought his tender right hand back up to the top team to help with starting rotation instability. He wasn’t very helpful. After his dismal start versus Yomiuri, Yoshinori’s record worsened to 5-9 while his ERA bloomed from 3.25 to 3.44.

Ousted was third year catcher Atsushi Kinugawa who had only two at-bats for the top club and is indeed surplus to the team’s needs at the moment.

So headed into the final (and unbelievably crucial!) leg of the season, here are the current spokes in the wheel:

Pitchers: Ishikawa, Lim, Yoshinori, Tateyama, Yuki, Matsui, Lee, Igarashi, Takagi, Yoshikawa, Oshimoto, Muranaka, Nishizaki

Catchers: Kawamoto, Aikawa

Infielders: Miyamoto, D’Antona, Tanaka, Yoshimoto, Hatakeyama, Noguchi, Morioka, Onizaki

Outfielders: Fukuchi, Guiel, Takeuchi, Iihara, Aoki

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 7

Yokohama BayStars 3

Streak: Won 2  Last 5: LLLWW

(Yokohama Stadium)

The Swallows won two games in a row for the first time since July 31st and August 1st when the team was playing the Dragons at home. Coincidentally, that was also the last time that the birds won a three game series.

It’s tempting to get all giddy, but we here at Tsubamegun advise caution. The back-to-back wins came against the worst team in NPB.

Depressingly or refreshingly, I’m not sure which, this was the first time all season that we’ve won a series versus Yokohama.

Tonight’s starting lineup:

1. Fukuchi (LF)
2. Kawashima (SS)
3. Aoki (CF)
4. Hatakeyama (1B)
5. Miyamoto (3B)
6. Guiel (RF)
7. Tanaka (2B)
8. Kawamoto (C)
9. Yuki (P)

The main contrast with last night’s lineup is that Hatakeyama replaced Noguchi at first, and Guiel got dropped down the order to 6th from cleanup.

Tokyo got out of the blocks quickly in this game as well with three runs in the first. With a little help from Glynn, a Hatakeyama double, and a Miyamoto sac fly, the score was 3-0 birds.

Yuki started this one for Tokyo, and he had a solid outing. He lasted six innings and didn’t surrender any runs despite giving up nine hits. He also recorded five strikeouts and three walks, and his record and ERA improved to 4-5 and 3.42, respectively.

Tokyo scored another run in the fourth when Guiel, Tanaka, and Kawamoto drew back-to-back-to-back walks. The third one pushed Miyamoto, who had earlier singled, across home plate to make the score 4-0 Tokyo.

Unfortunately, three runners were stranded in that inning when Glynn retired the next three batters he faced.

Kawashima added a run in the top of the seventh with a one out home run to left (his 12th–triple the number he hit last season). 5-0 Tokyo.

The party was temporarily disrupted when Takada brought Matsuoka (4.89!) in to pitch the bottom of the eighth (cue Stone Temple Pilots: “I’m half the man I used to be…”). It took only eight pitches for the supremely tuckered-out reliever to give up three runs, and this is the first of three reasons why the Takada Count is being raised for this game. The other two reason will be explained later. 5-3 Swallows.

And all across Tsubamegun Nation, that oh-so familiar feeling started sloshing around in people’s gullets.

But the yogurt penguins showed a bit of character and put a couple of insurance runs up on the board in the top of the ninth. Takeuchi’s lead-off double set things in motion, and Fukuchi’s single put runners on the corners. Kawashima grounded out, but D’Antona’s pinch hit single to left scored two, and a sizable cushion was restored. 7-3 Tokyo.

Despite the four run lead, Lim was brought in to pitch for the second night in a row. He pitched with a four run lead last night as well, a situation where many managers (and armchair pundits like myself) would use Yoshikawa, Matsui, or both.This is reason number two for bumping the Takada Count up.

My third justification for raising the Takada Count is closely related to the second. Igarashi, who also recently came back from an injury, was used in last night’s game in front of Lim. I was very tempted to raise the count yesterday because of the four run cushion, but I sympathized with the ‘desperation quotient’. Using Lim in two non-save situations in a row is borderline criminal considering that the team has a very important home series against the Giants that starts tomorrow.

And to return to Matsuoka, I should have raised the Takada Count on Tuesday, but I was waiting to hear a little more support for such a move. I now realize that I was wrong to be so objective. A quick look at Matsuoka’s results over the past three weeks does not indicate a temporary slump–he has clearly lost all ability to command both his pitches and the strike zone. This is obviously related to fatigue, and he needs to be rested if he is to be of any use during the final two weeks of the season (which includes a significant number of key make-up games at Jingu which could make or break Takada’s career).

If Matsuoka is not dropped to the farm team tomorrow, then we will have further justification that Takada is playing favorites. Either way, the Takada Count grew today because we were given further evidence today that the manager does not learn from his mistakes.

TAKADA COUNT: 12

Anyway, I should mention the competence on display as well.

Lee (3.06) pitched a clean second, and Oshimoto (2.67) got three quick outs (like Matsuoka before him, he threw only eight pitches) after the three runs given up by number 21.

Lim’s ERA shrank to 1.56 after a perfect ninth.

On offense, both Kawashima and Aoki had multi-hit games. The number two and three hitters added a walk each as well, and Kawashima notched an rbi thanks to his home run.

The Swallows and the biggest momentum they’ve been able to muster in six weeks runs headlong into Yomiuri tomorrow night (6 pm start).

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 6

Yokohama BayStars 2

Streak: Won 1  Last 5: LLLLW

(Yokohama Stadium)

Huh. Imagine that.

After the humiliation of last night’s performance, the birds strung together some hits during the second half of this game to come from behind and get a solid, and long-overdue, win over the Yokohama Baystars.

Tokyo’s lineup:

1. Fukuchi (LF)
2. Kawashima (SS)
3. Aoki (CF)
4. Guiel (RF)
5. Miyamoto (3B)
6. Tanaka (2B)
7. Noguchi (1B)
8. Kawamoto (C)
9. Takagi (P)

The Stars got on the board first in this one as they scored two off of Tokyo starter, Takagi, in the bottom of the opening frame. But that was the last time they would get a runner to cross home plate. At any rate, 2-0 Yokohama.

Tokyo was pretty quiet at the plate until the fifth inning when they finally started to figure out Yokohama rookie starter, Fujie. Takagi sac bunted Kawamoto over to second after he reached first on a base hit to left, and Fukuchi and Kawashima followed with singles of their own that tied game up. 2-2.

The sixth inning  would be Fujie’s last as he allowed a D’Antona sac fly that scored Miyamoto and put the Swallows ahead 3-2.

Takasaki, Yokohama’s first reliever of the seventh, wasn’t nearly as effective this time around as he was last night. He gave up hits to three of the four batters he faced, and two runs scored in the process. Morioka’s leadoff single was followed by a one out Kawashima base hit and finally a bases clearing Aoki double. 5-2 birds.

Tokyo would score its final run of the game in the top of the ninth when a one out Fukuchi single was followed by a two out Aoki single to make it a 6-2 final.

Takagi got the first win of his professional career tonight while giving up six hits and two earned runs. His ERA is 1.52 through eight appearances, and he had two strikeouts against four walks in five and 2/3 innings of work.

Lee (3.16) lowered his ERA slightly in recording the final out in the sixth.

Oshimoto (2.72), Igarashi (2.72), and Lim (1.59) finished up the last three innings of the game in scoreless fashion.

The first third of Tokyo’s lineup did well this evening with Fukuchi collecting three hits (three singles and one rbi), and Kawashima and Aoki recording two each. Kawashima had two singles and an rbi while Aoki had a single and a double and three rbi’s.

The series is now tied at one game apiece. Will the Swallows be able to pull it off this time? Find out tomorrow evening. First pitch is scheduled for 6 pm at Yokohama Stadium.