An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
March 30th, 2012 Tokyo Swallows 6 Yomiuri Giants 3 Streak: Won 2 Last 5: WW— (Tokyo Dome) After last night’s strong pitching win, the bats came alive to cover for one shaky inning by Muranaka. Both teams came out with the same lineup as yesterday, with sophomore Sawamura pitching for the Giants and Muranaka starting [...]
Swallows Present As mentioned in our most recent podcast, Balentien could start the year on the top team. Because he’s starting to show some life at the plate, mixed with Roman’s continued stability on the mound, and abetted by Lim’s tender throwing arm, Tokyo’s well-paid closer could start the year on the farm instead. Yet [...]
Welcome to the Monday Review, in which we’ll look back at the week that was and look ahead to the week that will be. We hope a recurring weekly review column will help readers identify some trends that can’t be covered in a single game report. We’re still trying to work out the format, so [...]
October 2nd, 2011 Tokyo Swallows 4 Yokohama BayStars 3 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: WWLLW (Yokohama Stadium) After watching its young pitchers get knocked about the park for the past two days, Tokyo looked to salvage a bit of pride against the recently very feisty BayStars. Tokyo opened the scoring on a solo Hatakeyama [...]
September 28th, 2011 Hanshin Tigers 5 Tokyo Swallows 8 Streak: Won 3 Last 5: LLWWW (Meiji Jingu Stadium) The Swallows sent Shichijo to the mound after a 1 month stint in Toda, while the Tigers elected to send young Takumi Akiyama to the mound for his first start of the season. Akiyama had two strong [...]
September 24th, 2011 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2 Chunichi Dragons 3 Streak: Lost 4 Last 5: TLLLL (Nagoya Dome) Another day, another heart-breakingly close loss to the Dragons in Nagoya. The Swallows got their points early as Kawabata managed a two out single off Soto, which Hatake followed with his 21st home run of the season. [...]
September 22th, 2011 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2 Chunichi Dragons 3 Streak: Lost 2 Last 5: WWTLL (Nagoya Dome) The Swallows landed in Nagoya looking to create some distance between them and the second place Dragons. The Dragons, on the other hand, were playing their first game after learning of the impending departure of their strict [...]
September 17th, 2011 Yokohama BayStars 2 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2 Streak: Tied 1 Last 5: WWWWT (Jingu Stadium) Well, it had to end sometime. After nine wins, Tokyo’s winning streak ended at the hands of Yokohama, of course, in a game with a lot of thwarted offense. The scoring: Kinjoh hit a solo home run [...]
September 8th, 2011 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 7 Yokohama BayStars 3 Streak: Won 3 Last 5: WLWWW (Yokohama Stadium) Don’t let the score fool you, this game was a lot closer and a lot uglier than plain numbers can describe. Both starters looked good early on. Even as Muranaka gave up a solo homer to Murata [...]
Sepember 1st, 2011 Hiroshima Carp 2 Tokyo Swallows 4 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: LLLLW (Meiji Jingu Stadium) Today marked the beginning of a new month, and hopefully the start of the Swallows’ stretch run to the championships. While the result was a win, it remains to be see how the team [...]
