Chunichi Dragons 2

Yomiuri Giants 11

(Tokyo Dome)

That hurt. Yomiuri regained its swagger tonight and walked all over Chunichi’s pitching on way to an 11-2 rout of the defending Japan Series champions.

Chunichi starter, Kenta Asakura (27.00) got chased after only two innings. He gave up six earned runs care of Yomiuri third baseman, Michihiro Ogasawara, during those two frames. Ogasawara blasted a two run homer in the first and a grand slam in the second. Ouch.

Ramirez and Lee also hit home runs in this game. Both Kamei and Ramirez had three-hit nights.

Asakura was followed by lefty Takashi Ogasawara who made it through five innings but gave up another three runs off of six hits. Like his predecessor, Ogasawara also gave up a pair of home runs during his time on the pitcher’s mound.

Chunichi’s pitchers (there were four total) combined for only one walk, but also notched a mere three strikeouts. They gave up 17 hits (including two doubles, a triple and four home runs), but didn’t manage to bean anyone.

Kouji Uehara started this one for Yomiuri, and he braved an initial rough patch to turn in a very good performance overall. Morino had a solo home run in the first, and Hirata came on in the third for a pinch-hit solo dinger in the third, but after that Uehara buckled down and only gave up two more hits before he was replaced in the top of the 9th. He threw 104 pitches in eight innings of very solid work. Two runs off of four hits with nine K’s and no walks. That’s definitely respectable. If it hadn’t been for those two home runs, his performance would have been outright scary. Uehara’s postseason ERA currently stands at 2.25.

Down two games to one, Chunichi is in need of some solid pitching, especially from its starter. A little bit of offense wouldn’t hurt either.

Game four is tomorrow night at Tokyo Dome (6 PM).