Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Chunichi Dragons 6

Streak: Lost 1   Last 5: WWLWL

(Nagaragawa Stadium)

A pretty horrible three innings from starter Ichiba gave Tokyo a mountain to climb early on, and though they did their best to fight back they came up short on a rainy evening in Gifu.

Yakult came into the game having won the last five meetings between the teams, but the Chunichi bats made light work of Ichiba as it soon became clear the run wouldn’t be extended to six.

Ichiba gave up two runs in the 2nd inning courtesy of a two run homer from catcher Oyama. And the lead was five in the 3rd, another homer, this time a monster three run shot to left from Tony Blanco which made it 5-0 Chunichi.

That was all for Ichiba as he left the game having given up five runs off five hits, striking out three and walking two.

Lee came in to pitch a scoreless 4th before Yakult struck back against Chunichi starter Asakura in the top of the 5th.

Guiel got hit to put him on first with no outs and then Miyamoto singled to put men on first and third. Tanaka then hit into his second double play of the game but Guiel came home to make it 5-1 Chunichi. Catcher Kawamoto, starting his first game of the season due to what must be an injury to Aikawa, demonstrated the one thing he can do better than the regular catcher by hitting a solo homer to right to make it 5-2. A home run that made Tanaka’s double play seem all the more wasteful.

Oshimoto came in to pitch a scoreless bottom of the 5th and then Tokyo narrowed the lead further in the top of the 6th.   Kawashima hit a grounder to short but reached base on an error at first by Blanco. Fukuchi then singled, Kawashima tried to make it to third but was thrown out, allowing Fukuchi to reach second. Aoki then singled to bring home Fukuchi and make it 5-3 Chunichi.

But that was as close as they would get. Oshimoto pitched another scoreless inning in the 6th, Matsuoka did likewise in the 7th and then Maruyama gave up a solo homer to Wada in the 8th to make it 6-3 Chunichi.

In came Iwase to close out the game in the 9th, and earn his 200th career save (Congratulations Iwase!!) and it was all over for a 6-3 Final.

Ichiba took the loss and his record now stands at 1 and 3 with an ERA of 5.311. One must now question his suitability for a starting role as apart from a few exeptions he’s looked not quite up to scratch in a Tokyo uniform thus far.

D’Antona went hitless for the third straight game on his 27th birthday, going 0 for 4 and striking out three times for good measure. He’s now hitting .235 for the year.

Miyamoto had another two hit night to take him to .300, and is now one of only two regular starters to be at or above the .300 mark (the other being Fukuchi who’s at .301).

So a loss, but mostly down to a poor start from Ichiba but even then the chances were there to get back into the game but they just couldn’t take them. Hopefully the Swallows can get back on track tomorrow evening when the two teams meet again, this time at the Nagoya Dome.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5

Hiroshima Toyo Carp 3

Streak: Won 2    Last 5: WWLWW

(Mazda Stadium)

Another day, another new starter on the mound for Tokyo. This time it was the turn of Korean Lee Hye-Cheon to make his Swallows debut against the Carp. And he lasted just 2 and 1/3 innings after giving up two runs off five hits, striking out one and hitting one batter.

But that wouldn’t matter in the end as a solid performance from the middle of the order that yielded three home runs meant that Tokyo took the final game of the series in Hiroshima.

Lee, whose windup is reminiscent of that of closer Lim,  put in a 1,2,3 inning in the bottom of the 1st before the Tokyo bats would give him an early lead in the top of the 2nd.

A D’Antona single to right off Hiroshima starter Hasegawa was followed by a walk for Guiel to put men on first and second with no outs. Hatakeyama, again starting at third in the absence of Keizo Kawashima hit a line drive to centre that scored D’Antona to make it 1-0 Tokyo. A flyout to shallow right for Aikawa made it one out before Tanaka singled to load the bases. Up stepped pitcher Lee who struck out, and then Fukuchi grounded out to strand the runners.

But Lee gave up the slender lead in the bottom of the 2nd, a Kurihara single, a McClain double and a Seabol sacfly made it 1-1. Lee then hit veteran shortstop Ishii on the hand, who then stole second to put men in scoring positions with one out. He then got two groundouts to end the inning without giving up the go-ahead run to the Carp.

The bats gave him another lead to work with in the top of the 3rd. A Miyamoto single and a Aoki two-run homer to pretty much the same spot in right as last night’s shot, made it 3-1 Tokyo. Starter Hasegawa wouldn’t make it out of the inning as he was replaced by Makino after giving up two more hits in the inning. The reliever prevented any further damage and it was on to the bottom of the 3rd.

Higashide grounded out to start the inning before three consecutive singles made it 3-2 and put men on second and third with only one out. Takada turned to the bullpen, Oshimoto was summoned and he got McClain to ground into a double play to end the inning.

The bottom of the 4th saw a Seabol double to start the inning, the runner then being moved to third on a groundout before catcher Ishihara brought him home with a sacfly to right to tie things up at 3-3.

Tokyo then took a decisive lead in the top of the 5th, solo homers from D’Antona (no.6 for the year) and Hatakeyama (his first of 2009) made it 5-3 Tokyo.

But the Carp wouldn’t lie down in front of a packed Mazda Stadium. Maruyama took the mound in relief of Oshimoto in the bottom of the 5th and a Hatakeyama throwing error allowed Higashide to get on base. Two outs later with the runner at third Matsuoka came in to face the dangerous Kurihara. But the Hiroshima first baseman could only flyout to left and the two run lead remained intact.

The Carp would strand another two runners in the 6th and then Kida came in to pitch the 7th. Two two-out hits and a walk loaded the bases but Kida got Seabol to ground out to strand yet more Hiroshima runners.

Igarashi then pitched a 1,2,3 8th before Lim got the three outs in the 9th for his eighth save of the year and it was 5-3 Final.

Oshimoto took the win in relief to put his record at 1 and 2 with a 3.293 ERA.

Hatakeyama was the star of the show with his three hits and two RBIs. It’s good to have him back in the starting lineup and though Kawashima’s fielding may be missed, Hatake brings so much more to the team with his bat.

In fact the 3,4,5,6 part of the lineup (Aoki, D’Antona, Guiel and Hatakeyama) combined for 7 of the team’s 10 hits today (Miyamoto got one and Tanaka got the other two) and brought home all five of the runs. I would definitely consider keeping Hatake in the lineup, but knowing Takada we’ll likely see Lee start there tomorrow (OK he’s not that bad). 

Miyamoto has also shown over the last two games that he is still a quality shortstop and thus keeping Hatake at third would not be a real problem fielding-wise.

The team now head back to Tokyo for a three game series against the Hanshin Tigers from tomorrow evening at Jingu Stadium.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Yokohama BayStars 5

Streak: Lost 1  Last 5: WWLWL
(Yokohama Stadium)

Tokyo dropped game three to concede its first series of the season to a resurgent Yokohama BayStars.

Ryo Kawashima (1-1) pitched four and two-thirds innings while taking the loss for Tokyo. Four runs scored from seven hits while striking out four and walking one. His ERA now stands at 5.91. Fukukawa was behind the plate for this one (his first start of the season).

Kobayashi started for Yokohama but ended up with a no-decision after he was yanked before the end of the fifth inning. Yamaguchi came away with the win after holding the Swallows through the seventh and eighth innings.

Fukuchi and Aoki both reached base twice for the birds with the former collecting three singles and the latter

Naitoh hit the first home run of his pro career in the second inning.

mixing a double with two HBPs.

Guiel hit his fourth home run of the season with a solo blast to start the sixth. Aoki (double) and Tanaka (sac fly) both had an RBI as well.

Relief pitchers for the Swallows this afternoon were Maruyama (2.46 ERA, 3.2 IP‡), Oshimoto (4.77, 5.2), and Hagiwara (0.00, 2.2).

The Swallows will next host the Yomiuri Giants April 14-16 at Jingu Stadium. All games begin at 6pm.

Notes:

After Ichiba plunked three guys in yesterday’s game, Yokohama got even with three bean balls today. Aoki was on the business end of two of them.

One oddity in this game was Kawamoto coming in to pinch run for Hatakeyama in the top of the ninth. I’m not implying that Kawamoto is slow, rather I was surprised because I can’t think of another time when I’ve seen a catcher come in as a pinch runner at the pro level.

Jamie D’Antona, in his second game back after two days of rest with a sore knee, went hitless again.

Both Keizo Kawashima and Tanaka are sporting sub-.200 batting averages through the first nine games of the season.

‡ Rather than writing numbers with extra decimal places, three and two-thirds innings pitched is written 3.2 IP. Similarly, fifty-five and one-third innings pitched would be written 55.1 IP.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1

Yokohama BayStars 9

Streak: Lost 1   Last 5: WLWWL
(Yokohama Stadium)

This was always going to happen, it’s just the Yakult way.

The Swallows travelled to Yokohama in a healthy state with two series wins to open the season with a 4-2 record. The BayStars on the other hand, had lost six straight, scoring a measly five runs while leaking a whopping forty-two. But if last season was anything to go by, where the birds struggled against the woeful ’08 ‘Stars, it wasn’t going to be as simple as it seemed on paper.

And so it turned out to be.

Yoshinori started for Yakult, and had a tough time of it as the Yokohama bats woke up to take out their frustrations on the youngster. He pitched sixty-nine pitches in his 4 and 1/3 innings, giving up seven runs off nine hits while striking out three and walking one. 

Yokohama’s starter, the highly coveted and recently re-signed ace Daisuke Miura, had anything but a tough time of it. He was dominating, pitching 8 innings of one run four hit baseball while striking out six.

The BayStars pulled ahead in the 3rd, with shortstop Ishikawa bringing home Yoshimura for 1-0 Yokohama.

Three more runs followed in the 4th for Yokohama to make it 4-0 before Tokyo pulled one back in the top of the 5th. Fukuchi singled home Aikawa and it was 4-1 Yokohama.

But that was the only run they’d score, and the Baystars added three more in the 5th, and two in the 6th (off reliever Satoh) to cap the scoring at 9-1 Final.

A miserable night for Yakult indeed. Their four hits for the night came from Fukuchi (2), Aikawa and late pinch hitter Hatakeyama. Yokohama managed twelve.

Both starter’s records were evened at 1-1 for the season, with Yoshinori’s ERA balooning to 6.96, and Miura’s shrinking to 3.00

The only bright spark for Tokyo came in the shape of the two hitless innings of relief from the promising Maruyama.

The two teams meet again tomorrow afternoon for the second game of the series. Hopefully the outcome will be different so I don’t have to hear that god-awful song again. Ever.

Tokyo Swallows 2

Hanshin Tigers 5

Streak: Lost 1     Last 1:  L

(Kyocera Dome)

First of all, the home plate umpire was crap. The strike zone changed every inning. Pitchers from both teams were confused to the brink of tears by some of the calls.

Second, there are some pretty shocking TV commercials shown on cable.

Alright, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get on to the game report.

Ishikawa was not able to locate his pitches in this one, and he paid for it. He lasted only four innings (71 pitches), gave up five runs off of six hits and had three K’s against two walks.

The bulk of the damage was done in the second when Sekimoto cranked a three-run homer to left on one of many Ishikawa-issued meatballs.

Down 5-0, the Swallows got one back in the fifth off a monster home run to right care of Aaron Guiel.

Hanshin 5-1 Tokyo.

Tokyo’s only other run came in the seventh on an Aikawa single in which Tanaka crossed home plate. 5-2, Hanshin on top.

And that’s how it ended. Ishikawa (0-1) took the loss and has a 11.25 ERA to work on from here on out.

Ando (1-0) was good enough to allow only two runs despite throwing a ton of balls in the dirt.

Tanaka was the highlight for the Swallows from the plate. He went 3-4 with three doubles and one run. Aikawa also did better than his preseason numbers would lead one to expect by tallying two hits (the first one was a bit lucky). He actually reached base three times (the third time was on an error at third).

In his first official game for the Swallows, new import, Jamie D’Antona, went 1-4 with a double.

The top third of the order didn’t reach base once in this game.

Satou, Oshimoto and Maruyama combined to shut the Tigers out during the final four innings of the game.

Here’s Tokyo’s opening day lineup:

1. Fukuchi (LF)
2. K. Kawashima (SS)
3. Aoki (CF)
4. Guiel (RF)
5. D’Antona (1B)
6. Miyamoto (3B)
7. Tanaka (2B)
8. Aikawa (C)
9. Ishikawa (P)

Game two of the series is tomorrow at two o’clock.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 6

Saitama Seibu Lions 9

Streak: Lost 1       Last 5: WWWWL

(Seibu Dome)

Saitama scored six runs off of seven hits in the bottom of the third to build a lead that they would not relinquish. Tokyo starter Hye-cheon Lee would leave the game after that inning having given up seven runs (all earned).

Saitama had Nakajima and Kataoka, fresh off of WBC duty, back in the lineup today, and they both hit well. Nakajima went 2-4 with a home run, and Kataoka went 3-4 on the afternoon.

While Aoki was not in the lineup again today, Chang-yong Lim and Yasuhiro Ichiba, the latter acquired in the Miyade trade earlier this month, made appearances in the closing stages of this game. Ichiba worked a scoreless seventh and Lim retired all three batters he faced in the eighth.

Replacing Lee on the mound in the fourth inning was Hagiwara. He gave up a hit but got out of the inning unscathed.

Takai worked the fifth, and he had another rough outing. He gave up a two-run blast to Akada and saw hit pre-season ERA get reinforced at 10.61.

Maruyama pitched the sixth and gave up a hit but no runs crossed home plate.

On offense, Takeuchi had a three-run homer in the third while going 1-5 at the plate.

Fukuchi reached base three times (2B, BB, 1B), and Keizo Kawashima got on base four times (1B, BB, 1B, 2B). He punctuated his afternoon with a two-run double in the eighth that helped make the final scoreline somewhat respectable for Tokyo.

Tokyo’s spring training schedule may have ended on a sour note, but the team’s pre-season record was 12-7-1. It’s not an accurate gauge of things to come, but one can always hope.

The regular season (click here for the schedule) begins for the Tokyo Swallows at Kyocera Dome (April 3-5) where they will be hosted by 2008 Climax Series qualifying Hanshin Tigers. The Swallows’ first home series is April 7-9 when the 2007 NPB Japan Series champion Chunichi Dragons are in town.

Yomiuri Giants 4

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5

Streak: Won 3  Last 5: WLWWW

(Jingu Stadium)

Aaron Guiel came up with the late-inning heroics in this one by roping the game winning single to right field with the bases loaded.

Fukuchi and D’Antona led the charge offensively with three hits each. Keizo Kawashima also got on base three times with the help of two walks (one intentional). Miyamoto reached base in both of his appearances at the plate (one walk).

Masao Kida started this one for the birds and took 112 pitches to get through  six innings. He allowed three runs (two earned) off of eight hits, and had four strikeouts and one walk. Maruyama, Takai and Matsuoka pitched one inning apiece in relief with only Matsuoka giving up a run (which tied the game up in the top of the ninth). He did, however, end up getting the win with a little help from Guiel.

The Swallows host the Fighters tomorrow at Jingu starting at 1pm.

Orix Buffaloes  6

Tokyo Swallows 13

Streak: Won 1   Last 5: WWWLW

(Jingu Stadium)

Tokyo scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning to get on the board first, but this game would quickly turn into a bit of a see-saw contest, and a high scoring one at that.

Down by two runs, the Buffs plated three in the top of the third to go up 3-2. All three of those runs came via a three-run homer by third baseman, Fernandez, off of Swallows starter, Hye-cheon Lee.

The birds, to their credit, came back with some power of their own.

After Larocca’s sac fly put Orix up 4-2 in the top of the fourth, D’Antona, Guiel and Iihara hit consecutive singles to pull Tokyo within one, and Morioka’s sac fly to right tied it up. 4-4.

Orix scored their fifth run in the top of the next inning to retake the lead. In the bottom of the fifth, with two men on, D’Antona hit third home run in as many games to give Tokyo a two run advantage. And just for good measure, Guiel followed that up with a solo shot of his own. 8-5, Tokyo.

Both teams would score another run each in the seventh to make it 9-6 in  Tokyo’s favor.

The birds combined for 16 hits on the afternoon. The big story of this game was infielder Morioka who went 3-4 with four rbi’s. He had a huge triple in the eigth that brought Kajimoto and Iihara around to score. Tokyo led 13-6 after the end of eight innings. And that’s how this one ended.

Also, despite being replaced by the end of the sixth inning, both Guiel (3-3, 1 rbi) and D’Antona (2-3, 3 rbi’s, 1 BB) reached base three times in this game. K. Kawashima, Takeuchi, Iihara (actually got on base three times by way of an error), and Tanaka all reached base twice.

After his shaky performance the other day, Takai retired all three batters he faced for a scoreless seventh, and Igarashi allowed only one runner to reach base by way of a beaning with two outs. Maruyama pitched a scoreless ninth for Tokyo.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4

Orix Buffaloes  6

Streak: Lost 1   Last 5: WWLWL

(Kyocera Dome)

Tokyo played catch-up the entire game today.

With Tateyama on the mound for the birds, Orix plated two runs in the bottom of the second. Tateyama pitched four innings with just the two runs surrendered (four hits, five K’s, one beaning).

Barrett made his second appearance of the preseason as well. He pitched two innings and gave up three runs (two earned). He was followed by Igarashi who pitched one scoreless inning in his first game of the month. On for the seventh was Maruyama (one run), and then good ol’ Hagiwara showed up for the eighth and retired all three batters he faced.

Guiel continued his impressive preseason with a run-scoring triple in the sixth that continued a rally started by Yuuichi and later extended by Iihara.

Miyade also had a pinch-hit double in the eighth.

Tokyo batters only managed to draw one walk in this game.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows  4 

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters  5

Streak: Lost 1   Last 3: WWL

(Sapporo Dome)

The highlight of this game, from our perspective anyway, was Ishikawa. He started, threw only 41 pitches and retired all 12 batters he faced. Guiel provided the only offense of the game to that point with a solo home run in the top of the fourth. Tokyo went up 2-0 when

Miyamoto scored on a Noguchi triple.

Ishikawa was replaced by Yoshikawa at the beginning of the 5th, and things got ugly very quickly. Yoshikawa gave up three successive hits to start the inning, the third of which was a blast into the bleachers in left. Tokyo 2-3 Hokkaido.

Maruyama pitched the sixth for Tokyo and didn’t allow anyone to score in his second appearance of the pre-season. However, the home team added another run in the bottom of the seventh off of Tokyo’s Oshimoto which put them up by two runs.

Tokyo tied it up in the top of the 9th with a nice little two-out rally which was partly courtesy of an error by Hokkaido’s pitcher. With two men on, Yuuichi doubled to right which scored both Hatakeyama and Tanaka.

But with Takai on the mound for his first appearance of the year, it wasn’t meant to be. With two men on and two outs, Hokkaido’s center/left fielder, Morimoto, came through with a game winning double after killing rallies with weak hits in both the 5th and 7th innings.

Final score: Tokyo 4 – 5 Hokkaido

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