Tokyo Yakult Swallows 9

Chunichi Dragons 4

Streak: Won 5   Last 5: WWWWW

(Nagoya Dome)

The Swallows managed to put the finishing touches on their third five-game winning streak of the season (all of them in the post-Takada era) while taking full advantage of every opportunity given to them.

Tonight’s lineup:

1. Aoki CF
2. Tanaka 2B
3. Iihara RF
4. Whitesell 1B
5. Hatakeyama LF
6. Aikawa C
7. Miyamoto 3B
8. Fujimoto SS
9. Nakazawa P

With Yoshimi looking pretty solid on the mound for the Dragons, Aoki created a little bit of wiggle-room for the visitors in the third with an expertly-placed two-out double down the line in left. Tanaka then drew a walk to occupy the empty base. Iihara then came through with a clutch double high off the wall in right to score both Aoki and Tanaka. 2-0 Tokyo.

But Chunichi came right back in the bottom of that inning when Tanishige led off the inning by crushing a Nakazawa curveball. 2-1 Tokyo.

The Swallows scored again in the fourth. Aikawa’s one out single was his second hit of the game, and he was pushed to third on a very nice full-count poke by Miyamoto past the shortstop. Then, with runners on the corners, Fujimoto bounced the first pitch high enough into the air that Aikawa was able to scamper home. Fujimoto was out at first, but the two run lead was restored. 3-1 Tokyo.

Things nearly got very ugly in the bottom of that inning. Nakazawa walked the first batter and then a Tanaka fielding error on a potential double-play grounder left runners safe on first and second with no outs. Wada then fouled out to Whitesell for the first out. After the runners were able to advance when Aikawa forgot to catch the ball, Blanco walked as Nakazawa was advised to pitch around him. Bases loaded for Cesar. But he then popped up in foul territory, too, with Whitesell again on the receiving end for the second out.

And with Tanishige complaining about the ump’s strike zone (which ballooned wildly off the left side of the plate for most of the game), Aikawa was able to pick Morino off at second after he was a little slow getting back. Disaster averted.

Aoki led off the next inning with his second hit of the game, but Tanaka’s Tak-bunt was fielded nicely by the catcher and Aoki was out at second. Never feat, though, Iihara is here, and he came through with his second double in as many at-bats to put runners on second and third with one out.

The Swallows were able to score a run thanks to a wild pitch by Yoshimi with Whitesell at the plate. 4-1 Tokyo.

The birds couldn’t survive another defensive lapse as Fujimoto’s carelessness ended up costing the Swallows two runs. The runner mistakenly allowed on first and the runner that walked after that both scored on Oshima’s double off the wall in center. 4-3 Tokyo.

But the birds kept finding ways to score. In the sixth, Miyamoto and Fujimoto had back-to-back one-out singles to start things off. Ueda, pinch hitting for Nakazawa, then popped up softly to shallow left for out number two, but Aoki was able to bring Miyamoto home from third with a single between first and second. It was his third hit of the evening. 5-3 Swallows.

Oshimoto (2.91) pitched a scoreless bottom of the sixth, and Masubuchi (2.98) looked horrible but still held on in the bottom of the seventh. Matsuoka (1.66) took care of the eighth.

But the Swallows would put this one out of reach in the top of the ninth with Lim getting ready in the bullpen. Kawamoto drew a pinch-hit walk to lead things off. Aoki then thwacked his fourth hit of the game to put runners on first and second. Tanaka then Tak-bunted them over for the first out. Iihara then drew a walk to load the bases, and Takeuchi’s grounder to second was enough to score Kawamoto from third. Takeuchi was out at first, but the runners advanced. 6-3 Tokyo.

Fukuchi then brought both Aoki and Iihara home with a single to left. 8-3 Tokyo.

The fleet-footed Fukuchi was then able to score from first when Aikawa drilled one into the gap in left-center, and that was the end of Tokyo’s offensive attack for the evening. 9-3 Tokyo.

Chunichi got one run back in the ninth with Matsui (5.25) on the mound (fortunately Lim was told to take his spikes off once the birds started to run away with it in the ninth). 9-4 Final.

Nakazawa (3.78 ERA) got the win, his sixth of the year, and gave up only one earned run off of two hits. The one blemish on his evening was the five walks he issued–somewhat surprising given the size of the strike zone that the home plate umpire was going by.

Aoki was an impressive 4-5 at the plate with one RBI while Aikawa went 3-5 with an RBI. Both Miyamoto and Iihara had two hits on the evening while the latter also added a walk and an HBP.

The Swallows now return to Jingu for the start of a three game series against the second place Hanshin Tigers.

Random thoughts:

Today was Masubuchi’s 37th appearance of the season. I’d like to take this opportunity to kindly remind Mr. Ogawa that Masubuchi isn’t used to getting this much playing time, and that may help explain how terribly he looks on the mound. That’s nearly twice as many as he had in his first three seasons combined (19). Sure, he was a starter during those first three seasons, but through just shy of half a season, he’s already got his innings up to the second highest in his career. Please find a fourth middle reliever soon. Convert another potential starter if you have to. The poor guy is tired.

The Swallows outhit the Dragons 13-5 in this contest.

The birds were very effective at bringing runners home from third tonight. They always seemed to find a way. There was a very delicate mixture of clutch hitting and luck (wild pitch) working for the Swallows this evening.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2

Hanshin Tigers 3

Streak: Lost 3  Last 5: WWLLL

(Koshien)

Tokyo fell to their third straight loss as they again struggled to get their offence working against Hanshin at Koshien.

With Whitesell out of action after taking one on the knee the evening prior, it was a case of “as you were” with the lineup accommodating both Guiel and D’Antona in the 4 and 5 spots:

1. Aoki (CF)
2. Tanaka (2B)
3. Ihara (LF)
4. Guiel (RF)
5. D’Antona (1B)
6. Aikawa (C)
7. Moyamoto (3B)
8. Onizaki (SS)
9. Nakazawa (P)

Nakazawa, making his first start against Hanshin, wasn’t at his best as he let a lot of men on base over the course of his 6 innings, and was rather fortunate to only give up the 3 runs he did.

He had himself an early lead though, as Aoki hit a solo homer (no.6 for the year and his 99th hit of the season) to centre to lead off the game off homeless Hanshin starter Shimoyanagi, 1-0 Tokyo.

After that, Nakazawa gave up a double in the 1st, another double and a walk in the 2nd before finally surrendering the lead in the 3rd. A walk for Hirano and a single for the impressive Murton put two men on before back to back singles for Brazell and Johjima brought home a run apiece to make things 2-1 Hanshin.

But the lead didn’t last long as another solo homer in the top of the 4th, this time from Aikawa (no.7 for the year), drew things level at 2-2.

Nakazawa again managed to escape further runs in the 4th despite giving up a two-out single and double, but it was in the 6th when his luck would finally run out. With one out on the board, Sekimoto came in to bat for Shimoyanagi and hit his own solo homer that just stayed fair in right to put the Tigers ahead 3-2.

But with a misfiring Watanabe taking the mound in relief in the 7th, Tokyo were presented with their best chance to get back into the game. A lead off walk for Aikawa was followed up by groundouts from Miyamoto and Onizaki which moved the runner to third. Ueda then pinch hit for Nakazawa and was plunked on the foot to put men on the corners for the in-form Aoki. Except he could only tamely ground out to second and the inning, and the chance, was over.

And with Kubota and Fujikawa shutting down things in the 8th and 9th that would end up being their final chance, 3-2 Hanshin Final.

Nakazawa took the loss for his 6 innings of 9 hit/3 run baseball (with 2 walks and 1 strikeout) and his record now sits at 5-5/3.91. Oshimoto (3.09) and Matsuoka (136) both worked scoreless innings in relief.

Tokyo were outhit 10-5 as they never managed more than a hit an inning. Guiel was 0 for 3 (all strikeouts) with a HBP and is now batting .196.

Aoki and Aikawa pretty much were Tokyo’s offence as they both managed two singles and two solo homers between them. Aoki’s single in the 3rd inning was his 100th hit of the season.

Tokyo return to the home of the great yellow unwashed tomorrow evening to try and avoid the sweep. Let’s hope they can manage it.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Yokohama BayStars 2

Streak: Won 4   Last 5: LWWWW

(Okinawa Cellular Stadium Naha)

It wasn’t a romp like last night, but the Tokyo Swallows still got the win and moved into fourth place in the Central League.

Tonite’s lineup:

1. Aoki CF
2. Tanaka 2B
3. Iihara LF
4. Guiel RF
5. Whitesell 1B
6. Aikawa C
7. Miyamoto 3B
8. Fujimoto SS
9. Nakazawa P

Tokyo starter, rookie Nakazawa (3.86 ERA), got his fifth win of the season (against four losses) by pitching five and two-thirds innings of six hit, two run baseball. He had five Ks and didn’t allow any walks.

But he left the game after allowing a three run lead melt to just one in the sixth inning. He was relieved by Masubuchi who finished out that frame and the following one, and Matsuoka (1.45) and Lim (0.77) pitched a scoreless inning each. Lim notched his 14th save in the process.

Tokyo’s offense didn’t make a whole lot of noise until the fifth which ended up being the last for Yokohama starter, Kaga. Aikawa and Miyamoto led off with singles before Fujimoto bunted them over to second and third. Kaga then gave Tokyo a free one by whipping one past the catcher. Aikawa scored from third and Miyamoto advanced to the corner. 1-0 Tokyo.

Nakazawa then went down swinging for out number two, but Aoki brought Miyamoto home from third by clubbing a 1-0 fastball for a double to left. Tanaka then hit an 0-1 sinker to right for an RBI single. 3-0 Tokyo.

As mentioned earlier, Yokohama finally got to Nakazawa in the sixth. 3-2 Tokyo.

But that was basically the end of it as Tokyo’s relievers locked things down for the rest of the game.

Miyamoto was the only player to record two hits in this game, so he’s the default offensive player of the game. His bat has heated up a little as of late which is a very nice development.

Tokyo’s next game is on Saturday, the start of a two-game “home” series in Akita against the Chunichi Dragons.

Random notes:

The birds are a half game ahead of the fifth place Carp and seven games behind the third place Dragons.

Whitesell’s hitting streak was extended to four games thanks to his lead-off single in the second.

Aoki was voted into the 2010 All Star game by the fans

The final results of the fan votes for the 2010 NPB All Start game were released today. Swallows players were not faring well when the first set of results were announced in early June. However, the Swallows’ resurgence has helped put a number of players in respectable positions in the fan vote. Aoki lead all position players with 403,156 votes to play in the outfield. Aoki’s vote total was second only to Hiroshima pitcher Kenta Maeda, who garnered 435,375. Aoki will be joined in the All Star game outfield by the Giants’ Tetsuya Matsumoto (if he returns from injury) and Alex Ramirez.

While Aoki was the only Swallows’ player today to punch his ticket to the All Star game, a few more Swallows will no doubt follow after the players’ votes are cast and manager’s selections are made. Among the Swallows’ that had a strong showing in the fan vote were Lim (2nd among closers), Aikawa (3rd among catchers), rookie Nakazawa (5th among starting pitchers), Oshimoto (3rd among middle relievers), and Miyamoto (3rd among thrid basemen).

Yomiuri Giants 4

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2

Streak: Lost 1   Last 5: LWLWL

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Tokyo couldn’t pull off the series win after starter Nakazawa fell victim to the long ball as the Swallows lost to their beloved neighbours.

1. Aoki (CF)
2. Fukuchi (2B)
3. Tanaka (2B)
4. D’Antona (1B)
5. Ihara (RF)
6. Aikawa (C)
7. Miyamoto (3B)
8. Fujimoto (SS)
9. Nakazawa (P)

Tokyo took an early lead off the ultimate Giants bitch-boy starter Utsumi in the top of the 1st, with a leadoff single for Aoki followed up by an RBI single from D’Antona two outs later for 1-0 Tokyo. Despite his struggles this year, Jamie still is the team RBI leader with 38.

Nakazawa kept the Giants bats in check fairly well early on, until the homers came. The first came in the 4th, via our old-friend turned wanker Ramirez which tied the scores up at 1-1. And he was at it again in the 6th to make it 2-1, before a single from Tani and another dinger from the thoroughly hateable Chono extended the lead to 4-1 Yomiuri.

Tokyo pulled back a run in the 7th with singles for Miyamoto and pinch-hitter Hatakeyama, a walk for pinch-hitting Guiel followed up by a run scoring groundout for Aoki for 4-2.

But outside of their two run scoring innings, the Swallows threatened very little with Utsumi and the Yomiuri bullpen keeping them at arm’s length. 4-2 Yomiuri Final.

Nakazawa took the loss for his 5 and 2/3 innings of 8 hit 4 run baseball and his record now sits at 4-4/3.92.

Next up at Jingu are the Hanshin Tigers who the Swallows host for three games from tomorrow.

How We Got There: The Swallows came into the month of May on a 5 game losing streak, with an overall record of 11-17-1. Things weren’t looking good, but we still had memories of our early season surge to give us hope.

Takada Out: May 2010 for the Swallows will probably be remembered for the team’s futility and subsequent stepping aside of Manager Shigeru Takada. Despite team president Tadashi Suzuki’s statements promising to keep Takada for the season, he finally stepped aside on the 26th. Takada’s decision seems to have been a reaction to rumors published earlier in the day which had strongly suggested that he was going to resign.

Interleague Nightmare: May also saw the beginning of interleague play. There was some hope that the change of scenery would let the Swallows come out of their funk. This sense of hope was buoyed by the 9-0 thrashing the Swallows gave Chunichi in the game prior to the start of interleague play, and the fact that the first team on the schedule were the (at the time) lowly Orix Buffaloes. Those hopes were quickly dashed when the Birds dropped both of their games against the Buffaloes, and proceeded to lose their first 10 games of interleague play. At the end of May, the Swallows hold a 1-10-1 record in interleague play, and have managed to bat a lowly .210 in those games. The Swallows have yet to play the Nippon Ham Fighters, as the two games between the teams this month were canceled due to rain.

Low Scores: The Swallows of May had trouble scoring, being held to 3 runs or less in 14 games out of 20, being shutout 4 times. Not surprisingly, the Birds were 0-13-1 in those games. On the other hand, the Swallows managed to hold opponents to 3 runs or under in 10 games, yet they managed to only go 2-7-1.

Shellackings: It wasn’t all close games though, as the Swallows’ won big 9-0 against Chunichi, and 11-4 against Orix. On the other hand, the Swallows were on the receiving end of a ridiculous 20-4 beating at the hands of the Marines, an embarrassing 12-0 blanking by the Giants, and a 9-2 loss to the Buffaloes. It’s nice that 2 of our 3 wins in May were very decisive, but the fact we haven’t managed to win close games is frustrating. It can’t be good for a player’s confidence to keep losing close games, it certainly isn’t doing my confidence in my team any good.

More Proof of Offensive Impotence: I think the above already demonstrated our offensive ineptness in May. But for more depressing numbers go read Chris’ analysis of Aoki’s May numbers.

Play of the Month: In a month marked by futility and many games I’d rather forget, there is only one play that really sticks in my mind. The play occurs during the first game of the month, in the bottom of the fifth inning at Jingu. The Swallows hold a comfortable 5-1 lead and are threatening to score more with men on second and third, with one out. Miyamoto comes up to bat and grounds to first, the first baseman throws to home to try to get a charging Fujimoto out. While the throw makes it in on time, and the catcher has the plate well blocked, Fujimoto manages to touch home plate without being tagged. However, the umpire calls Fujimoto out, and Fujimoto immediately pushes the ump and gets in his face. While the run didn’t really matter in the end, we won 5-3, this play sticks in my mind because it’s the last time I really saw any Swallows player show some passion on the field.

My Player of the Month for May

Player of the Month: With none of our batters playing with any kind of consistency, it became pretty obvious that the first Kozo’s Monthly Roundup Player of the Month Award would have to go to one of our starting pitchers. Masato Nakazawa was on his way to winning this award, giving up only 5 runs in his first 3 starts of the month, but he dropped out of the running after he gave up 8 earned runs on 2 and 2/3 innings against the Marines. Rain cancellations and extra days off during Interleague play conspired to keep Nakazawa off the starting mound since that loss. Shohei Tateyama bounced back nicely from injury in his May starts, but since he only made 2 starts he got disqualified. Tony Barnette pitched himself out of the rotation in May, and was never in contention. So we’re left with lefty ace Masanori Ishikawa and Kyohei Muranaka the young southpaw. Both pitchers went 1-1 in 4 starts in May. Comparing both pitchers’ May stats reveals many similarities.

Both pitchers had a good May, but you have to give credit to Ishikawa for pitching with the mounting pressure of not getting a W this season, a win he finally got in his 10th start. So the my first Player of the Month Award goes to Masanori Ishikawa!

Quo Vadimus: In May we ended up with a record of 3-16-1, Yakyu Baka tells us that the last time the Swallows finished out a month with just three wins (in a month where they played at least 20 games) was in 1970. So really, the only place we can go is up. Right? June will see the wrapping up of Interleague play before we go back to regular Central League play. We’ll be closing out the month with back-to-back series against the Giants and the Tigers. You can also expect a few more rain outs, as we head into the rainy season. With a seemingly solid rotation with Ishikawa, Tateyama, Nakazawa, Muranaka, and Yoshinori, it would only take a couple of bats coming alive with the summer heat to get us winning again. Hopefully we’ll be in enough close games with leads that we’ll get to see who steps up to fill Lim Chang-Yong’s shoes as closer. All we can do is hope!

BTW imaginary bonus points for anyone who gets the Quo Vadimus reference.