An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
June 14th, 2010 Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 3 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 8 Streak: Won 5 Last 5: WWWWW (Meiji Jingu Stadium) When this game was originally scheduled to be played (May 23rd), Takada was still at the helm, the birds had just gotten whupped by Chiba 20-4, and the team was in the midst [...]
June 13th, 2010 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 1 Streak: Won 4 Last 5: LWWWW (Kleenex Stadium Miyagi) Hats off to the birds for the current winning streak which ties their season-best of four games. And may I remind you that the last two wins came against Iwakuma and Tanaka, two [...]
June 12th, 2010 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 1 Streak: Won 3 Last 5: WLWWW (Kleenex Stadium Miyagi) The Swallows now have themselves a three-game winning streak–a feat that first took place back in March after an opening day defeat. That first three-game run was extended to four, but that fourth [...]
June 1st, 2010 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 6 Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: DWLWL (Yahoo Dome) With the DH rule in effect, you’d be forgiven for believing that the sacrifice bunt would be a bit scarcer than normal. But then you’d have revealed yourself as being a supporter of a baseball [...]
June 1st, 2010 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 3 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: LDWLW (Yahoo Dome) With the dismal and eventful month of May finally behind them, the Tokyo Swallows headed south to Fukuoka for a run-in with the Pacific League’s wins (8) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.84) leader, Sugiuchi. [...]
May 30th, 2010 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1 Orix Buffaloes 3 Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: LLDWL (Skymark Stadium) Tokyo ended a 10-game winless skid last night when the bats finally came alive and Ishikawa got his long-awaited first win of the season. But today saw the team revert back to regularly scheduled programming. This [...]
May 19th, 2010 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2 Saitama Seibu Lions 3 Streak: Lost 6 Last 5: LLLLL (Seibu Dome) The Tokyo Swallows took their one-ring circus to Saitama for game two at Seibu Dome against the Lions. The first inning wasn’t particularly encouraging, from an offensive standpoint anyway, but things got mildly better after [...]
May 18th, 2010 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 0 Saitama Seibu Lions 1 Streak: Lost 5 Last 5: LLLLL (Omiya) This one turned into a pitching duel of sorts. Kishi vs. Tateyama. Kishi has been throwing well of late, but Tateyama has had a couple of stinkers leading up to this appearance. Kishi was very solid, [...]
May 16th, 2010 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 6 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5 Streak: Lost 4 Last 5: WLLLL (Meiji Jingu Stadium) This was never going to be easy. With Sugiuchi pitching for SoftBank, Tokyo was going to have to earn this one. But even though they lost again, the birds showed a little more fight [...]
May 15th, 2010 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 2 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 0 Streak: Lost 3 Last 5: LWLLL (Meiji Jingu Stadium) The offensive impotence continues. Starting lineup: 1. Tanaka 2B 2. Miyamoto SS 3. Aoki CF 4. D’Antona 1B 5. Guiel RF 6. Iihara LF 7. Yoshimoto 3B 8. Aikawa C 9. Nakazawa P Yoshimoto, [...]
