The Birds kicked off Interleague play with a disastrous 0-4 homestand. Starting tomorrow, the team takes their show on the road with two games each against the Seibu Lions and the Lotte Marines. That means for the first time this season, the Swallows will be able to feature a lineup with a designated hitter. The DH position is typically used to get great hitters with glaring defensive liabilities into the game. However, looking down the Swallows’ active roster, I don’t really see any great offensive player that isn’t getting playing time because of their defensive ability. What we do seem to have is a glut of light-hitting fielders who have not gotten regular playing time. I’ll examine some of the players the team might get into the lineup by using the DH spot.

Kazuki Fukuchi & Yasushi Iihara

Assuming that Fukuchi wasn’t held out of the last two games because of injury, and nothing in the press seems to indicate that’s the case, the DH spot give us the opportunity to get both Fukuchi and Iihara in the game. Iihara has managed to fill-in nicely in spot starts, and regular playing time during Fukuchi’s injuries and Guiel’s benchings. Iihara is a well rounded player, without any exceptional talent in any area. The DH would allow the brittle Fukuchi and his amazing legs to get into the in the game without exposing them to the artificial turf of the Seibu Dome and Marine Stadium (Omiya features natural grass). Fukuchi hasn’t been hitting particularly well since his return from injury earlier this month, but without some at bats I don’t see him getting any better. If Fukuchi isn’t ready to go, perhaps we will see Tsuyoshi Ueda get some more at bats. Ueda has parlayed a hot March and April at the farm into semi-regular appearances with the main team.

Shinichi Takeuchi

Takeuchi played well when he started during the D’Antona benching, managing to hit 3 homers and hitting for a decent average. Since D’Antona’s return, Takeuchi has been the first lefty off the bench in pinch hit situations. As a pinch hitter, Takeuchi has been completely ineffective and may benefit from some regular at bats. Historically, Takeuchi has not done well against lefties, as such, he’s only gotten 2 at bats against lefties this season. So don’t expect to see Takeuchi in the starting lineup, DH or otherwise, if the starter is a lefty. If Takeuchi does start, Takada might elect to start him at first, and move D’Antona in the DH spot.

Ryo Yoshimoto & Atsushi Fujimoto

Yoshimoto was a surprise start against his old team over the last two games. The career benchwarmer had a good first game, and collected an RBI on a sac fly in the second game. Prior to those starts, Yoshimoto was 2-for-2 and a Tak-bunt in 3 pinch hit appearances this season. This little run of success might be enough to justify keeping Yoshimoto in the lineup while bringing Fujimoto back into the fold.

Atsushi Kinugawa

Our backup catcher has seen spot duty spelling Aikawa late in games, and occasional at bats as a right-handed pinch hitter. 3 out of Kinugawa’s 4 hits this season have managed to go for extra bases. I don’t really have much else to say about the guy, except to say that he’s the only other player that has registered more than 15 at bats and is currently on the active roster.

I think either Takeuchi, or someone from the crowded outfield platoon will be making the extra start in Pacific League parks. Hopefully multiple at bats will give someone an opportunity to shine, we need it…

Do YOU have any thoughts as to who should be given extra playing time?

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 than they have for a while, so I guess they deserve some credit for that.

Starting lineup:

1. Tanaka 2B
2. Miyamoto SS
3. Aoki CF
4. D’Antona 1B
5. Iihara LF
6. Guiel RF
7. Yoshimoto 3B
8. Aikawa C
9. Muranaka P

Kokubo’s first home run of the night quickly put Muranaka in hot water in the first inning. 2-0 SoftBank.

But then Tokyo did something that they haven’t done in quite a while–they came back.

The birds got one run in the fourth care of a couple of beanings (Aoki and Guiel) straddling a D’Antona double and culminating in a Yoshimoto sacrifice fly to center. 2-1 SoftBank.

Tokyo then managed to pull level in the sixth with the help of a bunch of bad fielding by the visiting team. All square at 2-2.

But then things got dire again in the eighth with Oshimoto on the mound for the birds. Honda singled and Ortiz drew a walk to start things off with no outs. Kokubo then came through with his second round-tripper of the night (number 10 this year) to put the Hawks back in control at 5-2.

But the Swallows fought back yet again in the bottom of that inning. D’Antona and Iihara got things going with back to back singles before Guiel leveled the game once again with a blast to right. 5-5.

Consequently, Guiel’s 12th home run of the season was the end of Sugiuchi’s night.

However, the tie would only endure for a couple more innings. After Lim pitched scoreless 9th and 10th innings, Masubuchi took the mound for the 11th. Things got bad in a real hurry as a leadoff double was followed by a sacrifice bunt.

With one out, and a man on third, Masubuchi got the second out when Kawasaki struck out chasing high heat. But Honda followed with a single that scored the go-ahead run, and it looked like Masubuchi might start crying there for a while. 6-5 SoftBank.

And that’s how the game would end as Falkenborg used his 98 MPH fastball to great effect.

Masubuchi (0-2, 1.23) took the loss for his one inning of work. Muranaka (3-4, 3.24) gave up two earned runs off of five hits in six innings.

On offense, Aoki, D’Antona and Guiel all had two-hit games.

Takada Count: 6

After staging a comeback with three huge runs in the eighth (Guiel homer), Fujimoto kept the momentum going with a single. However, it seems that Mr. Takada was tired of the momentum and decided to slow things down a bit by having Aikawa Tak-bunt Fujimoto over to second for the first out. Guess how many runs scored after that?

So let me get this straight–the birds string four hits together without a single out, and that kind of mojo should be followed by a bunt. Got it.

Random notes:

Aside from Honda’s blunders that allowed a run to score, the Hawks came up with several fine defensive plays including a couple of fine grabs in the outfield.

Tokyo has lost 10 of the 12 games that they’ve played in May.

Tokyo has three wins, one draw, and 17 losses since April 20th.

Matsuoka struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth inning.

Guiel now leads the league in HBP’s (8). Iihara is in second with seven.

]]> http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/05/16/51610-softbank-home/feed/ 7 http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/03/31/33110-chunichi-home/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=33110-chunichi-home http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/03/31/33110-chunichi-home/#comments Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:41:47 +0000 David Watkins http://tokyoswallows.com/?p=5831 March 31st, 2010

Chunichi Dragons 5

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 9

Streak: Won 4   Last 5: LWWWW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Well, starts to the season don’t come too much better than this. A start which on paper looked ominous to say the least – an away series against the CL champions Yomiuri followed by the home opening series against last year’s runner-up Chunichi – has seen two series wins. Both fairly comfortable series wins at that. What’s. Going. On. ?

Tonight’s game saw ace Shohei Tateyama make his 2010 debut after a pre-season hampered by injury. And the Tateyama we saw tonight was clearly still a not quite ready for prime-time Tateyama. But such is the form of the Swallows bats that a 60% fit Tateyama was more than enough to win the game.

The biggest of those bats no-doubt belonged to a certain Mr.Jamie D’Antona, who had yet another sterling evening, going 3 for 4 with two home runs and a whopping 5 RBIs. And to think our manager was rumoured to be not so keen on re-signing Jamie for this year.

And that folks is all you need to know about our manager. In Jamie D’Antona Tokyo have themselves quite a player, and this being his second year he’s been able to hit the ground running. To devastating effect.

Four wins on the trot, four nights of an unchanged starting lineup. Takada is a genius:

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

D’Antona was the architect of the Swallows taking an early lead in the bottom of the 1st off Chunichi starter Ogasawara. Tanaka hit a one-out double, with Aoki then getting on via a fielder’s choice to leave men on the corners. D’Antona then golf-swung a pitch low and inside out of the park to left centre and the Swallows had themselves a 3-0 lead.

But a clearly rusty Tateyama would also prove vulnerable to the long ball throughout the evening, which would keep things interesting. In the top of the 2nd a Wada leadoff solo homer made it 3-1, with Ibata then getting on via a single and being brought home by pitcher Ogasawara two outs later to narrow things to 3-2. And it was level in the 3rd, again via the long ball, this time a solo shot from Cesar (his first in Japan) making it 3-3.

But as is becoming the way with Tokyo this year, they were able to strike back when needed, as they restored the three run lead in the bottom of the same inning. A Tanaka single, an Aoki strikeout and a D’Antona single put men on first and second with one out on the board. Next man up Guiel poked one up the middle to bring home Tanaka and make it 4-3 with men again on first and second. Miyamoto singled into leftfield and another run was home, leaving two runners in scoring position with the score at 5-3. The continually efficient Fujimoto then hit a sacfly to bring home Guiel and end the innings scoring for a score of 6-3 Tokyo.

Two more runs followed in the 4th, this time via the second of D’Antona’s home runs (number 4 in 5 games) which brought home Fukuchi who had got on via a single and Tokyo had themselves a comfortable 8-3 lead.

Another solo homer, this time from facial-chubster Morino made it 8-4 in the 6th.

In the 7th, a one-out Guiel walk saw him replaced by pinch runner Ihara, and a subsequent Cesar error after Miyamoto hit a grounder to second left men on the corners. Fujimoto then hit his second sacfly of the evening to bring home his second RBI of the evening  to make it 9-4 Tokyo.

Chunichi’s final run came in the top of the 8th, this time surprisingly not via the long ball, with Wada bringing home Morino to wrap up the scoring at 9-5.

Oshimoto pitched a two strikeout one hit 9th in his third appearance of the season and that was all she wrote at 9-5 Final.

Tateyama took the win, working 8 innings of 7 hit (including those 3 HRs) 5 run baseball, striking out 5 and walking 1. Not at his best but the 8 innings tonight should have sharpened him up for the season after his limited pre-season innings.

D’Antona is now batting for a .471 average, the highest on the team, as is his total of 11 RBIs so far. Long may this kind of form continue.

Tokyo outhit the Dragons 10 to 8. Aoki went hitless for the first time since the opening day loss to the Giants, and is now at .421. Fukuchi (.348) and Tanaka (.300) each had two hits apiece.

The two teams will play out the final game of the series tomorrow evening, before Tokyo host Yokohama for three games from Friday.

• The Swallows made only their second ever free agency signing (the first being catcher Aikawa), bringing over Atsushi Fujimoto over from Hanshin. Seriously underwhelming news there then. Another light-hitting infielder to go with the collection we already have, but hey, an extra body is welcome I guess. Welcome to Tokyo Atsushi. He will, perhaps fittingly, wear now-retired Tsubamegun hero Shiroishi’s number 10.
• Aaron Guiel was rewarded for his solid 2009 season (.267 avg, 27HR, 80RBI) with a two year contract worth 90 million yen in the first year with incentives. The popular Canadian could earn up to 270 million over the course of his contract. Good business by the Swallows there, and I will be glad to see Aaron back in Tokyo colours in 2010. Incidentally, Guiel has apparently expressed a desire to end his career with the birds. So maybe from this year you’ll actually be able to buy some merchandise with his name on it. No, scratch that, stupid idea.
• No news on the re-signing of infielder Jamie D’Antona, despite noises from the organization that they wanted him back for 2010 and from the man himself indicating he would like to return. Though given Jamie’s treatment at the hands of our esteemed manager at the tail end of last season, I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see Jamie back in a Swallows uniform this season. Let’s hope that’s not the case as, my lord, we need him.
• Apparently the Swallows are looking to change Norichika Aoki’s uniform number from the 23 he’s used in his career so far, to the number 1. The same number worn by such past greats as Tsutomu Wakamatsu, Takahiro Ikeyama and erm, Akinori Iwamura. They are looking for him to become the face of the organization (as if he wasn’t already), but was a number change really necessary?
• Salary negotiations are now pretty much done. Expect something on that to hit Tsubamegun in the near future (here are last year‘s).
• Generally not very good pitcher Yuhei Takai is currently trying to convert to an outfielder by swinging the bat hundreds of thousands of times during this offseason. He’ll be using an Ichiro model glove and a Aoki model bat. Hopefully some of the branding will rub off on the lad and he’ll make the grade. Good luck to him.
• Former Tokyo bullpen ace Ryota Igarashi who left the Swallows this offseason to take a shot at the MLB, has signed with the New York Mets. Being somewhat of a Mets fan myself this is indeed good news, but we here at Tsubamegun Towers are putting money down on when we’ll see the headline “IGARASHIT” after Ryota’s first meltdown.

That’s about it for the moment. Expect activity to increase on the site as we approach the pre-season, and please bear with us as we try to get things in order post-site re-jig.

Oh, and a belated Happy New Year to you all out there.

Hokkaido 3

Series: Hokkaido 0-1 Yomiuri

(Sapporo Dome)

The 2009 Japan Series kicked off tonight in Sapporo with the Pacific League Champions, Hokkaido, hosting their Central League counterparts, the Yomiuri Giants.

Both Takeda and Gonzalez retired the side rather quickly in the first, and then Tani came through with a two out solo homer to left to put the visitors ahead. 1-0 Yomiuri.

But Sledge crushed a Gonzalez fastball with one out in the bottom of the same inning to tie things up. 1-1.

Itoi reached with two outs on a single to left, and he took off running on the 1-1 pitch, but Tsuruoka fouled it off. He would reach second anyway on the next pitch as the ball skipped briskly over second base and into center field. Kaneko, however, stranded both of the runners when he struck out staring at a slider.

Kimura struck out on three straight pitches as Takeda continued to change speeds well and keep batters off balance. Furuki and Sakamoto both grounded out (nice play by Tanaka to throw Furuki out, by the way) to bring former Tokyo player, Gonzalez, back out to the mound without too much of a rest.

Tanaka and Morimoto grounded out to quickly make it look like a quick inning for Gonzalez, but Inaba (also a former Swallows player) singled past second base and Takahashi hit an infield single to short to again put runners on first and second with two outs. But after scoring the leveling run in the second, Sledge could only ground out to first and strand two more runners.

Koyano came up with a great diving play to rob Matsumoto of a single at the start of the fourth inning. But Ogasawara was able to reach first on a single up the middle after fanning badly at a couple of Takeda offerings near the middle of the zone. With one on and one out, Ramirez got ahold of one but broke his bat in the process and ended up flying out to left-center for the second out. Kamei grounded out to second on the first pitch he saw. Ogasawara never got past first.

Lots of first pitch swinging going on so far in this game. Lots of first pitch outs as well.

Gonzalez was finally able to finish things the easy way with two outs. He retired all three batters he faced (Koyano flied out to center on the first pitch).

Leading off the fifth was Mr. Tani who was responsible for the first run of this championship series with his second inning homer. Tani singled to center this time around, and pig-boy, Abe, followed up with a single of his own to put runners on first and second with no outs and Kimura in the batter’s box.

Takeda should have been able to get Tani at third, but he turned his head before gloving the ball and the Fighters had to settle for the out at first. Furuki then came to the plate with one out and runners on second and third. He struck out swinging at a changeup, and that brought Sakamoto to the plate for his third at-bat of the game. And the youngster came through with a pitch that he pulled down the line in left and plunked off the wall to score both Tani and pig-boy. Sakamoto ended up on second. 3-1 Yomiuri.

Matsumoto and his stupid little hand-waving habit (what is he doing? Is the bat hot?) then came to the plate with two outs and Sakamoto on second. He flied out to right to strand the runner, but the Giants regained the lead. In retrospect, Takeda’s mishandling of that bunt (which he did very well to get to quickly) should probably have been called an error even though the Fighter’s got the out. That was a typical little league fielding mistake.

After Kaneko struck out looking, Tanaka reached first on a single to right after a nice, long at-bat. Morimoto followed with a sharp grounder that made it through the right side of the infield and put runners on first and second with one out. Inaba struck out swinging at a high fastball to bring the end of the inning a bit closer, and Takahashi grounded out to short to again strand a pair of runners.

And this is neither here nor there, but that Daidan commercial that they’ve shown a couple of times so far between innings? Damn. If you’ve got enough money to advertise during the Japan Series, the least you can do is make a half-decent 15-second spot. That thing looks like a high school, end of term marketing class project.

Ogasawara gave us another first pitch out to get things started in the sixth. Ramirez followed with more of the same. Two outs. And he broke yet another bat in the process. Kamei stuck around for four pitches, but he grounded out to let Takeda sit down after only six pitches.

Sledge watched a slider hit the middle of the zone for strike zone, and then he passed on a high fastball that caught the inside of the the plate. He fouled off the third pitch and then watched the next two find the dirt as Gonzalez’s pitch count reached 90. He fended off another fastball and then a slider to keep himself in it before finally watching a changeup miss low to bring the count full. He then ripped the 2-3 pitch into right field to put a man on for Koyano. Koyano slapped the first pitch he saw into right to once again put runners on first and second for the Fighters.

That earned Gonzalez a little pep talk from Yomiuri pitching coach, Obana, but it wouldn’t really matter because the Fighters would bail him out a little on the next pitch. Itoi’s bunt was tracked down in a hurry by Yomiuri first baseman, Kimura, and where Takeda earlier failed, Kimura succeeded. Sledge was out at third to worsen the situation for the home team.

Tsuboi was then brought in to pinch hit for the Fighters, and as soon as Hara saw the switch he pulled Gonzalez and put Yamaguchi on the mound. Fighter’s manager, Nashida, then changed his pinch hitter to Nioka, the man who played for the Giants up until last year but was relocated (against his will) to Hokkaido after proving to be surplus to needs and a bit of a tabloid magazine magnet during the 2008 season.

Nioka eventually worked the count full before poking one through the hole between third and short to score Koyano from second and make Hara sweat a bit. 3-2 Yomiuri.

And Nashida looks like a genius.

Kaneko fouled off the first two pitches he saw before swinging at and missing the 2-0 forkball that he was offered on the third pitch. Two outs for Tanaka with two runners on and two out. But two more runners were left aboard yet again as Tanaka flied out to center.

Nashida then went with Tateyama on the mound and Ono behind the plate. That didn’t work very well as Tani collected his third hit of the game (single to right). So Tateyama left the mound to make way for Hayashi, another player that Yomiuri sent north to Hokkaido during the off-season.

There to greet him was former battery-mate, pig-boy. Abe fouled off the first pitch from Hayashi before trying, and failing, to hold up on a high, inside pitch for strike two. The following junk pitch was junky for ball one, and Abe put the 2-1 pitch past Tanaka, who was drawn in pretty far, to put runners on first and third with no outs.

Hara then actually did something clever for once. A fake squeeze by Kimura freaked the Fighters out long enough for Abe to safely take second. Runners on second and third with no outs.

Kimura eventually struck out waving at a high heater, and Omichi was put in to pinch hit. Hokkaido pitching coach, Yoshii, came out to replace Hayashi at that point (Ejiri, RHP), to which Hara reacted by pulling Omichi in favor of Lee (obvious copycat move of what Nashida did earlier).

And Lee smacked the 1-1 pitch into center to score Tani from third to make it 4-2 Yomiuri.

With runners on first and third and only one out, Sakamoto struck out swinging weakly at an outside slider for the second out. Matsumoto then grounded out to third to end the headache for the Fighters.

Yamaguchi was still on the mound for the bottom of the seventh, and he got the first two batters he faced out before walking Takahashi to give Sledge another shot at being a hero. But Sledge grounded out to Ogasawara at third (nice bobble, Mr. Veteran).

Wow, that Vana H water commercial is pretty weak as well…

Ogasawara reached first on a third strike that ended up at the back screen. Oops. Suzuki took his place on first and stole second easily to put a little hamster on second with one out. Kamei then moved Suzuki over to third with a fly ball to right, and up came the 3-3 Tani. Tani held off on the first four pitches and was rewarded with a cautious 1-3 count. Ejiri threw a low slider for strike two, and Tani popped the full count pitch up to first to begin the Fighter’s eighth.

Nomura’s wearing a red sport coat in the commentator’s booth.

Ochi came in to handle the bottom of the eighth. He got the first out, but he walked Itoi to put a very fast guy on first. Inada then came in to pinch hit with one out and a runner on first. He end up grounding out, but the Giants weren’t able to turn the double play. Two outs, slower man (than before) on first.

Kaneko then showed us another first pitch out with a grounder to short which allowed Sakamoto to easily get the first at second. Baka.

That toilet spray commercial was pretty shocking as well. They must be giving discounts to any company that has never, ever created a print ad or promotional video before. The computer graphics involved here looked cool in the early 90′s, but even I can do better than what’s on display tonight.

Miyanishi (LHP) got all three batters he faced out in a hurry to end the first half of the 9^th.

And that would bring Kroon up for a go at protecting the two-run Yomiuri lead.

Hey Hokkaido. Here’s a free piece of advice from someone who has seen Kroon throw at least 100 times: don’t swing.

Tanaka didn’t swing, but he somehow blooped a safety bunt just over Kroon’s head to put a runner on first with the tying run at the plate.

Morimoto, the moron, started swinging right away. Strike one on a very low pitch. He held off on the next pitch though (forkball), and Kroon also missed low with his third pitch. Hmm, maybe Morimoto swiped at that first forkball in order to get Kroon’s hopes up? Anyway, Morimoto looked at another forkball for ball three before taking a called strike two right down the middle. Morimoto eventually grounded out on a full count hit and run so Tanaka was safe at second. One out, Tanaka on second. Inaba at the plate. Inaba flied out to right (soft swing at a forkball), but Tanaka was able to move over to third on the hit.

Takahashi then came through with a double off the wall in center which plated Tanaka and put the tying run on second. 4-3 Yomiuri.

And that brought Sledge to the plate with two outs.

He took a called first strike before a ball sailed high for 1-1. The next pitch was a forkball that Sledge couldn’t resist and it was 1-2. But the next forkball was low for 2-2. Sledge fouled off the next pitch to keep everyone on the edge of their seats, and he held off on the next offering to draw the count full with.

Sledge fouled off the next pitch as well. Kroon’s next forkball wasn’t close enough for Sledge to get excited, and the go-ahead run was now on first. Sledge was pulled for pinch runner, Murata.

Third baseman, Koyano, then found himself with a chance to be a hero. Kroon’s first pitch, a slider, missed inside, and his second, a fastball, was also a bit inside. Koyano fouled off the next offering, a fastball, to make it 1-2. But he missed badly on Kroon’s next pitch, an outside slider for 2-2. The game ended on Kroon’s next pitch, a slider in the northern region of the zone that Koyano chose not to swing at.

Game over: Hokkaido 3-4 Yomiuri.

Tokyo Swallows 4

Chunichi Dragons 7

Series: Chunichi 2-1 Tokyo

(Nagoya Dome)

Chunichi was definitely the better team today, but they should never forget that they had the flu and a little bit of Takada on their side. Either way, the season came to an end for the Swallows while the Dragons now inherit the unenviable task of overcoming a one game disadvantage in a best-of-seven series at Tokyo Dome versus Yomiuri.

Recognize these guys (other than Yoneno and Yoshinori)? This is what the flu can do to your roster.

That and Nakata pitched pretty damned well.

Tokyo’s lineup:

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

Chunichi’s lineup:

1. Ibata (SS)
2. Araki (2B)
3. Morino (3B)
4. Blanco (1B)
5. Wada (LF)
6. Nomoto (RF)
7. Fujii (CF)
8. Tanishige (C)
9. Nakata (P)

1st inning:

Tokyo got off to a decent start despite the odds. Miyamoto’s two out double was followed by an Aoki double to put the birds ahead 1-0.

Chunichi put two runners on against Tokyo’s third-choice-starter, Yoshinori, in the bottom of the first. However, Wada grounded out to Tanaka to end the threat.

2nd inning:

Tokyo sat down in order, but Chunichi were able to work consecutive one out walks (Fujii and

Aoki plated Miyamoto in the first inning.

3^rd inning:

Yoshinori started off with a karaburi (swinging) strikeout, and Aoki grounded out to first.

With two outs, Tanaka grounded out to third to bring the Dragons to the plate.

Araki batted first for Dragons.

After finally working a full count, Araki sliced one past the pitcher into center field. Excellent at-bat to be fair.

Morino followed with a pop fly to center, and Araki was caught stealing during Blanco’s second at-bat of the game. Blanco singled to right after the runner was removed, and Wada came to the plate with two outs and a runner on first.

Wada, as he’s done several times in this short series, came through with a big hit. An opposite field home run put the home team ahead 2-1.

Nomoto continued the two out rally with a single through the gap between third and short. And Araki (Tokyo’s pitching coach) finally came out of the dugout to have a chat with his young, control-challenged starter.

Fujii then punched a double down the left field line that put Nomoto on third.

Yoshinori intentionally walked Tanishige to get to the pitcher, Nakata.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Nakata struck out swinging.

4^th inning:

Miyamoto got behind in the count really quickly while flashing the bunt twice and eventually grounded out for the first out of the inning.

Aoki also went down  2-0 in a hurry (no feigned bunts involved), and ended up grounding out to short.

D’Antona for his part, did very well to lay off the outside sliders late in the at-bat and drew a two out walk.

Guiel struck out on a forkball to strand D’Antona on first.

Ibata was the first hitter for Chunichi and he struck out looking at a pitch on the outside of the plate. Araki struck swinging, and for a moment it looked as though Yoshinori had relocated the strike zone. Morino singled and represented a brief hiccup in Yoshinori’s inning as next man up, Blanco, struck out swinging at a healthy diet of outside sliders.

5^th inning:

Hatakeyama led off with a single to right, and Aikawa immediately started flashing the bunt. The bunt was successful, and Yoshinori was pulled in favor of Yuichi (doesn’t exactly inspire sentiments of hope, does it?).

Yuichi looked at a first strike, and then wasn’t able to pull the trigger on a second called strike. Yuichi swiped needlessly at the next pitch, a forkball in the dirt to illuminate a second red lamp on the board.

Fukuchi started his at-bat by swinging at, and missing, the first pitch. He held off on the second Nakata offering which was a fair bit wide, and he got burned pretty badly trying to catch up with the third pitch. To his credit, however, Fukuchi displayed a bit of patience and worked the count full. And he reached first on a walk.

With men on first and second, and two outs, Tanaka came to the plate. The first pitch was a ball, and Nakata missed wide with the next pitch as well. A called first strike and a foul ball later, the count was 2-2. Tanaka eventually came through with a single to right, but third base coach, Dobashi, decided to send Hatakeyama home and the big man was thrown out to end the inning.

The bottom of this inning started very, very badly. With Matsui on the mound for the birds, Wada and Nomoto led off with back-to-back singles.

Hatakeyama left to ponder what might have been (if he hadn't been waved home).

One of the scarier guys in the Chunichi lineup then came to the plate. Fujii has been hitting doubles like a madman in this series, and a double at this particular juncture of the game would be curtains for the Swallows’ chances.

Fujii worked the count full, but he fouled the 2-3 pitch off in an area that Hatakeyama could get to for the first out. Tanishige’s turn.

Tanishige singled into right field to score Wada from third, and that’s when things got slightly out of control. 3-1 Chunichi.

The hook came way too late. Matsui was left in long enough to record only one out but gave up four hits and three runs in the process. Oops.

Yoshikawa inherited a man on second with one out and quickly got behind 1-3. Ibata eventually drew a walk to put Chunichi’s seventh potential run on first base. But Araki and Morino succumbed to a pitcher they haven’t seen a whole lot in the last couple of years, and both runners were stranded.

6^th inning:

Miyamoto led things off for the Swallows who were now down by four runs. He took the first three pitches for balls before Chunichi’s first reliever, Kawahara, threw two called strikes. Miyamoto ended up grounding out to second for the first out.

Aoki tried a safety bunt on the first pitch, but it went foul for strike one. After all was said and done, Aoki drew a walk.

D’Antona grounded out but moved Aoki over in the process.

Guiel struck out swining to send the Swallows into the field.

Blanco singled to start things off for Chunichi. Wada then lucked out and his lunging rip at Yoshikaw’s outside pitch ended up in left field. Yoshikawa was, however, able to get Nomoto, Fujii, and Tanishige out to end the threat.

7th inning:

Hatakeyama, Aikawa, and Onizaki went down in order to make things even more desperate for the visitors while Inoue’s leadoff double was wasted by Ibata’s sacrifice bunt and the two quick outs that followed.

8th inning:

Fukuchi finally got his first hit of the series to start things off in the eighth. This one was an infield single to short. Tanaka followed with his second hit of the evening, a single to right. Miyamoto grounded out to first for the first out, but Aoki came through with his second rbi of the game on a single to right which plated Fukuchi. 5-2 Chunichi.

And Tanaka scored on D’Antona’s single to right to make it 5-3 Dragons.

Guiel drew a one out walk, but then Takada got creative and put Shida in the game to bat for Oshimoto.

Bad idea.

Double play.

Great.

Chunichi eighth:

Blanco drew a lead-off walk with Igarashi now on the mound, and he scored on Hirata’s one out triple. 6-3 Dragons.

Hirata quickly crossed home plate on Fujii’s second double of the game. 7-3 blue koala bears.

That was the end of the scoring for the home team though as Tanishige and Hidenori weren’t able to get anything else done (not like it mattered).

9th inning:

After Aikawa and Onizaki provided the first two outs of the inning, Fukuchi, Tanaka, and Miyamoto came up with back-to-back-to-back singles. Fukuchi scored on Tanaka’s single to make it 7-4.

And with two outs Aoki came to the plate. He represented the tying run, but Iwase was on the mound at this point, and the man that carried the team during the final third of the season (and through the playoffs) went down swinging to end the game.

7-4 Final.

Observations:

• The birds were lucky to keep the difference as small as it was. Yoshinori had only one short stretch where he could put the ball where Aikawa was calling for it (the fourth inning–Yoshinori’s last).
• Yoshinori lasted four innings and gave up two earned runs off of seven hits. He struck out five and (typically) walked four.
• Yoshinori burned through 96 pitches in his four innings of work.
• Matsui was terrible in relief, and he was left in the game a wee bit too long.
• Yoshikawa was shaky but didn’t allow any runs to score in 1 1/3 innings.
• Oshimoto was fine.
• Tanaka batted .462 in this series. And he is injured.
• The front half of Tokyo’s lineup had at least two hits each in this game. Fukuchi had two singles (finally!) while Miyamoto and Aoki had a single and a double each (Aoki also added a walk). Tanaka had three singles.
• D’Antona and Hatakeyama also had one hit each.
• The birds were outhit 16-11.
• Ochiai used five relievers to get through the last four innings.
• His starter, Nakata, pitched a good game.
• Dobashi (the third base coach) is an idiot for waving Fludge home on Tanaka’s hit in the fifth. What makes you think a guy of that size can outrun a throw from shallow right when he started his run from second base? Dobashi hasn’t made a bad call like that since the first half of the season…

And so that’s it for the Swallows’ season. They put up a good fight, but there was ultimately nothing they could do without a solid starter on the mound and half of the battery decimated by the flu.

Fukuchi and Hatakeyama weren’t very good at the plate in this series (they didn’t get a hit until today), but several other guys stepped up (I’m actually very surprised that Takada favorite, Yoshimoto, didn’t get a start in this series given Hatakeyama’s ‘Fludge’-like tendencies).

Tanaka, Aoki, D’Antona, and Guiel, on the other hand, put in several quality at-bats, and the first three in that short list batted .300 or better in this series. Guiel added several walks which was basically a continuation of his season-long ability to get on base.

I’ll withhold adding to the ‘Takada Count’ again as I don’t know how well the players on the bench were feeling. Given the circumstances, the birds put up a decent fight in this series, but a lot more will be required next season to give ourselves another shot at going to the Japan Series.

Tokyo Swallows 2

Chunichi Dragons 3

Series: Chunichi 1-1 Tokyo

(Nagoya Dome)

The Dragons leveled the series with a come-from-behind win and made sure that both team’s season will survive at least one more day.

Onizaki's bobble led to Chunichi's first run.

Tokyo”s lineup:

1. Fukuchi (LF)
2. Tanaka (2B)
3. Miyamoto (3B)
4. Aoki (CF)
5. D’Antona (1B)
6. Guiel (RF)
7. Onizaki (SS
8. Kawamoto (C)
9. Tateyama (P)

Chunichi’s lineup:

1. Ibata (SS)
2. Araki (2B)
3. Morino (3B)
4. Blanco (1B)
5. Wada (LF)
6. Inoue (RF)
7. Fujii (CF)
8. Tanishige (C )
9. Yoshimi (P)

1^st inning:

Miyamoto’s infield single was the only joy for the Swallows as it was preceded by a Fukuchi fly ball to left, a Tanaka grounder to the mound, and followed by an Aoki grounder to second.

Ibata took the first pitch of  his at-bat for a strike right down the middle, and he sliced the next Tateyama offering down the line in right for a stand-up double.

Araki then flashed the bunt and took a called first strike before totally botching his at-bat with a fouled-off bunt attempt. He later struck out checking his swing on a slider that was about a bat-length off the outside of the plate.

Morino came to the plate with Ibata still on second and one out. He ended up working a four-pitch walk as Tateyama tried, and failed, to flirt with several edges of the strike zone.

With two on and one out, Blanco came to the plate for his first battle versus Tateyama. He proceeded to slap a grounder that had double-play written all over it to Onizaki at short, but the youngster bobbled the hell out of the toss to Tanaka at second (Tanaka got nailed by the runner in the process). All runners safe. Bases loaded. One out.

Wada’s turn. Tateyama burned him on the first two pitches, but he eventually bounced one to short that didn’t get relayed in time to turn the double play. Ibata scored on the play. 1-0 Chunichi.

Inoue (yeah, the old one), who was starting for some weird reason, grounded out to short for the third out. Ochiai loses two points of respect for that personnel decision.

2^nd inning:

D’Antona grounded out to start the Swallows’ second, and Guiel struck out swinging at a high fastball.

Onizaki began his redemption campaign (after that incredibly costly error in the bottom of the first) by singling with two outs.

And then we saw a little pop from our second-string catcher. With Onizaki on first, Kawamoto punted a Yoshimi mistake pitch over the wall in left-center. 2-1 Tokyo.

Fujii started things off for Chunichi in the bottom of the second. He flied out to left.

Tanishige, while normally a sure-fire out, got in on the crappy-catcher-hitting-home-runs action and drove the game-tying run over the wall in left. 2-2.

Yoshimi struck out as expected for the second out, and Ibata grounded out to short to end the festivities.

3^rd inning:

Fukuchi started things off in the third with a grounder to short. But Tanaka reached on an infield

Tanishige stepped out of character and did something productive at the plate.

single that was very similar to the one that Miyamoto hit in the first. The head-first slide, however, was completely unnecessary.

But it all got erased when Miyamoto’s grounder up the middle was stopped by Ibata and he did a bit of tap-dancing on his way to an 6-3 double-play.

Grrr.

Tateyama retired the side in the bottom of that inning.

4^th inning:

Aoki grounded out to start the fourth, but D’Antona came through with a single to right to put a runner on first for Guiel.

And the senior non-Japanese on the team (Yuichi no longer counts) was incredibly patient in drawing a walk.

But it was all undone when Onizaki took a swipe at the first pitch and grounded into another double-play. Two runners stranded.

Double Grrr.

Wada started off the Chunichi fourth with a double off the wall in left-center. He got pushed over to third on Fujii’s hopper up the first base line that the drawn-in D’Antona couldn’t quite get his glove on (error).

With runners on first and third and one out, Tanishige got done a little bit by the umpire to put the count at 2-2 (lots of suspect calls behind the plate for both sides in this game), and he ended up striking out swinging at a low slider.

Yoshimi did his job by striking out to send his team into the field for the start of the fifth.

5^th inning:

The Swallows sat down in order as the 2-2 scoreline survived yet another half-inning.

Ibata led off the Chunichi fifth with an infield single to short. And Araki started flashing the bunt again.  This time he was successful, and Ibata found himself on second with one out.

Morino put up a very good fight at the plate during his at-bat, but he eventually flied out to shallow left for out number two.

Blanco went down on three straight sliders, all of them low and the last one outside to end the threat from the Dragons.

I’m a big fan of Ochiai’s tendency to bunt in this series.

6^th inning:

Tanaka was the first man up for the birds in the sixth. He quickly got behind in the count, but he came through with a liner up the middle that put the go-ahead runner on first.

Miyamoto then started flashing the bunt as Takada (following Ochiai’s lead?) finally had a chance to get in on the act. The bunt was successful, and Tanaka was safe at second with one out.

Aoki grounded out and Tanaka was able to make it to third on the play. Two outs, man on third.

But D’Antona grounded out to third to leave Tanaka at third.

The Dragons went down in order.

7^th inning:

Guiel led off with a hard, hard, hard, single down the line in right. It was so hard, in fact, that he had no chance at second due to how quickly it bounced off the wall and bounced straight into Inoue’s glove.

Onizaki bunted him over to second to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Too bad the last third of the lineup was due up. Things got bleaker when Kawamoto shattered his bat and popped up to Morino at third.

Tateyama grounded out to the pitcher give Chunichi another shot on offense.

"I don't understand. The bunt always worked so well when I was in high school..."

Note for Takada: we’ve covered this before, but don’t count on the bottom third of your lineup to hit with runners in scoring position (unless you’ve once again relegated Tanaka to the seventh or eighth slot for no apparent reason). In other words, stop telling people to bunt unless the batter in question happens to be the pitcher!

Tanishige sliced a full count pitch into shallow center to put another go-ahead runner on base. Yoshimi bunted him over for the first out.

Ibata grounded out for the second out, but Tanishige moved over to third in the process.

Araki came to the plate with two outs and the winning run on third. The first pitch was a ball outside. The second was a meatball that he easily slapped into center field for Chunichi’s third run. 3-2 Dragons.

And that was the end of Tateyama’s night.

Enter Hye-cheon Lee.

Araki stole second to put another runner in scoring position with Morino at the plate for the Dragons (terrible throw by Kawamoto; good recovery by Onizaki).

But Morino eventually struck out swinging to temporarily shut things down.

And Doala, for the second night in a row, landed his off-kilter handspring. Even Tsubakuro was impressed.

8^th inning:

Fukuchi continued his run of futile impatience at the plate and lined out to third on the first pitch for out number one.

Tanaka worked the count full with one out and nobody on, but he eventually grounded out to third.

Miyamoto also continued his over-agressive ways when he chased the first pitch, a high fastball, but got nowhere near it. He was patient enough to get it back to 2-2, and then he drilled one down the line at Morino, but it appeared that the third baseman disillusionedly perceived himself to be in foul territory and was alarmed when he discovered that he needed to send the ball in the direction of first base. His throw ended up being off the map, and he earned himself an error in the process.

So it was Aoki’s turn with two outs and a man on first. The first three pitches were balls, and Aoki may have made a mistake in swinging at the next pitch as it was high and ended up in the pitcher’s glove for the third out.

The Chunichi eighth began with the hitless Blanco at the plate and Oshimoto on the mound.

Blanco grounded out to Tanaka for out number one.

Wada, for his part, swiped at one of Oshimoto’s pitches a bit late, but he still managed to slice it into right-center for a single.

Hirata stepped into the batter’s box for Chunichi with one out and a man on first. On what appeared to be a hit-and-run, Hirata popped up to right for out number two.

Up came the annoyingly effective Fujii.

Oshimoto missed with his first pitch for ball one. But Fujii popped up harmlessly on the second pitch to bring an end to the inning.

9^th inning:

Do or die for the birds…

Asao took the mound for the Dragons to face the tail end of Tokyo’s cleanup contingent (and specifically the right-handed D’Antona).

D’Antona came out swinging and got a bit ahead of the first pitch he was offered. Number two was a low ball, and the third pitch sailed wide for a 1-2 count (one strike; two balls). The next pitch was a forkball in the dirt, and Jamie chased it to put the count at 2-2, but he held off on the next pitch to work the count full. The next pitch, however, was a high forkball that D’Antona wasn’t able to put any lumber on. One out.

And that’s when Iwase showed up. Seems that Ochiai likes the lefty-lefty matchup as much as Takada does. Amazingly, Takada didn’t sub Guiel out like he’s done all season.

The first pitch was low and outside for ball one. Pitch number two was a bit high and inside to put Guiel in the driver’s seat. He fouled off the third pitch before taking ball three. The next pitch was outside and Guiel fouled it off. The next pitch was a ball and the tying run reached first base. It was Guiel’s second walk of the game. Bless him.

Fludge (Hatakeyama) then materialized at the plate in Onizaki’s place. Still not sure why. His patience paid off at first as he worked a 1-2 count, but then he fouled off an outside pitch to level things up again. He ended his at-bat, and the game, by grounding into a 4-6-3 double-play.

Dragons 3-2 Swallows final.

Tateyama lasted 6 2/3 innings. He gave up three runs (two earned) off of six hits. He also gave up one walk while striking out six. He threw 106 pitches while taking the loss.

Tanaka was the only Tokyo player to notch a multi-hit game. Kawamoto was responsible for both of Tokyo’s runs.

Miyamoto, D’Antona, Guiel, and Onizaki also had hits.

Observations:

• The two teams tied with seven hits each.
• The birds hit into three double plays.
• Ibata was annoyingly good on defense in this game.
• Wada had two more hits in this game and is now hitting .571 for the series.
• Tony Blanco hits grounders like it’s his job. For the record, Tony, you’re doing your job very well!
• Fukuchi still doesn’t have a hit.
• If I ever own the Swallows, I will fine players for swinging at the first pitch in more than one at bat per game.
• Impatience at the plate, in my view, is posing a bit of a problem at this point. The birds have displayed a disheartening propensity for putting the first pitch in play, and it’s almost invariably a grounder to short or second. Unfortunately, veterans such as Fukuchi and Miyamoto are as guilty of this as anybody else in the lineup (if not moreso).
• Big kudos to Aoki, D’Antona, and Guiel for repeated quality at-bats.
• Ochiai’s a doofus for starting Inoue.

The decisive game three is tomorrow night at 6 PM. This one will also be played at Nagoya Dome.

Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 1

Tohoku Rakuten Eagles 4

Best of 3 Series: Fukoka 0 – 2 Tohoku

(Kleenex Stadium)

The Eagles rode a solid performance from starting pitcher, Masahiro Tanaka, to sweep the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and earn a trip to Hokkaido to face the Pacific League champions.

Tanaka gave up one unearned run off of seven hits while going the distance on 123 pitches. He also mixed in nine strikeouts and didn’t allow a single walk.

The lone Fukuoka run came in the when an Ortiz error at third allowed Honda to score. Honda, Kokubo, and Hasegawa accounted for six of the team’s seven hits (two hits each).

But the Tohoku bats again got the job done. For the second time in as many games, veteran DH Yamasaki belted one over the wall in left. Tonight, however, there happened to be two runners on base at the time, and that would end up being the difference in the game. Fukuoka’s starter, Houlton, was credited with all four of Tohoku’s runs and got the hook after the fifth inning.

The Tohoku Rakuten now have a couple of days off before they take on the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in the league championship series. Hokkaido, even without the services of Darvish, should prove to be a significantly more potent adversary than the Hawks were.

The team’s solid play at the end of 2009 was a refreshing bookend to a season that saw a strong first half (14 games above .500 at one point) followed by a very deep canyon during the summer.

Throughout the season, a few players were able to soldier on rather consistently and help give the birds a shot at the playoffs. In fact, three players were so good at performing their roles that they ended up at the very top of the league.

Most wins:

Shohei Tateyama (no. 25) with 16 wins (an honor he shares with Chunichi’s Yoshimi). 2009 was the first year that he led the league in wins. Tateyama threw 188 1/3 innings for the birds which was good enough for fourth in the Central behind Yoshimi (189 1/3), Yokohama’s Miura (195 1/3), and Tokyo’s Ishikawa (198 1/3). He also tied Yoshimi for the league lead with three games in which he didn’t concede a walk. Tateyama tied for ninth in the league with 126 strikeouts (Hiroshima’s Lewis took the honors with 186 K’s). He finished out the year with a 16-6 record, and a 3.39 ERA. Look for the Tokyo ace to be on the mound tonight versus the Chunichi Dragons in game one of the first round of the Climax Series.

Most steals:

Kazuki Fukuchi (no. 3) with 42 steals. This is the second year in a row that Fukuchi has come out on top in the criminality department. Like his victory in 2008, Fukuchi swiped 42 bags. This year, however, it took him 137 games to do so as opposed to 131 last year–possibly due to a drop in production at the plate (.366 OBP in 2008; .310 in 2009). Hopefully Fukuchi can get on base a little more often in the playoffs and give the opposition catchers some headaches.

On Base Percentage (OBP):

Norichika Aoki (no. 23) led the league with a .400 OBP this season. This is absolutely phenomenal when you think about the start of the season when he could only get to first care of walks or beanballs. He didn’t really start hitting until July! Aoki carried the team during the final two months of the season, and they wouldn’t have made it to the playoffs without him. His ability to get on base naturally led to him ending up at the top of the runs scored standings. Along with Yomiuri’s Sakamoto and Chunichi’s Blanco, Aoki crossed home plate 87 times this season. He also notched 66 rbi’s this season while improving at hitting with runners in scoring position (.277 BA in 2008; .307 in 2009). Accordingly, don’t be too surprised if you see him batting fourth this evening. In 16 games at cleanup this season, Aoki hit .429 and amassed 12 rbi’s (3 home runs). He is, without a doubt, the most dangerous bat in the Tokyo lineup. If Aoki hits well at Nagoya Dome, the team should have a good chance of making it to Yomiuri Land next week.

Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 4

Tohoku Rakuten Eagles 11

Best of 3 Series: Fukoka 0 – 1 Tohoku

(Kleenex Stadium)

The Eagles absolutely destroyed the visiting Hawks in the first game of what could be an abbreviated series up in Sendai.

Iwakuma pitched a complete game for the home side, and the Tohoku offense pumped out four home runs on their way to a good ‘ole ass-whupping.

Fukuoka starter, Sugiuchi, found himself in trouble very quickly as he gave up a lead-off home run to start the game, and ended up surrendering a total of seven earned runs in an outing that lasted an out shy of three full frames.

Importantly, three of the four walks drawn by Tohoku batters either crossed home plate or factored in a run being scored. Also, all nine of Tohoku’s starters recorded at least one hit. Second baseman, Takasu, and left fielder, Nakajima, both had two-hit games including a home run each. First baseman, Seguignol, also hit a home run and recorded three of the team’s rbi’s.

Iwakuma allowed four runs (two earned) off of six hits in game one. He lasted a full nine innings and threw 132 pitches. He struck out seven and walked two.

Game two is slated for tomorrow evening at 1 PM and we should be seeing Fukuoka’s Houlton square off against Tohoku’s Tanaka.