Tokyo Swallows 10

Yokohama BayStars 7

Streak: Won 5   Last 5: WWWWW

(Yokohama Stadium)

After last night’s drubbing handed out to the Baystars, tonight’s game was more of a tightly contested affair despite Tokyo outhitting the opposition 17-9. But in the end class told as the Swallows came out on top at the end of this rollercoaster of a game.

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

Facing rookie Yokohama starter Kaga, Tokyo took a 1st inning lead after a single from Tanaka and a Takeuchi double set the table for Whitesell. The American, who can seem to do no wrong since his arrival here, hit a double to right which brought home two runs for 2-0 Tokyo.

Swallows’ starter Nakazawa gave up seven runs in his previous start, also against the Baystars last Saturday. Today he would not fair much better but would get a lot more run support this time round. So it wasn’t the most auspicious of starts as he gave up three consecutive hits to begin the game, the last of those a three run homer to Harper which saw his lead dissapear before putting an out on the board as the score moved to 3-2 Yokohama.

But this post-Takada, post-allstar break Swallows team are a resilient bunch, and they proved it as they struck back in the top of the 2nd. Back to back singles for Miyamoto and Kawabata got the inning rolling before Nakazawa layed down a sacbunt to move the runners along. A pitch low and way inside hit Aoki (who was not best pleased to put it mildly) to load the bases for Tanaka. He could only strikeout tamely, but next man up Takeuchi got the job done with a two run single that put the birds back ahead at 4-3.

Another run followed in the 3rd. A single for Hatakeyama was followed by two outs, the upshot of which meant the chubby-one was now residing at second. Kawabata was then given the intentional pass to first which brought up pitcher Nakazawa. He, no doubt inspired by Tateyama’s heroics the night before, hit one over the head and out of the reach of  third baseman Murata which scored Hatake from second for 5-3.

An enormous homer to right  from Whitesell (no.8 for the year) followed in the 4th off reliever Fujie which made it 6-3 Tokyo. But just as things looked like they may be mirroring the night before, Yokohama fought back.

In the bottom of the 4th a solo shot from Castillio narrowed the score to 6-4, before two hits and a Murata three-run shot in the 5th put the Baystars ahead. 7-6 Yokohama.

Luckily for Nakazawa, the Tokyo resilience saved him as they got right back in the game in the 6th. A two-out Takeuchi single and walk for Whitesell put two on for Hatakeyama. And he did not fail to deliver as he doubled to the wall in left to score both men and put Tokyo back in front, 8-7 Tokyo.

Takagi (4.15) and Watanabe (6.75) combined to work a scoreless 6th before the familiar procession of Masubuchi (2.96) and Matsuoka (1.54) followed to work hitless 7th and 8th innings respectively (though Masubuchi did give up two walks).

Insurance runs followed in the 9th (Kawabata one-out single, Noguchi pinch-hit sacbunt, Aoki RBI double, Tanaka RBI single) to make it 10-7 which meant that it was Lim-time in the bottom of the 9th. He looked less than convincing as he gave up a two-out walk and a single to Harper. Up stepped slugger Murata with a chance to send this one into extra innings, but he hit a fly to right which was snagger on the run just before the wall by Ihara and this one was done, 10-7 Tokyo Final.

Nakazawa was the rather fortuitous recipient of the win after his 5 innings of 8 hit 7 run baseball, and his record now sits at 7-6/4.72. Lim earned his 23rd save of the season and his ERA is now at 1.53.

Everyone in the starting 1-8 spots had multi-hit evenings bar Aikawa who was hitless in his 5 plate appearances.

Tokyo have now edged ahead 8-7 in the season series against the CL’s worst, and they will go for the sweep tomorrow evening, still very much in the hunt for that final playoff berth.

Standings & Results – Player Stats

Chunichi Dragons 0

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5

Streak: Won 3   Last 5: LLWWW

(Jingu Stadium)

Well, the Tokyo Swallows swept the Chunichi Dragons at Jingu. With Yoshinori on the mound. How about that!

Tonite’s lineup:

1. Aoki CF
2. Fukuchi LF
3. Tanaka 2B
4. Whitesell 1B
5. Hatakeyama 3B
6. Takeuchi RF
7. Kawabata SS
8. Kawamoto C
9. Yoshinori P

Yoshinori pitched what was (very easily) arguably the best start of his career. 126 pitches brought him to the first complete game shutout of his career. And it wasn’t sloppy. Five scattered hits were clouded by eight Ks and a single walk. He benefited from four double plays, but he deserves credit for keeping his pitches down and changing speed effectively tonight.

The birds started off huge in the bottom of the first. Fukuchi and Tanaka started with one out singles before Whitesell came through with a foul ball to right (sorry, it was foul from where I was sitting…when you see the replay, please let me know if I’m wrong) that was called fair. After the five minutes that it took for Ochiai to realize that the call wasn’t going to be reversed, Whitesell’s double stood, and the birds got back to business. 1-0 Tokyo.

One out later, Takeuchi came through with his fifth home run of the season to put the birds in control. 4-0 Tokyo.

As Yoshinori continued to assemble his unexpected complete game shutout, our hitters drew a walk here and there but didn’t really become dangerous until the sixth when Aoki drove in Takeuchi with a single to right. 5-0 Tokyo.

And that was it. Yoshinori pitched out the game without any real hiccups.

He can now brag to his prepubescent friends about a winning record (7-6) and a reasonably respectable ERA (3.93). I don’t want to get my hopes up, but after two complete game wins in a row, maybe this is a sign of things to come…?

On offense, Tanaka, Whitesell and Takeuchi had two hits each. Takeuchi came through with the lion’s share of RBIs with his three run dinger, which reminds the faithful that he’s worth keeping around against right-handed pitching.

The birds now head to Yokohama to lose all of the momentum that they’ve just built against the far superior Chunichi Dragons.

Random thoughts:

With about 19 hours until they face the fearsome BayStars, the Tokyo Swallows are now 5.5 games behind the third place Chunichi Dragons. Enjoy it while it lasts. The BayStars have our number.

Mystically, Yoshinori now has the best winning percentage on the team at .538. Weird.

Thank fook Tanaka was moved out of the two hole so that he can swing away. Hopefully he proves us right by racking up base hits and walks while he’s not serving as Aoki’s chauffeur.

D’Antona didn’t make an appearance in this game.

Tokyo outhit Chunichi 9-5.

Yomiuri Giants 3

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4

Streak: Won 1   Last 5: LLWLW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Tokyo fell behind early but battled back to take a slender lead, with the bullpen putting in a lights-out shift to bring home the much needed victory.

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

With Tateyama on the mound, for the second night in a row the Swallows fell behind early from run scoring off a wild pitch, with Yomiuri adding another to take a 2-0 1st inning lead.

That lead was halved in the 2nd, as a Takeuchi solo homer (no.4 for the year) off fugly Giants starter Nishimura made it 2-1.

But the two run lead was restored in the top of the 4th as piggy-boy Abe hit a solo shot of his own which made it 3-1.

And it was in the bottom of the 4th that the tide would turn in Tokyo’s favour. A walk for D’Antona and a dead ball for Takeuchi, with the runners then advancing on a wild pitch that Abe couldn’t control, left men on second and third for Aikawa. He hit a chopper that bounced high over the infield to left, scoring D’Antona from third to make it 3-2. A single to right for Miyamoto tied things up at 3-3 before outs for Fujimoto, Tateyama and a HBP for Aoki loaded the bases with two outs for Fukuchi.

He hit a feeble grounder to short, but a combination of his lightning speed and first baseman Takahashi not coming up with the throw from Sakamoto meant that Tokyo had themselves the go ahead run for a score of 4-3 Tokyo.

Tateyama worked relatively trouble free 5th and 6th innings before Ogawa turned it over to the bullpen. And what a job they did.

Masubuchi (2.57) worked a perfect 7th off 12 pitches, Matsuoka (0.96) took just 9 for his perfect 8th, before Lim (0.86) sat down Ramirez, Abe and Tani in order off 13 pitches to secure the win and earn his 12th save of the year.

Tokyo could have scored more in the 7th and 8th as they put runners on base with no outs, however both times a Tak-bunt was called, both times (Takeuchi and Onizaki) they lead to the most advanced runner being thrown out and both times no a solitary soul made it home. Great.

Tateyama took the win after giving up the 3 runs off 6 hits (8 strikeouts, 1 walk) and his record is now at 4-5/4.05.

The Swallows outhit their beloved neighbours 10-6 with Tanaka (.309) and Aikawa (.302) both registering 2 hits for the evening.

The two teams meet again tomorrow evening with Tokyo looking to take a series against the evil ones for the first time since the season’s opening series.

Whitesell is being brought in to compete with Jamie D’Antona, and to a lesser extent Shinichi Takeuchi, for the starting first baseman’s job. Quickly skimming through Whitesell’s Wikipedia profile reveals some similarities between D’Antona and Whitesell. They are both tall, 28 year old first basemen that made their Major League debut in 2008 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2009, D’Antona signed with the Swallows, while Whitesell bounced between AAA and the Major Leagues. Whitesell put up some impressive numbers in AAA, but failed to replicate those results in the Majors. After the 2009 season, Whitesell was not resigned by the Diamondbacks, and he signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals.

Whitesell is noted for his patience at the plate. In 53 games for the Syracuse Chiefs of the AAA International League this year, Whitesell lead his team in walks with 29, and he recorded an OBP of .401 . However, Whitesell also lead the team with 47 strikeouts. Whitesell slugged a respectable .443 for an OPS of .844. He has not spent any time in the Majors this year.

It seems we have gotten a left-handed version of D’Antona. We’ll have to see how Whitesell adapts to life in NPB and see how his minor league numbers translate on this side of the Pacific. Stay tuned to Tsubamegun for more coverage on the Whitesell signing!

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 2nd, 2010

Yokohama Baystars 4

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1

Streak: Lost 1   Last 5: LLLWL

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Quick quiz: can you actually remember the last time that the birds won a series?

Neither can we.

Starting for the BayStars was Tomokazu Ohka. Yikes.

Tonite’s lineup:

1. Fukuchi LF
2. Miyamoto 3B
3. Aoki CF
4. Iihara RF
5. Takeuchi 3B
6. Fujimoto SS
7. Ueda 2B
8. Aikawa C
9. Muranaka P

Many people were expecting Yoshinori to start, but Takada showed that he was indeed interested, at least passingly, in winning this game. Muranaka started for Tokyo, but it actually might as well have been Yoshinori when all was said and done.

Yokohama plated three runs in the top of the third to make things dire for Muranaka and the home team. Murata brought Ishikawa around for the first run and Castillo added two more a bit later with a shot into the gap in left. 3-0 Yokohama.

Murata extended the lead with his third hit of the game in the top of the fifth. This one was a solo shot to left, his fifth homer of the season, and the score was 4-0 Yokohama.

The birds finally climbed back into it a bit in the seventh with Ooka still on the mound. Takeuchi led off with a solo shot to right that landed in the first few rows of reserved seats before Fujimoto drew a walk to keep the momentum flowing.

But Ueda hit a double play ball that he was fortunately able to outrun to put an out on the board with a man on first. Aikawa very nearly fouled out early in the at bat, but was went down looking at strikes a short time later. Guiel came in to hit for Masubuchi (2 innings, no runs allowed) but he fanned swinging.

And that was about it. Game over. 4-1 Yokohama.

Muranaka took the loss, his fourth, and he now has a 3.89 ERA. He gave up four earned runs in five innings. Other vitals include eight hits, three K’s, and three walks. His record now stands at 2-4. Very unsexy.

Hashimoto (4.26) and Matsui (0.00) also put in relief appearances tonight. It was Matsui’s first game of 2010.

Ohka pitched a pretty solid game. He allowed only one earned run off of six hits in his first appearance back with the BayStars. During the hero interview which followed the game it was revealed that he hasn’t won a game in Japan since 1956 or something like that. Wonderful.

So the birds dropped another series, and  now it’s on to Tokyo Dome to face the orange guys.

Random notes:

Tanaka sat out for the second game in a row while Guiel started on the bench for the first time this season. He came in to pinch hit but struck out in his only at-bat.

Fukuchi came straight back into the starting lineup upon ascension from the farm team. He was 0-4 today. Tateyama went down to the farm to pay for his performance a couple of days ago and make space for Fukuchi.

Mystically, the birds lead the Central in team ERA at 3.34, but they’re still in last place. Call it the Takada effect.

After 11 appearances, Masubuchi has yet to surrender an earned run. He has now thrown 18 and two-thirds innings thus far. The one worrisome stat is that he has just as many walks as strikeouts–13 in case you’re keeping track.

Tokyo didn’t record a single 1-2-3 inning tonight. The sixth was close but not quite.

The birds rarely looked dangerous in this one. They managed only seven hits and were pretty uninspiring all around.

Yokohama BayStars 7

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 6

Streak: Lost 5   Last 5: LLLLL

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

OK. Right. That sucked. Hard.

Tokyo went up five-nil in the first, but they couldn’t notch a ‘W’ today. Holy crap.

The lineup:

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

Tokyo starter, Tateyama (2-1, 3.86), sat the front end of Yokohama’s lineup down in order in the first, and then his teammates, amazingly, proceeded to tack five runs on the board without too much effort. Tanaka singled to start and then Miyamoto bunted him over (unnecessarily, as it would turn out) to put an out on the board and a runner on second for Mr. Aoki.

Aoki singled to bring Tanaka home, and that was followed by a Guiel pop-fly to the catcher that, if not for some startling idiocy by Yokohama’s catcher, Takeyama (he threw the ball straight into the ground on its way to first), Aoki would have been doubled up on the hit and run.

Anyway. That didn’t matter so much because Iihara singled to keep things alive, and then Takeuchi cleared the bases with a double to make it 3-0 Penguins.

Fujimoto then cuffed his first homer of the season with Takeuchi on second to make it a surprising 5-0 birds with Miura shaking his Elvis-like head on the mound.

But before you get excited, Tsubamegun would like to take this moment to remind you that this is Takada’s Tokyo Swallows we’re talking about here.

Tokyo starter, Tateyama, managed to keep the Yokohama bats almost completely muted through four innings, but the fifth got ugly in a real hurry. Sledge and Castillo reached base to allow Shimozono to bring home the visitor’s first run. The following batter, Takeyama, brought home the two remaining runners with a homer to left to make it 6-4 Tokyo.

Yup, that’s how quickly this one got out of hand.

Sorry, I skipped Takeuchi’s towering shot to right-center in the third (against the wind, no less), but it would end up making little difference. Sledge clubbed a similar two run dinger in the sixth to tie things up, and Yokohama scored the winning run in the seventh when Murata recorded his second single of the night, this time off of Matsuoka, to plate the final run which put Yokohama up 7-6.

Grrr.

And that was about it.

Matsuoka took the loss for that fateful three-hit, 26 pitch, disaster of a seventh inning. Tateyama escaped the blame despite giving up six earned runs.

The birds are in deep, deep trouble right now as they look like the horse at the races that is just being started in order to keep their fitness up. I wouldn’t recommend betting on them, and neither would their trainer, so to speak.

The whole outfit is a bit off-kilter at the moment, but never fear…Takada will absolutely, positively steer this team to a .460-.490 finish this season. Yahoo!

Tokyo is now 11-17-1 and in last place in the Central.

Ho. Lee. Crap.

Come on now. Cry with me.

Random notes:

Aikawa broke out of character a bit and came up with two hits today (both singles.)

Tanaka, Aoki, and Iihara had two hits each as well. (Aoki notched one RBI.)

Takeuchi continued to make matters bleak for D’Antona as he was a triple short of the cycle with three RBIs while starting at first.

Fujimoto also hit a home run, his first of the year, a two run shot in the bottom of the first.

Masubuchi put another inning in, in his 10th appearance of the year, and still sports a blank ERA. The farm boy is for real it seems; at least in middle relief.

Tokyo put up 10 hits and six runs in the first three innings but still couldn’t seal the deal. Nice.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4

Hiroshima Toyo Carp 1

Streak: Won 2      Last : LLLWW

(Mazda Stadium)

The day after Takagi threw a complete game shutout, Yuki went the distance himself as Tokyo won only their second series in the last  month and a half. The same two pitchers were at the helm for the series win against Yokohama last week and are at the moment the glue that keeps the rotation from being totally ineffective.

Yuki went the full nine on 120 pitches, giving up 4 hits with 3 Ks and 1 walk. He almost managed the shutout, but a Higashide single in the bottom of the 9th, later followed up by a Phillips sacfly ended those hopes. Shutout or not, I believe it was his first complete game win for some seven years, and shows the strides he’s made since joining the team. Remember his career was almost destroyed by a shoulder injury while at Orix (leading them to discard him), and earlier in the season he was lucky to be able last five innings. He deserves a lot of plaudits for the comeback he’s made in his career, and long may the improvement continue.

Another day, another lineup:

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

26 year old second-year pro Yuji Onizaki made his season debut at short, and ended up having quite an impact on the game. He got Tokyo’s only hit of the first seven innings with his single in the 3rd inning, as Hiroshima starter Imai dominated. Having said that, Tokyo did take the lead in the 4th without registering a hit in the inning.

Tanaka worked a leadoff walk, and then Miyamoto layed down a bunt along the third base line to move the runner along. The Carp infield must have thought it was going to roll foul so they delayed fielding the ball. But it didn’t so the ball was fired to first just getting Miyamoto out, but the delay meant Tanaka was on his way to third. Fistbaseman Kurihara fired a wayward throw to third which missed it’s target, allowing Tanaka to make it home for 1-0 Tokyo.

The remaining runs came in the top of the 9th off reliever Shultz. Miyamoto lead off with a single and was replaced with the speedy Noguchi at first. He rather predictably took off pretty much first pitch bound for second and was easily thrown out for out number one. Guiel then stepped up, hitting a high one to left which just stayed fair and evaded the sliding catch attempt of leftielder Phillips for a double. Next man Takeuchi reached on an infield single to put men on the corners. Then the newcomer Onizaki whacked one over the head of Phillips to the wall, two runs scored and Yuji had himself a double, his third hit of the game. 3-0 Tokyo. But that wasn’t the end of it as Aikawa hit a bloop double that just remained fair in shallow right and it was 4-0 Tokyo.

With the lead now looking more solid, Yuki pitched out the 9th, giving up the run off the one hit and it was 4-1 Final. Yuki took the win to even his record at 5 and 5 with his ERA shrinking to 3.18.

The win puts the Swallows back in 4th, 0.5 games back of Hanshin.

Tokyo get a day off tomorrow before starting a six game homestand on Friday with series against the Baystars and the Tigers.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Chunichi Dragons 1

Streak: Won 1    Last 5: LLLLW

(Nagoya Dome)

Takada is largely avoiding the bunt these days, but that’s partly because the team hasn’t been hitting and giving him many chances.

Ironically, now that there’s a green light to swing, two of our best hitters are injured and on the farm team.

So it was up to a very familiar lineup, and a 19-year-old pitcher, to salvage a game from the Chunichi series.

Here’s the Swallows’s starting lineup. A couple of key changes were made today:

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

The differences in the lineup are quickly apparent. Kawashima, one of the hottest hitters on the team right now, has been moved up to the leadoff slot to replace the streaky Fukuchi. Tanaka has been bumped down to lower in the lineup and moved the ice-cold Aikawa into the number eight slot.

The birds didn’t display a whole lot of patience in the first inning. Leadoff batter, Kawashima, and cleanup hitter, Hatakeyama, both recorded outs when putting the first pitch in play. Fukuchi laid off the first pitch he saw, but he grounded out on the second one. The only batter to work the count a little bit was Aoki who aimed one right at Nakata’s ear on its way up through the middle into center field. This is his seventh game in a row with a hit.

Nakata escaped from the inning after throwing only 10 pitches.

Guiel led off the second with a full-count walk, and Takeuchi then fouled off four pitches before finally tagging a forkball into right field. Guiel was able to make it to third on the hit. No outs, men on first and third, and Tanaka at the plate.

Unfortunately, Tanaka’s grounder to third caught Guiel off the bag, and he was quickly run down to record out number one and put runners on first and second.

Aikawa, who hasn’t had a hit in the last five games, came to the plate for the Swallows and quickly got behind in the count. He eventually punted one up in the air that was caught easily behind second base. With two outs, Yoshinori grounded out to second to end the inning.

Yoshinori pitched well during the second frame as well. However, this time he was a little more efficient. Whereas the first inning cost him 22 pitches, the second was over in 12. Aoki had a very nice running, rolling catch in center to get Wada out at the beginning of the inning.

Inning number three started off with leadoff hitter, Kawashima, at the plate. Kawashima grounded out again, this time on the second pitch, and Fukuchi knocked one into right to reach first. Aoki stroked a full-count pitch into center to help Fukuchi just barely make it to third.

With runners on first and third and one out, Hatakeyama drilled the first pitch he saw straight up in the air for out number two. Guiel again showed excellent patience at the plate and didn’t swing once as he worked the count full. Nakata then threw one in the dirt to load the bases and give Guiel his second walk of the game.

Takeuchi came to the plate not having notched an rbi since June. This at-bat would not break the streak as he grounded a fastball right at Araki to end the inning and strand all three runners. Biggest crime of the inning, however, was Hatakeyama’s wasteful at-bat which put that second out on the board.

Yoshinori started the third by getting Chunichi’s catcher, Tanishige, to strike out swinging, and Nakata also struck out to put two quick outs on the board. Ibata then broke up Yoshinori’s no-hitter with a double down the line in left.

Fukuchi then made a nice diving catch in left to keep the score at 0-0 and rob Araki of a possible rbi.

Tokyo didn’t put up much of a fight in the fouth with Tanaka and Aikawa grounding out and Yoshinori striking out swinging.

Yoshinori started leaving pitches in the middle of the plate after that. Morino hit a slider that Guiel caught just in front of the warning track in right, and then Blanco crushed the first meatball he saw into right field to reach first base. Luckily Wada grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Impressively, Yoshinori made it through the first four innings on only 57 pitches.

Kawashima led off the Swallows’ fifth with a chip-shot into center field to set the table for Fukuchi, but he struck out swinging on a cutter. Interestingly, Fukuchi wasn’t asked to bunt where Tanaka nearly always is.

Aoki then forced Kawashima into out number two on a grounder to third. Hatakeyama followed by again popping up, this time in fair territory, for out number three.

Yoshinori started off the fifth with a three pitch strikeout of Lee. Fujii, who loves hitting against the Swallows and has recorded nearly 25% of his hits this season against our team, grounded out to second before Tanishige appeared and struck out for the second time today.

After five innings, Yoshinori had thrown 69 pitches and allowed only two hits. His five strikeouts were attended by only one walk, and he looked like he might be able to put in another seven inning outing. Now if he could only get some run support.

In the sixth, Guiel led off with his third walk of the game, again controlling the strike zone beautifully and allowing Nakata to try and hit the corners. Guiel again didn’t swing and quickly found himself on first.

Takeuchi followed with a sharp liner into right field that allowed Guiel to reach third again. So once again, the Swallows found themselves with runners on first and third.

And finally, Tokyo was able to make something happen. Tanaka poked one into left to score Guiel from third. 1-0 Tokyo.

Aikawa thankfully recorded his out without involving anyone else and Tokyo was left with men on first and second and one out.

Yoshinori then started flashing the bunt, but did well to get ahead in the count with two balls and no strikes. However, he then fouled off three successive bunt attempts to make it out number two.

Hirata led off the sixth with a full-count swinging strikeout on a 95 mph fastball. Ibata then drew a walk on a full-count to put Araki at the plate with one out and Ibata on base once again. But Araki grounded into a very nicely executed 6-4-3 double play to eliminate the danger and send Yoshinori to the dugout without an earned run and 88 pitches to his credit.

The Swallows again sat down quietly in the top of the seventh against Chunichi’s middle-reliever, Takahashi.

Yoshinori was allowed to soldier on and try to protect the one run lead. He started the seventh by getting Morino to ground out for out number one, but Blanco reached base again by drawing a walk. Wada avoided a repeat of his earlier double-play by bouncing one to Aoki to put men on first and second with one out.

Lee then grounded out to a high-speed Kawashima who got the force at second to maintain the same situation but add an out. Then the bird-killer came to the plate to test the 19-year old. Yoshinori managed to get him to strike out on an inside forkball in the dirt to preserve the 1-0 scoreline.

Yoshinori’s made it through seven complete innings on 109 pitches and only three hits. He also mixed in seven strikeouts and three walks.

With Takahashi still pitching, Guiel finally decided to swing on a low 1-1 pitch in his fourth at-bat. His second swing since his first at-bat was the one on which he struck out. Takeuchi and Tanaka followed in a similar manner.

A little bit surprisingly, Yoshinori again came to the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Chunichi’s manager, Ochiai, wisely reacted by putting Tatsunami in to pinch-hit for the utterly ineffective Tanishige. However, the switch didn’t work, and Tatsunami grounded out easily to short. But Ochiai’s second pinch-hitting choice, Koike in for the pitcher, was a good one. Koike drove through to center field to put a man on first for Ibata.

Ibata got ahold of a pitch but Aoki tracked very quickly to his left to run it down and keep Koike on first. Two outs and Araki at the plate. Although ahead in the count, Araki grounded out to Kawashima who threw to Tanaka for the force at second.

After eight innings, and with Lim warming up in the bullpen, it was clear that Yoshinori’s night was over. Yoshinori finished his evening after throwing 122 pitches and giving up four hits. Tonight turned out to be one of his best starts ever in a Tokyo uniform.

Kawahara came on to pitch the top of the ninth for Chunichi. He’s still sporting a 0.50 ERA which ain’t too shabby for a setup man.

Aikawa chased an outside pitch and grounded out to first for out number one. Kawabata, hitting for Yoshinori, popped up to center for out number two. Kawashima popped up to Lee in right field to end the inning.

And then it was Lim’s turn. Protecting a one run lead, number 12 came in to face the roughest part of the Chunichi lineup.

Morino began by popping up to center on the first pitch he saw. One out.

Blanco launched the second pitch he saw into the right field bleachers. 1-1.

Poor Yoshinori.

Lim then appeared to pitch around Wada a little bit and ended up walking him to put the winning run on first with only one out.

Lim got Lee to ground into a 3-6-3 double play to end the inning and send the game to the 10th.

With one out, and the crazy-good Asao on the mound for Chunichi, Aoki poked the second pitch he saw into right field to get things started for the Swallows in the first extra inning.

Takada brought Yoshimoto in just so that he could bunt. Aoki moved over to second with two outs.

Guiel lucked out big time and was able to reach first on a pitch that he spiked into the turf in front of home plate. That put runners on first and third for the hot-hitting Takeuchi who was 2-4 in the game up to that point.

Bang. Takeuchi came through with the go-ahead rbi single that scored Aoki from third. And just for good measure, Tanaka had an rbi single past first base that put the Swallows up 3-1.

And that would just about do it. Amazingly, and against the odds, the Swallows were able to score two with two outs.

Igarashi (2.58) came on to deal with the Dragons in the bottom of the 10th. He made things really interesting by allowing the first two batters, Fujii and Hidenori to reach base with no outs. But then Ryota buckled down and got the next three batters out and preserve the lead. He earned his third save of the year while Lim (5-1, 0.59) got the undeserved win.

Yoshinori didn’t end up getting the win, but he saw his ERA improve to an admirable 3.14.

Both Aoki and Takeuchi had 3-5 days at the plate. Singnificantly, Aoki saw his batting average rise above .270 since April. He still leads the team in terms of on-base percentage at .376.

Also worthy of praise is Aaron Guiel who drew three walks in his first three at-bats of the night.

Tanaka also came through with two clutch hits this evening and tallied two of the team’s three rbi’s.

It was a very welcome win even though Yoshinori didn’t get the W that he deserved. It was only the fourth win of August for Tokyo, but hopefully it was a small sign that the team is on its way to working through the worst funk experienced yet this season.

The birds have tomorrow off before a six game home stand versus Hanshin (Tues-Thurs) and Yomiuri (Fri-Sun).

Saitama Seibu Lions 5

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 6

Streak: Won 7       Last 5: WWWWW

(Jingu Stadium)

Tokyo won their season-best seventh straight game, and their third walkoff victory in a row as they wrapped up their interleague schedule against the Lions.

Today’s pitching matchup saw Ishikawa start for the birds with Kishi taking the mound for the cats. Tokyo’s starting lineup looked like this:

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

Just as during his start at Seibu Dome, the Saitama bats found Ishikawa easy to solve, but unlike that game, today he got a bit of run support to help him out.

Seibu took the lead in the top of the 1st, with a Kataoka leadoff double being followed up one out later by a two-run shot from shortstop Nakajima and it was 2-0 Saitama.

But Tokyo got back in it in the 3rd. Keizo led off with a single and was moved to second on a Ishikawa sacbunt. Next man up Takeuchi hit hit second homer of the year into the rightfield stands and we were all square at 2-2.

Ishikawa allowed Seibu to take the lead right back in the top of the 4th, with back to back solo homers from Nakajima (number two for the game, number ten for the season) and Nakamura (number twenty two for the year) making it 4-2 Saitama.

Guiel hit his eleventh homer of the year in the bottom of the 4th, a shot to centre to reduce the deficit to one and it was 4-3 Saitama.

And they would tie things up in the 5th. Consecutive one-out singles from Ishikawa, Takeuchi and Tanaka loaded the bases for Aoki. The centrefielder hit a grounder to second for out number two, but one run scored and it was 4-4.

Tokyo had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the 7th. Consecutive two out singles from Takeuchi and Tanaka put men on the corners for Aoki. He could only hit a grounder off pitcher Kishi’s leg, but Seibu just about managed to the turn the play at first for the third out. Worryingly for Yakult, Aoki appeared to hurt his ankle making a lunge for the bag at first, and was replaced by Ihara on the field for the top of the 8th. Initial guesses were that he could be out from anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month but nothing has been confirmed yet. Bad news indeed.

Igarashi (1.271) relieved Ishikawa for the top of the 8th, meaning Masanori finished his 7 innings having given up four runs off eight hits (including three homers). He struck out four and walked one as his ERA rose to 3.918. He wasn’t involved in the final decision today, but his form is on a definite downward curve at the moment.

The Swallows scored what appeared to be the decisive run in the bottom of the 8th. D’Antona hit a leadoff double off Lions reliever John Wasdin and was replaced by pinch-runner Fukuchi. Guiel then flew out in foul territory for out number one before Miyamoto singled to put men on the corners for Aikawa. The catcher then singled to right, scoring Fukuchi and putting Tokyo ahead 5-4.

And so to the 9th and Lim took the mound. GG Sato got on base via a Takeuchi error at first. The other Satoh then attempted to move the runner along with a bunt, but Yakult made the play at second to leave a man a first with one out. Ohsaki then flew out to right and Tokyo were one out away from their seventh win on the spin.

But pinch-hitter Uemoto had other ideas, as he hit the ball along the first baseline deep into the corner allowing the runner to score from first to tie things up at 5-5. It was the second run Lim had given up this year, but as with the last run he gave up (also against the Lions at Seibu Dome) it was unearned due to the error.  Then Lim showed signs of fatigue as he walked Kataoka and Kuriyama to load the bases for the red-hot Nakajima. With the count full Nakajima hit a groundball at some speed to the gap between forst and second. It was brilliantly fielded by a diving Tanaka who made the out at first and Lim’s 0.00 ERA lived to fight another day.

With Tokyo ducking a bullet in the top of the 9th, and with the way things have been going for them of late, you always had the feeling they may punish Saitama for their wastefulness. Hsu took the mound for the Lions and Yuichi pinch-hitting for Lim hit a leadoff double to put a man in scoring positon with no outs. Yuichi was replaced with pinch-runner Kawamoto. Takeuchi worked a walk before Tanaka bunted the runners around for out number one. Ihara was hit by a pitch and the bases were loaded for Fukuchi. He hit the second pitch he saw to firstbaseman Nakamura, who threw home to try to make the out at the plate. Only his throw missed the catcher and Kawamoto reached home on the error and Tokyo had themselves another sayonara victory: 6-5 Final.

Lim took the victory, his second of the year as Yakult won their seventh straight game to put them just two games behind Yomiuri (who lost today).

Takeuchi was the standout performer with the bat, going 4 for 4 with two RBIs as he raised his batting average to .343.

Tanaka also did well, going 2 for 3 as his average sits at .278.

With the Interleague schedule now at an end (look for a recap post sometime this week), Tokyo get a much deserved rest before resuming Central League hostilities with a trip to the Temple of Doom to play the Giants on Friday. That should be must-see viewing as a sweep would see them replace Yomiuri at the top of the CL. And with the rest we’ll be going there with a probable Tateyama, Kawashima and Ishikawa trio of starters.

Exciting times indeed.