Mr. Knoxville wishes you well.

We’re still waiting on the Aoki decision. And there’s a fearsome mountain of contingencies riding on the outcome,  so we still can’t make any educated guesses about the opening day lineup. But there’s a lot of other stuff going on in Tsubamegun-land.

Here are a few goodies for your perusal while keeping an eye out for scantily-clad convicts.

• Tateyama’s rehab “seems” to be going smoothly. There’s even talk that he’ll be able to handle a bullpen session by the beginning of spring camp.
• Tokyo’s first two exhibition games will be held in Urasoe on February 25th and 26th. Both are slated for 1PM. The game on the 25th will be against the Hanshin Tigers. The opponent on the 26th is reportedly the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
• Lastings Milledge “wasn’t in the White Sox future plans,” according to a brief blurb by Scott Merkin.
• The Milwaukee Brewers have until 4 PM on January 17th (early morning on the 18th in Tokyo) to reach an agreement with Aoki. If they can’t, then he’ll be playing for us again next year.

Enjoy the weekend, folks!

Backup backstop is on crutches for a while.

Tokyo’s Japanese-language website reported that catcher Ryouhei Kawamoto had successful surgery to repair ligament damage in his right ankle on the 17th of this month.

It is projected that he will require up to two months to heal completely.

Rookie pitcher, Kentaro Kyuko, also had surgery recently. On Monday November 21st, Kyuko had surgery on his throwing hand (left) to alleviate blood flow issues that dogged him during the end of the season.

He is expected to be sidelined for at least four months.

Ready by spring training 2012?

As we reported a couple of months ago, Tateyama was complaining of a similar problem at the end of the season, and it was mentioned before the playoffs began that he might require surgery to correct the problem.

Having both Tateyama and Kyuko out for the beginning of next season would be a major headache for the Swallows coaching staff.

Tokyo Swallows 1

Chunichi Dragons 2

Series: Chunichi 4-2 Tokyo

(Nagoya Dome)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tokyo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	0
Chunichi	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	X	2	3	0

Well, it falls to yours truly to pen the last game report of the season. While I’d rather not be doing so just yet, of course, I must also say I’m not crushed by the outcome. Tokyo made it closer to the prize than they have since their Japan Series win in 2001 and, despite a late-season bobble, fluff, and slide, managed to hold on to the top spot for much of the season, giving us denizens of the Jingu bleachers the fun of being top-dog for a while – a rare treat.

After years of fretting over underachieving teams and boneheaded decisions, we got a chance to do a little less second-guessing and a little more crowing over a pack of untested whippersnappers, roughed-up vets, and prime rib not yet in the right metaphor that managed to eke out wins and ties while being outscored by their opponents and discounted by just about everyone but us and themselves.

I’d like to say that’s the sappiest thing you’ll ever see me write, but I’ll do battle with Kozo at the end of this post.

Ladies, gentlemen, and loyal members of the Tsubamegun-dan. . . the game:

	Tokyo		Chunichi
1	Ueda (LF)	1	Araki (SS)
2	Tanaka (2B)	2	Ibata (2B)
3	Aoki (CF)	3	Morino (3B)
4	Hatakeyama (1B)	4	Blanco (1B)
5	Balentien (RF)	5	Wada (LF)
6	Miyamoto (3B)	6	Tanishige (C)
7	Aikawa (C)	7	Hirata (RF)
8	Morioka (SS)	8	Ohshima (CF)
9	Tateyama (P)	9	Yoshimi (P)

The game went fast at first. The home plate umpire was prepared to call anything that didn’t actually pass outside the righties’ batter’s box a strike, which created a pitcher’s duel, even though neither Tateyama nor Yoshimi looked as hot as they have on other days. Tateyama only gave up three hits; unfortunately, the third was an Ibata home run to far, shallow left following a walk, which made the score at the end of the sixth inning 2-0 Chunichi.

Tateyama looked dejected as he sat down and Oshimoto took over to get the remaining two outs of the sixth and go 1-2-3 in the seventh. Matsuoka did almost as well in the eigth, giving up a walk, but nothing more dangerous.

In the top of the ninth, Kawamoto doubled, Iihara watched a pitch roll right over the center of the plate to strike out, Tanaka also struck out, and Aoki played hero by driving in Kawamoto with a single. All Hatake had to do was hit, or show off some power. He swung hard. . .

Pop fly foul ball for out three and an end to the 2011 season. 2-1 Chunichi, Final.

We’ll have something to say on the Japan Series.

We’ll also get some end-of-season stuff up to round things out.

For now, I think I can speak for Christopher, David, Kozo, and Scott when I thank all of you who have read this far for sticking with us, commenting, commiserating, and, in this unusually successful year, celebrating with us. We were all ready to take in our first Series games in a decade, but it didn’t happen. This is a situation we know exactly how to handle, though: We’ll get ‘em next year.

Tokyo Swallows 3

Chunichi Dragons 1

Series: Chunichi 2-1 Tokyo

(Nagoya Dome)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	F	H	E
Tokyo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	7	0
Chunichi	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	0
W: Ishikawa (1-0) L: Chen (0-1) S: Tateyama (1)

With the team already down 2-0 in the series, it goes without saying that tonight’s game was a must win for the Swallows. Amidst much speculation, the Swallows started Ishikawa on 3 days rest against the Dragons’ Chen. But that call wasn’t the only roster move made by Ogawa.

	Tokyo		Chunichi
1	(SS) Yamada	1	(SS) Araki
2	(LF) Ueda	2	(2B) Ibata
3	(3B) MIyamoto	3	(3B) Morino
4	(CF) Aoki	4	(1B) Blanco
5	(RF) Balentien	5	(C) Tanishige
6	(1B) Whitesell	6	(LF) Wada
7	(C) Aikawa	7	(RF) Hirata
8	(2B) Tanaka	8	(CF) Oshima
9	(P) Ishikawa	9	(P) Chen

The most surprising decision made by Ogawa was to send down Masubuchi for last year’s 1st round draft pick, Tetsuto Yamada. Not only did Ogawa put Yamada on the roster, but he gave the 19 year old his first ichi-gun start in a must win game batting lead off. Ogawa was also true to his word, benching Hatekeyama after he failed to perform in the Climax Series. It seems that Ogawa has decided to go against conventional wisdom in the playoffs and make roster changes designed solely to motivate his players to rise to the occasion.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the moves backfired as the Swallows offense struggled against Chen’s pitching, as the offense managed only 3 hits in 7 innings. But while the offense struggled, Ishikawa rose to the occasion and held the Dragons to only a single hit in his 7 innings. As the game moved briskly because of the pitchers’ duel, the real action only began in the eighth.

With Chen still looking strong on the mound, the Swallows had the bottom third of their lineup come up in the eighth. While they both made Chen work for the outs, Aikawa and Hiroyasu both eventually fell harmlessly to the Taiwanese southpaw. With the pitcher’s spot in the lineup up, Ogawa decided to send Iihara into the game and ended Ishikawa’s night. Iihara, he of the .126 season average and supreme impatience at the plate, was probably not inspiring the Swallows’ faithful with hope. In fact, I joked to my bar mates that “Iihara would be a hero if he homers here,” a factual statement, but so ridiculous that it could only have be taken as a joke. But life is funny sometimes, Iihara actually took the first 2 pitches from Chen and got ahead of the count 2-0, one of the few Swallows to do so tonight. After taking strike 1, and fouling off another pitch to make the count 2-2, Iihara took a low pitch and floated it to left field. The ball barely made it into the stands, reminicint of Aikawa’s homerun on Monday, and into the hands of a fan to give the Swallows the lead. 1-0 Swallows

Iihara finally delivers a big moment this season.

After Iihara’s improbable homerun, Ogawa surprised Swallows’ fans again in the bottom of the inning by electing to send Tateyama to the mound. While the move certainly sent the message that the Swallows where intent on winning NOW, it certainly begged the question WHO THE FUCK IS PITCHING TOMORROW? But in the here and now the move paid off as Tateyama got the Swallows out of the inning despite walking a batter.

With Chen having been taken out for a pinch runner in the bottom of the eighth, the Swallows had the opportunity to face the lesser Dragons’ pitchers for the first time this series. The first such pitcher was the 10 year veteran Takahashi, making only his third appearance this season. Ueda immediately took advantage by taking the third pitch he saw back up the middle for a single. Miyamoto bunted Ueda over to second for the first out. Aoki took the second pitch he saw from Takahashi and smashed it hard against the hard turf to get an infield single, and put men on the corners with 1 out. The Dragons changed pitchers and sent Kawahara to the mound, while Fujimoto came in for Balentien. Fujimoto got jammed hard on 2 pitches, and the ball got picked up by Ibata who managed to get Ueda in a rundown. Aoki managed to get to third and Fujimoto got to second during the rundown to make it 2 out with men in scoring position for Hatakeyama. The big boy wasted little time and hit one back up the middle to score 2 key insurance runs. 3-0 Swallows

With the Swallows up 3, Tateyama was called to pitch another inning to finish off the game. He managed to get Ibata to foul out after 9 pitches for the first out. But Morino managed to hit a Ogasawara-esque solo home run to right to get back 1 run. 3-1 Swallows But that was it as Tateyama got Blanco and Tanishige out to end the game in the Swallows’ favor.

Ishikawa and Tateyama combined to allow only 2 hits to the Dragons. While the Swallows managed to get 7 hits (4 in the last 2 innings) on the night.

The Tateyama appearance makes the Swallows rotation for the rest of the series very unpredictable. Ogawa’s willingness to use his big starters in the reliever’s role and use starters like Ishikawa on short rest make it hard to tell who will pitch when. I guess we’ll just have to tune in tomorrow to find out how things go…

Tateyama gets the save, but will he start during the series?

Yomiuri Giants 2

Tokyo Swallows  3

Series: Swallows Lead 1-0

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	F	H	E
Yomiuri	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	8	1
Tokyo	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	X	3	8	0
W: Muranaka L: Takagi S: Lim

Tokyo came from behind to down their beloved neighbours off the back of a Tateyama-Muranaka starter’s relay and, thank the lord of your choice, some timely hitting.

	Yomiuri		Tokyo
1	SS Sakamoto	1	LF Ueda
2	2B Terauchi	2	2B Tanaka
3	CF Chono	3	CF Aoki
4	C Abe	4	1B Hatakeyama
5	LF Ramirez	5	3B Miyamoto
6	1B Ogasawara	6	RF Balentien
7	RF Takahashi	7	SS Morioka
8	3B Furuki	8	C Aikawa
9	P Sawamura	9	P Tateyama

In a packed and buzzing Jingu it was Tateyama, not Ishikawa as expected, who took the mound to start the key game one of this best of three series. And he was made to work from the off as the pesky (no make that the completely f*cking annoying) Sakamoto battled eleven pitches before Tateyama got him to ground out to third. After striking out Terauchi for out number two, a single for Chono and a walk for Abe followed, but Swallows old-boy turned gurning Giants entertainer Ramirez grounded out to the pitcher to strand the two runners.

Sawamura on the other hand, had far less trouble sitting down Swallows batters early on, and it wasn’t until the third inning before they mustered a hit, via a single for Morioka.

And it was the Giants who got on the board first in the top of the 4th. With one out, Ramirez hit a pacey grounder to first, which the diving Hatake couldn’t quite come up with, meaning everyone’s favourite Venezuelan was safe at first. Ogasawara then singled to right, with Ramirez somehow managing to waddle his way to third, with him then somewhat questionably being called safe. Another single along the rightfield foul line followed for Takahashi, and it was 1-0 Yomiuri. With men again on the corners, Tateyama struck out Furuki to strand another pair of orange runners.

Miyamoto - key man

But Tokyo would tie things up in the bottom of the 5th. Back to back two-out singles for Morioka and Aikawa put two men on, and Jingu got a touch more anxious as Tateyama was sacrificed for Fujimoto. But, just as he did in the regular season closer against Hiroshima, he came up with the goods as he hit one back up the middle for a 1-1 scoreline.

With Tatayama now seated, it was Muranaka who got the call to try to pitch out the game, and he was in a word, immense. After giving up a single to get the 6th inning underway, he then sat down eleven men in order.

And he got himself a lead in the bottom of the 6th. Despite having thrown only 73 pitches, Sawamura was switched for Takagi. Which was good news for the Swallows, as if it was going to come down to a battle of the bullpens, then I’d put good money on ours vs their’s everytime. And my optimism was proved well-founded as Takagi allowed a one out single for Tanaka, and then Aoki got on board courtesy of a comical Ogasawara error at first. Takagi made way for the ultimate fugly, Nishimura, and he continued the theme by walking Hatake to load the bases.

Up stepped Miyamoto, and he hit a sacfly to centre, which was good enough to score Tanaka to give the Swallows a 2-1 lead. But Tokyo weren’t done yet, as with men on the corners Balentien hit a blooper, which just evaded Terauchi at second and made it 3-1 Tokyo.

And with Muranaka dominating on the mound, that lead never really looked threatened. And indeed, Kyohei came within one out of closing out the came, but a rather lucky swing for the pinch hitting Ohmura saw the ball just sneaking over the fence to the left of the scoreboard, and it was 3-2.

In came Lim to get Sakamoto to fly out to second, and that was good enough for a 3-2 Tokyo Final.

So then, a fairly comfortable win in the end for the Swallows, with the pitching of Tatayama (5IP/98P/6H/7K/2BB/1ER), and Muranaka (3.2IP/49P/2H/3K/0BB/1ER) giving the Swallows bats a platform to win. Which they did with some very uncharacteristic (for the month of October at least) timely hitting.

Muranaka and Miyamoto were selected for the post-game hero interviews, but by that point most of the Swallows supporting half of the stadium were likely too sozzled to listen to anything they had to say. Or perhaps it was just me.

Sunday’s game 2 starters are more than likely going to be Ishikawa for the Swallows, vs all around bitch-boy Utsumi for Yomiuri. Let’s hope we can make Utsumi cry like the bitch he is on the bench for the umpteenth time in his career.

Job done

With only one game left to go in the regular season, hosts David Watkins and Christopher Pellegrini look ahead to the first stage of the playoffs which will be played at Jingu next weekend.

After talking briefly about why the Swallows finished second in the Central League, David and Christopher move on to probable pitching matchups against Yomiuri and throw a few predictions out there just for fun.

Just like last time, Dave came equipped with some of his noise-making toys.

As always, thank you very much for listening!

PS. If you have subscribed to our podcasts through iTunes, please give us a nice review and lots of stars.

Keizo had surgery at a hospital in Gunma Prefecture, and the team predicts that it will take about a year for the 28 year old shortstop to make a full recovery.

—–

There’s also some speculation that Tateyama will have hand surgery sometime after the Swallows conclude their postseason play. It was reported that he has been having problems with his middle and ring fingers on his throwing hand.

Toshihisa Nishi, who used to play for Yomiuri and Yokohama, had a similar blood-flow problem that he solved by receiving an incision on the side of his fingers.

Tateyama was apparently apprehensive that the surgical procedure would affect his ability to throw forkballs, but felt better after hearing about the operation firsthand from Nishi.

Tokyo Swallows 4

Hanshin Tigers 0

Streak: Won 2   Last 5: LLLWW

(Koshien)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	F	H	E
Tokyo	0	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	4	12	1
Hanshin	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
W: Tateyama (11-5/2.05) L: Messenger (12-7/2.88)

After huffing and puffing for a while, the CL’s most boring team finally clinched their second straight pennant in Yokohama with…..a 3-3 tie. How apt. For a while Tokyo’s championship hopes looked like they may live to see another day as the Baystars were leading against the Dragons while the Swallows were always in total control of their game, but a Blanco three run game-tying homer, and some comedy play from Yokohama allowed the team from Nagoya to eek out a draw that was good enough for the title.

But the Swallows win wasn’t in vain, as it secured second place in the CL, and thus a home playoff series against the Giants awaits. But after leading the CL for so long this year, it all feels a little underwhelming.

	Us		Them
1	CF Aoki	1	2B Hirano
2	LF Ueda	2	CF Shibata
3	2B Tanaka	3	SS Toritani
4	3B Hatakeyama	4	3B Arai
5	3B Miyamoto	5	1B Brazell
6	RF Balentien	6	RF Murton
7	SS Morioka	7	LF Shunsuke
8	C Aikawa	8	C Fujii
9	P Tateyama	9	P Messenger

Aikawa does the initial damage

Despite the Swallows recent terrible form against the Tigers, this was a game that in all truth they were expected to win, what with Hanshin now out of the playoff reckoning along with the fact that their current manager is entering his last few games in employment. Nevertheless, a lights-out complete game performance from starter Tateyama and some lively batting meant that Tokyo wrapped up their season series (10W-14L) with the B-class Tigers with aplomb .

Tokyo’s runs all came off Hanshin starter Messenger. In the 2nd, singles from Miyamoto and Balentien, a Morioka sacbunt and a sacfly to centre from Aikawa made it 1-0 Tokyo.

And Aikawa brought home the bacon again in the 4th, bringing home Balentien after Coco had reached second with a two-out double, 2-0 Tokyo.

The Swallows final runs came in the 5th. Two two-out singles for Hatake and Miyamoto put men on the corners for Balentien, and the big man hit his second double (and third hit) of the evening along the leftfield foul line to bring in a run for 3-0. Morioka then smacked one over the infield to right and the evening’s run scoring was complete, 4-0 Tokyo Final.

Tateyama won his first game in a month for his superb 9IP/105P/4H/4K0BB/0ER performance. It was his 7th complete game (3rd without a run, 4th without issuing a walk) of the season, and who knows how much better his 11-5 record would be if he’d received better run support/bullpen support throughout the year.

And Shohei’s performance combined with the 12 hit evening for the offence (Miyamoto and Balentien with 3 hits evenings, with Aoki the only starter apart from Tateyama to not register a hit) bodes well for the impending playoffs.

But before we get to those, two more games to go, against the Dragons away tomorrow, and then Hiroshima at home next Tuesday.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1

Chunichi Dragons 3

Streak: Lost 2   Last 5: WLWLL

(Nagoya Dome)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	F	H	E
Tokyo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	6	0
Chunichi	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	X	3	7	2
W: Kawai (5-3/2.51) L: Tateyama (10-5/2.16) S: Iwase (37S/1.48)

Tokyo’s CL title hopes moved yet further into the distance as they fell to Chunichi once more in Nagoya. Tonight’s win means that the Dragons have now moved 2.5 games ahead of the Swallows and become the first team to secure their Climax Series berth.

	Us		Them
1	CF Aoki	1	2B Araki
2	2B Tanaka	2	SS Ibata
3	LF Ihara	3	3B Morino
4	1B Hatakeyama	4	1B Blanco
5	RF Balentien	5	LF Wada
6	3B Miyamoto	6	C Tanishige
7	SS Morioka	7	RF Guzman
8	C Aikawa	8	CF Oshima
9	P Tateyama	9	P Kawai

Tateyama started for Tokyo, and just like Ishikawa the night before, fell victim to an early two-run homer, as a 1st inning single from Araki was later followed-up by a Blanco shot to right to make it 2-0 Chunichi.

Shohei continued to struggle in the 2nd as two walks and a single loaded up the bases with no outs on the board. But Tateyama dug deep and struck out pitcher Kawai, before inducing back-to-back groundouts from the top of the order to escape the inning with the lead remaining at just the two runs.

Meanwhile Aikawa registered the Swallows’ first hit of the evening with a one-out single in the 3rd. Tateyama sacbunted to move the runner to second for out number two, but Aoki could only ground out to first to end the inning.

Tokyo put two men on in the 4th, with a Tanaka walk and then Ihara getting aboard via a fielders choice. But a flyout, strikeout and groundout from the heart of the order stranded those two men as Tokyo continued to waste chances in Japan’s most boring of domes (against Japan’s most boring of teams).

Tateyama crestfallen after walking in run number 3

Tateyama then had his first 1-2-3 inning of the night in the 4th before he fell into more trouble in what would turn out to be his final inning. In that 5th inning Kawai grounded out leaving Shohei to face the top of the Chunichi order with one out on the board. Two singles and a walk later the bases were loaded for Blanco. Shohei dug deep again and struck out the danger man for out number two.

He couldn’t quite pull it off against next man up Wada though, and despite thinking he had escaped again when a 2-2 count pitch appeared to paint the lower outside corner, it was called a ball. One foul later and another pitch low and outside walked Wada and brought in the third Chunichi run for 3-0. He did finally stem the bleeding, getting Tanishige to fly out to centre to end the inning.

That would be his last inning, as he left the game sporting a 5IP/6H/4K/4BB/3ER line. Pretty similar to his last few starts, not at his best, and it looks clear that he’s still not 100% since returning from injury in early September.

The bullpen team of Matsui (3.68), Oshimoto (3.12) and Matsuoka (2.61) did their job well in relief of their ace, restricting the Dragons to just the one hit through to the end of the 8th inning.

So it was a case of whether or not Tokyo’s flaccid bats could produce against the Chunichi pitching.

In the 6th, Aoki led off the inning with a single and made it to second on a Tanaka groundout. But the man was again stranded as Ihara and Hatake failed to get on base and the inning was done.

In the 7th Morioka singled with two outs, but Aikawa grounded out to third to keep Tokyo staring at a second straight shutout.

And so their big chance came in the 8th. After Noguchi (in for Oshimoto) grounded out for out number one (leading to starter Kawai being replaced by Kobayashi on the mound), Aoki registered his second single of the evening. Kobayashi then made way for Hirai to face Tanaka, and the second baseman hit a grounder to third, but a double error from Morino (fielding then throwing) allowed him to reach first safely while Aoki came to a halt at third.

In came the annoyingly good Asao to try and mop up the mess and face Sunday’s hero Fukuchi (in for Ihara), and he hit a grounder to second, the out was made at second, but Aoki was home for 3-1. Hatake then worked a walk to put two men on again. But the utterly impotent Balentien capped off his 0 for 4 evening (including 2 Ks) with a weak flyout to right and Tokyo’s chance to get back into it was over.

Tokyo would create one final chance in the 9th with Iwase on the mound. Singles for Miyamoto and Aikawa put men on the corners with one out on the board, but Noguchi hit into a game ending double play for a 3-1 Chunichi Final.

And there you have it. More disappointment. By the bucket load.

You have to hand it to the bullpen, they’ve performed well these last few games. And while Ishikawa and Tateyama both gave up three runs each, it’s those limp bats and brutal lack of run support that is putting paid to Tokyo’s championship hopes. And when you don’t bring home a win in either of the two games in which your no.1 and 2 rotation guys are on the mound, you’re not going to go very far. And at the moment, they can’t seem to release the handbrake.

The two teams return for game three of this increasingly soul destroying series tomorrow evening with Masubuchi due to start for the Swallows.

The dream is almost over

Tokyo Swallows 0

Hanshin Tigers 3

Streak: Lost 2    Last 5: LLWLL

(Kyocera Dome)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tokyo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Hanshin	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	x	3	10	0

Tanaka didn’t bat second, for a third straight game, which flagrantly violates the closest thing Tokyo has to set dogma: Tanaka bats second, behind Aoki. Should Aoki reach first and there be no outs, Tanaka will sac bunt. It’s the transubstantiation, the virgin birth, the Trinity of the Tsubamegun.

But we live in tumultuous times. “Batter my heart. . .”

	Tokyo		Hanshin
1	Aoki (CF)	1	Hirano (2B)
2	Noguchi (3B)	2	Shibata (CF)
3	Kawabata (SS)	3	Toritani (SS)
4	Hatakeyama (1B)	4	Arai (3B)
5	Balentien (RF)	5	Brazell (1B)
6	Tanaka (2B)	6	Murton (RF)
7	Iihara (LF)	7	Kanemoto (LF)
8	Aikawa (C)	8	Omiyama (C)
9	Tateyama (P)	9	Noumi (P)

Slow-mo lead blow

The game started out innocuously, with both pitchers giving up a hit here and there and Noguchi even pulling off the pointless sac-bunt behind an Aoki walk in the third (with an out, so it was actually far worse than pointless, it was intentionally losing), but the game remained scoreless for six-and-a-half innings.

The differences were slowly accruing, though, with Noumi walking a few more than Tateyama, but Hanshin notching more base hits.

In the bottom of the seventh, Brazell hit a fairly routine single and the Tigers set about manufacturing a run, first putting the speedier Yamato in to run, then moving him to third on a hit-and-run by Murton, which was followed by a successful Kanemoto hit-and-run for the RBI. 1-0 Hanshin.

Two outs into the top of the eighth, with Hatakeyama up and a man on, reliever Enokida was pulled in favor of the scary (and scarily ugly) Fujikawa, who did what he gets paid to do. In the bottom of the eighth, things got grimmer. After a Hirano pop-out, Shibata doubled and was driven in by a Toritani triple. That was followed by an Arai RBI single. 3-0 Hanshin, where it would remain.

Tateyama (10-4) pitched a complete game, but took the loss, of course.

Tokyo have managed to blow their hold on first place, which puts them in the position of desperately needing a win tomorrow and also needing a not-so-hot Hiroshima to beat a smoking Chunichi in Nagoya.

If you have a better idea than quoting John Donne, do let me know.