April 29th, 2010

Hanshin Tigers 5

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4

Streak: Lost 4   Last 5: WLLLL

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Tokyo took an early 3 run lead but couldn’t hold on to it as Hanshin came from behind to win at Jingu. Tonight’s loss sends the Swallows down to 5th place in the CL for the first time this season and things don’t look like improving anytime soon, especially with Takada at the helm.

Tonight’s lineup again saw D’Antona benched, with Takeuchi donning the glove at first:

1. Tanaka (2B)
2. Miyamoto (3B)
3. Aoki (CF)
4. Guiel (RF)
5. Ihara (RF)
6. Takeuchi (1B)
7. Fujimoto (SS)
8. Aikawa (C)
9. Barnette (P)

Tonight saw Tony Barnette take the mound for Tokyo, as he looked to continue his excellent start to the year. And things looked good for him in the bottom of the 2nd, as the Swallows took the lead off Tigers starter Uezono.

With one out, a Fujimoto single and an Aikawa double followed up by a walk for Barnette loaded the bases for Tanaka. He grounded out to third, but Hanshin couldn’t turn the double play and it was 1-0 with men on the corners. Miyamoto then stepped up and hit one off the wall in right, clearing the bases with a triple and it was 3-0 Tokyo.

Hanshin pulled a run back in the 4th via and Johjima solo homer and it was 3-1. Two hits and a walk followed but Tony escaped the inning with the lead still at two.

The three run lead was restored in the 5th. Miyamoto hit one to left, but catcher turned outfielder Kano let the ball past him and Miymoto ended up at third thanks to the error. Aoki then brought him home with a sac fly and it was 4-1.

And so to the 6th, and things started to go very wrong for the Swallows.  Three consecutive one-out singles made it 4-2 and Takada made the switch from the bullpen as Matsuoka took the mound. But the switch made little difference as two more singles scored two more runs (all charged to Barnette) to tie things up at 4-4.

Barnette finished his evening, not one of his best, having given up the 4 runs off 9 hits, with 4 strikeouts and 4 walks. His record remains at 2-1 with his ERA now at 2.59.

And Hanshin took the decisive lead in the 7th with Masubuchi on the mound. A single and an error from the pitcher (messing up a throw to second) with a walk loaded the bases with one out. The excellent Murton then hit a grounder to first, but he beat the double play ball to the bag and it was 5-4 Hanshin.

And then Tokyo, weighted down by the lead-weight that is Takada, had to try to chase the game. In the 7th, Ueda in for the pitcher singled to lead off the inning (his first pro-hit). But Takada called for the in-form Tanaka to tak-bunt and well, you know what followed (hint: the runner never made it home).

In the 9th facing ace closer Fujikawa, Fujimoto hit a triple (aided by a mess up from leftfielder Sakurai) to give the Swallows a chance to draw level. Takada then showed his genius man management by putting in Kawamoto in place of Aikawa (the same Aikawa who had doubled earlier in the game) who then promptly grounded out to short. One out, runner still on third. Next more genius from the manager by bringing in D’Antona to pinch hit, a man who is in the midst of a slump and possibly low on confidence, so let’s put him in for a make or break chance in the 9th against Japan’s premier closer. He struck out. Way to go Takada. Why not put him in from the start or earlier in the game to let him play his way back to form? Bringing him in for random (often high pressure) pinch hit appearances is not the way to use him, as proved during the tail end of last year when the same player was being mistreated/managed by the same boneheaded manager.

Tanaka then flew out and that was that. So then, two more things to mention about this game.

5-4 Hanshin Final.

TAKADA COUNT: 2. Because he’s a f******* useless c***. Other fans in the Jingu bleachers are starting to realise this. Hopefully the front office will wise up fast.

April 22nd, 2010

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1

Chunichi Dragons 3

Streak: Lost 1   Last 5: LWLDL

(Nagoya Dome)

The right ingredients were mostly there: another good start from Tony Barnette and 8 hits for the Swallows to the Dragons 6. But the one thing missing was the one thing that has plagued Tokyo for the last few weeks – the inability to string hits together and develop the momentum to bring home runs. For all of these games in Nagoya this week, the starters have done their level best to give the team a chance to win, but at the moment things are just not working at the offensive end of the team.

Tonight’s lineup saw just one change from the re-jigged version from the night before, with Morioka coming in at short for Fujimoto:

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

After getting a hit off Chunichi starter Yoshimi in each of the first three innings and stranding a runner in scoring position each time, Ihara took matters into his own hands in the 4th, hitting a one-out solo homer to left (his first of the year) to make it 1-0 Tokyo.

Barnette gave up just one hit over his first three, but saw the lead slip straight out of his hands in the bottom of the 4th. Consecutive doubles from Morino and Blanco made it 1-1, and then two outs later, with Blanco now on third, an Aikawa passed ball needlessly allowed the go-ahead run home to make it 2-1 Chunichi.

Tokyo’s next chance to get back in the game came in the 6th. Finally the Swallows strung together some hits with singles from Aoki and Guiel put two on with no outs for Ihara. The same Ihara who hit a home run off Yoshimi early in the game, so give him the sign to swing away right? Wrong. Not with Takada in da house. No, he called for a sac/tak bunt to move the runners along, which Ihara just about pulled off for out number one. Momentum deflated. Next man up D’Antona, a man who, despite his home run last night, hasn’t been in the best of form of late, could only strike out for out number two. Aikawa then did the same an the inning was over with the runners stranded.

Another chance came and went in the top of the 8th. Ihara came to bat with two outs on the board, and hit one deep to the wall in left centre. Chunichi centre fielder Cesar got his glove to the ball while running back towards the wall, but he couldn’t come up with it before he ran into the wall and fell over, allowing Ihara to make it to third. It was rather harshly judged to be an error to Cesar. But it made no difference as D’Antona then struck out once more to leave Ihara at third.

And in the bottom of the 8th, Chunichi would make sure of their victory. With Takagi on the mound having also worked the 7th, Tony Blanco hit a solo homer to left to make it 3-1 Chunichi.

Iwase came in for his nightly shift in the 9th, but allowed a two-out single to Tanaka which brought up Hatakeyama (pinch hitting for Morioka). After laying off two balls, and watching another pitch for a strike, he clubbed one to right that left the field, only it was just to the right of the foul pole and the comeback wasn’t to be. He then grounded out on the next pitch and it was all over 3-1 Chunichi Final.

Barrnette took the loss, despite his decent 6 innings of 4 hit 2 run (1 earned) baseball. He struck out 4 and walked three, and his record now stands at 2-1/1.73.

Tanaka was again the only batter in any kind of form, going 3 for 5 with his average now at a very healthy .344.

Coming into today’s game the duo of Aaron Guiel and Jamie D’Antona were in the midst of quite a slump. Guiel was 2 for 34, and D’Antona 4 for 36, which is bad enough in itself. But factor in 15 Ks for Aaron and 18 for Jamie and you can see a big factor in Tokyo’s recent offensive impotence.

Both managed a hit each this evening though, however D’Antona’s usual knack for bringing home men was nowhere to be seen tonight with his two Ks with men in scoring positions. Guiel is currently batting .218 with D’Antona on .258. Hopefully they can both re-discover some of their early season form sharpish.

So two losses and a draw in Nagoya, not great. But there are reasons for optimism. All three of these games with this very decent Chunichi team were very close affairs, with not a great deal between the two teams. Plus the pitching, both starting and in relief is definitely doing it’s bit. Those bats just need some viagra. Oh shit, and there’s Takada at the helm which just brings the optimism needle back down again. Oh well.

From here, Tokyo head to Yokohama for three games starting tomorrow evening. Hopefully the curse of Yokohama has been firmly left in 2009.