Chunichi Dragons 0

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Streak: Won 3   Last 5: LLWWW

(Nagoya Dome)

I like this. After this game, the streak and last five look just like they did after the Swallows’ last sweep of the Dragons, at the start of the ten-game winning streak. Just saying.

Tonight was satisfying. In the words of one of the English language’s finest Swallows-focused, Net-based writers of the past few years, our own David Watkins: “Tateyama was a [expletive deleted] cyborg tonight. Pure quality.”

I couldn’t fucking agree more.

First, though, the line-ups.

For Us:

1. Aoki
2. Tanaka
3. Takeuchi
4. Whitesell
5. Hatakeyama
6. Aikawa
7. Yuichi
8. Kawabata
9. Tateyama

For Them:

1. Araki
2. Oshima
3. Wada
4. Morino
5. Blanco
6. Nomoto
7. Donoue
8. Oda
9. Nelson

Nelson didn’t do badly for the Dragons at first. Our boys got no hits in the first three innings, but Tanaka, Kawabata, and Aoki all drew walks while Takeuchi, Whitesell, and Aikawa got K’ed.

As for Tateyama, well, I’ll just tell you now: six Ks, no walks for W number 7 in a four-hit complete game shut-out.

(Incidentally, a Tateyama complete game shut-out was the result of Mr. Watkins’s and my trip (with Jimmy LeRoy Ridley) to Koshien last July, which was awesome except for the part where we had to wait around after the game until the cops gave us the all-clear that Hanshin fans had stopped showing their grace in losing by doing shit like throwing full pet bottles at women’s heads, tossing garbage at everyone in the minuscule and surrounded visitors’ section, and shouting for people to fight them in the aisles. But I digress, this is a Chunichi report and my trips to the Nagoya Dome have resulted in some of the best shit-talking in NPB, but no incidents of, say, flicking lit cigarettes at the closest white dude because Brazell got out easily.)

Now for the offense.

Whitesell HBP and an Aikawa single put those two on first and third with two outs and Yuichi up. The Brazilian once known as Daniel Matsumoto came through with an RBI single. Kawabata then walked to load the bases for Tateyama.

Cyborg or not, he’s a pitcher. 1-0 Tokyo.

Top of the 5th. Aoki solo home run to right on the second pitch of the inning – a really high slider right down the middle (oddly enough). I’m going to say that’s not what Nelson wanted to throw. A Takeuchi pegging and three outs followed. 2-0 Tokyo.

Top of the 6th. Hatakeyama doubled and was replaced by Noguchi on the basepaths. An Aikawa sac bunt sent Noguchi to third, then Yuichi got nailed in the leg. WTF? Three HBP in one game? Nelson needs punched at this point.

Kawabata brought Noguchi in on a sac fly, though, so all is well and Nelson’s skinny, jittery, crooked hat-wearing ass got spared the theoretical jaw realignment, uhm, Kawabata or Tateyama, was, uhm, going to theoretically deliver. OK, that doesn’t work.

3-0 Tokyo Final.

Before that, though, Kobayashi came in in relief for Chunichi and beaned Aoki. Coincidence? After Tanaka sac-bunted, Kobayashi got benched and Suzuki came in to hit Iihara, who’d come in for Takeuchi. Five HBP by three different pitchers is not, my friends, an accident.

Hirai closed for Chunichi and apparently misunderstood the rat-dick-wrinkle Ochiai’s instructions as he hit no batters.

OK, I now hate every potential A-class team in the CL, seeing as all three (other than us) are scum. And here I’d just defended Ochiai this evening to an older lady who said she was surprised at his success, given that he was so selfish. I regret that. Selfish? Maybe. Dirty scum? Yes.

Standings & Results – Player Stats

Tokyo Swallows 16

Yokohama BayStars 4

Streak: Won 4   Last 5: LWWWW

(Yokohama Stadium)

The BayStars were the last team to beat the Swallows, way back on August 1st, in Iwaki. Yokohama won that series and set some of here at the Tsubamegun to lamenting our relatively poor fortunes against the punching bag for the rest of the Central League.

Well, those fears were at least put on hold tonight. If you arrived at the park or got home and tuned in after work, you probably missed the fireworks that opened the show. That call you received from a number you didn’t recognize? The BayStars wanted you to pitch. First, though, a formality.

Our guys:

1. Aoki
   

   Another one. Anybody got an abacus?

2. Tanaka
3. Takeuchi
4. Whitesell
5. Hatakeyama
6. Aikawa
7. Miyamoto
8. Kawabata
9. Tateyama

The hosts by the Bay:

1. Uchikawa
2. Ishikawa
3. Harper
4. Murata
5. Sledge
6. Shimozono
7. Castillo
8. Hashimoto
9. Ohka

Yokohama’s line-up looks like it did the last time I wrote about them. Ours looks rather different and, tonight it worked.

Aoki led off, taking the first pitch, then bouncing the second through the right side gap for a single. Tanaka then grounded out. No problem, though – Takeuchi drove a double out to the fence, bringing Aoki home.

Whitesell then walked, bringing up Hatakeyama. On a 1-1 count, Ohka put a cutter down the middle and Hatake made a meal of it: over the left field fence for a three-run homer; number seven for our man.

Aikawa and Miyamoto kept the run going with singles before Kawabata grounded into out number two.

So it’s two outs, top of the first inning. The starting pitcher, Tateyama, comes up. Oh well – four runs to start isn’t bad. On the other hand, know what the best start a visiting starter can have in a game is?

That’s right: a three-run home run on the first pitch he faces. Wham! (Like the sound, not the band with Andrew Ridgeley and that other guy.)

The birds were not done, though. Aoki got his second single of the game and was then brought home, scoring his second run of the game, when Tanaka made up for getting the first out by hitting an RBI double. Takeuchi then walked. Holy cow! But Whitesell grounded out.

I’ll take it, though. 8-0 Tokyo.

The bottom of the first went 1-2-3 with a K for Tateyama.

Hata, unsurprisingly, replaced the sucking Ohka for the BayStars in the second inning. Hatakeyama and Miyamoto each got their second hit of the game, joined by Kawabata with his first, but it came to nothing.  Tateyama gave up two hits, but no runs, while notching a second K.

Hata kept the proud traditions of his team alive in the third, though, by walking Aoki and Tanaka, then giving up a three-run homer Takeuchi. Three three-run homers in three innings! A-ha! 11-0 Tokyo.

Yatarou came in next for the hapless homeboys only to spoil our fun by pitching well enough that I can’t really make fun of him for going by only his first name. Two 1-2-3 innings before he was replaced by Shinohara, who got into a bit of trouble in the sixth, when he finally gave up a hit and a walk, which, combined with an error, left us with the frustration of leaving runners stranded when we failed to score.

Murata pounded the first pitch of the sixth inning for a solo homer. 11-1 Tokyo.

Aoki led off again in the seventh, but grounded out. Tanaka singled, as did Takeuchi, pushing Tanaka to third. D’Antona then replaced the not-so-shiny Whitesell, showing both that the competition between the former D-backs and D’Antona’s place in it are very much alive: RBI single. Hatake then hit an RBI double. Aikawa hit a sac-fly RBI. Onizaki came in and hit an RBI single, too. Depeche Mode! 15-1 Tokyo.

For Yokohama, Ishikawa singled and was driven in by Harper in a two-run home run. 15-3 Tokyo.

Kato started the eighth for Yokohama and gave up two hits, but no runs. Takaichi relieved Tateyama and gave up a run on an Uchikawa RBI single. 15-4 Tokyo.

Top of the ninth, Sanada pitching for the BayStars, Yuichi comes in for Miyamoto and hits a home run. Sanada then filled up the bases while striking out two, but the birds couldn’t bring their fledglings home. 16-4 Tokyo.

Takagi pitched the ninth for Tokyo, giving up one hit as he finished off the Swallows’ victims.

It was a bash-fest. 22 hits, including four home runs, for Tokyo; 17 hits, including two home runs, for Yokohama.

Tateyama (5-5, 4.03) took the win for the Swallows, while Ohka (3.5, 4.63) took the loss for the BayStars.

Yokohama BayStars 2

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5

Streak: Won 3  Last 5: LLWWW

(Jingu Stadium)

For the third time in as many games a Tokyo starter lasted all nine innings, and the birds were able to continue their mini-revival (third win in a row) versus the 6th-place BayStars.

Tokyo’s starting lineup:

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

This one didn’t look very promising from the start. Tateyama found himself in a one out, runners on the corners situation before the game was even five minutes old. That led to a Murata rbi-groundout and a quick 1-0 Yokohama advantage.

After that first inning, Tateyama was able to get through the next two without allowing another runner. In the fourth, however, he ran into trouble again when Uchikawa’s leadoff walk eventually resulted in a run care of Yoshimura’s single to left. 2-0 Yokohama.

After stranding two free runners in the bottom of the first, the birds weren’t able to get anyone else on base until the bottom of the fourth. Facing a two run deficit, Miyamoto and Aoki started things off with back-to-back singles before Hatakeyama took a temporary break from hitting soft pop-flies to bunt the two runners over. Guiel came through nicely with his team-leading 25th double of the season, and both Miyamoto and Aoki motored home to tie things up at 2-2.

After surviving a bit of a rally in the BayStars’ fifth, Tateyama helped out by hitting a leadoff single to left. Tanaka’s one-out home run (fourth of the year) brought Tateyama around as well, and it was suddenly 4-2 Tokyo.

Tateyama’s perfect sixth was followed by another Tokyo run, the last of the game. Yoshimoto, batting for Noguchi, reached second on a hit past third base. He would then score on Aikawa’s only hit of the game, a single  to center. 5-2 birds.

Tateyama would end up finishing the final three innings while allowing only two more hits, and he had what was arguably his best start of the last month. It took him 121 pitches to get through the nine innings, and he gave up just the two runs off of eight hits. The nine strikeouts and one walk attest to the assertion that he was better than he’s been in a while. The win was his 15th of the year, and his ERA dropped sliightly to 3.60.

Observations:

• Three Tokyo batters (Iihara, Aoki, and Aikawa) got plunked in this game.
• The birds collected all eight of its hits and and five of  its runs in the middle three innings of this game.
• The birds bunted five times in this game. Two of them were care of Tateyama. The Swallows bunted twice in the eighth inning. The first was a ‘tak’ bunt, and the second a regular sac bunt. With a free runner gained by a Guiel leadoff walk, Takada had Yoshimoto bunt (even though he had doubled in his previous at-bat and is still hitting .400). Aikawa followed with a HBP, and then Tateyama was also asked  to bunt. Iihara struck out for out number three. Two runners were left on base. Luckily we were already ahead by three runs.
• Aoki’s batting average is now at .291, and there’s a decent chance  that he’ll be over .300 by the end of the season. Even though batting averages are not a complete depiction of a player’s offensive production, the man took a lot of heat for having an average in the .250′s earlier in the year. He has led the team in OBP for almost the entire season, and his four occasions on base tonight pushed that number up to .388 (good enough for second in the league behind Chunichi’s Ibata).
• Aoki has now drawn 68 walks this season. That puts him at third in the league behind Hanshin’s Kanemoto (86) and Chunichi’s Morino (70).
• It’s been 13 years since the last time three Tokyo starters threw complete game wins in consecutive games.

Game two of the series is tomorrow evening at 6 PM.

The Big Boys

Norichika Aoki – The main man around these here parts, Aoki was rewarded for another stellar season in 2008 with a ?40M  raise to ?260M. Which makes him the highest earner on the Tokyo books, and every yen of it is fully deserved.

Shinya Miyamoto – The veteran shortstop and Swallows “captain” saw his coffers swell to the tune of ?220M, up from 2008’s ?185M. This substantial raise probably came about due to: a) the man’s leader/veteran status on the team and, b) the fact that he had an excellent 2008. Many people, myself included, thought Shinya was on the decline but he proved us wrong, hitting above .300 for the third straight year last season. Though it has to be said his range at short is decreasing year by year, the 38 year old is still an important part of the team.

 Masanori Ishikawa – Ahh, little Masanori. 2008 was a big year for Yakult’s 29 year old Junior High School student look-alike. Staff ace Seth Greisinger had left for money and concubines  pastures new at the end of 2007, and that left Tokyo needing an ace around which to build their starting rotation under new pitching coach Araki. Well, who should step up to the plate to fill that void but Ishikawa, transforming himself from a dependable and reliable starter, to a CL ERA title winning (2.68 in 2008) staff ace. And he was duly rewarded for his toils with a whopping ?60M pay raise (the largest on the team) to take his earnings to ?155M. And again, fully deserved. Now lets keep up that good work in 2009 please wee man. 

Shohei Tateyama – Utility pitcher and sometime starter brought into the rotation part way through 2008 to plug the gap left by dabbler-in-drugs Daniel Rios. And when he arrived in the rotation boy did he perform. Firmly established himself as the no.2 starter at Yakult with a rock solid performance on the mound (12 wins, 3 losses, 2.99ERA), and alongside Ishikawa, became one of the two rocks around which an ever changing starting rotation orbited. Tateyama saw his salary skyrocket from ?62M in 2008, to ?100M in 2009. Big up to Shohei, and I’m sure he’ll further cement his reputation in 2009. 

Ryoji Aikawa – Yakult’s first ever free agent signing, I’ll repeat that, Yakult’s first ever free agent signing, Aikawa comes the short distance from Yokohama to Tokyo, after a failed attempt to go to the MLB (no-one was interested). And earning ?100M for the year, the catcher becomes the last of just five players to equal/top the ?100M barrier at the Swallows. Aikawa will look to establish himself in the Tokyo lineup, and give the birds stability behind the plate not seen since the tenure of Atsuya Furuta.  

The Movers and Shakers

Kenichi Matsuoka – One of the revelations of 2008, Matsuoka finally found his niche after three unremarkable years with the organization. Forming a formidable trio out of the bullpen with Oshimoto and Lim, Matsuoka was arguably the star man of that trio last year. 65 appearances, 71 1/3 innings, ERA 1.39. I need say no more. He was rewarded for last year’s excellence with a ?28M rise to ?44M this year. Look for that salary to skyrocket in 2010 if he puts in a repeat performance in 2009. 

Takehiko Oshimoto – After coming to Tokyo as part of a three man trade from Hokkaido at the end of 2007, Oshimoto really showed Nippon Ham what they were missing last year. Takehiko firmly established himself as the set up man for closer Lim, and despite getting wobblier as the season went on, finished with an ERA of 3.34 in his 67 appearences/72 2/3 innings of hard work. All that sweat (and boy does the man sweat) was worth it in the end as he saw his salary inflate to ?49M from the ?27M he earned in his first year with the Swallows. 

Chang-Yong Lim – For sake of completeness I’ll list him here, Lim saw his pay rise a modest amount from ?44.5 to ?55 for this year. That’s a raise of ?318,000 for each of his 33 saves in 2008. Again, as with Matsuoka, expect his salary to rise significantly higher if he has a similar 2009.

Ryota Igarashi – The perennially popular “rocket-boy” and Yakult’s former closer (37 saves in 2004),  Igarashi saw a return to form in 2008 after four years of a mixture of injury, lack of form/confidence and long spells on the farm team. Igarashi staked his claim to be the fourth rock-solid arm out of the bullpen, as he started to show the form that had made him so popular in the first place. 44 appearances, 43 2/3 innings with an excellent ERA of 2.47 saw his pay rise to ?84M, up from ?54M. Just as an indication of how much Igarashi’s star has fallen of late, he earned a whopping ?164M in 2005. 

Hiroyasu Tanaka – After his breakout year in 2007, Beavis had another solid year in 2008, establishing himself without any doubt as the starting second baseman at Jingu. Hiroyasu saw his purse for 2009 swell to ?75M from ?48M.

Yasushi Ihara – Another guy who came to the fore in 2007, speedster Ihara finally found a home out in leftfield last year (despite some disastrous attempts to play third) and, like Tanaka, hit just under the .300 mark in 2008. Ihara saw a ?25M raise to take him to ?50M for this year. 

Kazuhiro Hatakeyama – Came out of four years of obscurity in 2008 to help out the team when he was called upon, and became a fixture at first base (and sometimes third) for the birds. Rewarded accordingly with a?23M raise (from a paltry ?9M) to take him up to a respectable ?32M.

Keizo Kawashima – Came to Tokyo as part of the same trade that brought Oshimoto here, little Keizo was rewarded for a decent first year with the club with a salary of ?25M, up from ?9.6M.

Kazuki Fukuchi – Another 2008 new face, Fukuchi came to the Swallows as compensation make-weight in the free agent signing of pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii by the Seibu Lions. And boy how he proved himself to be more than a mere “make-weight” in 2008. Known for his speed, the outfielder promptly took the CL base stealing title with 42, but added more to his game too. Kazuki proved himself to be an excellent fielder and batter, hitting .321, with 155 hits, 61 RBIs and scoring 74 runs. But he’s now added to his pocket too, with a whopping ?49M raise to ?80M.

The Losers

Aaron Guiel – Many were surprised that Guiel was resigned by Tokyo after an abject 2008 that was blighted by injury. That is until they looked at how much they resigned him for. He earned ?120M in 2008. He’ll earn?44M in 2009.

Masao Kida – Veteran Kida looked like he was going to be shut out by new manager Takada in the first half of 2008, but he was used more and more as the season progressed, ending up with a 3.05 ERA to show for his 19 appearances. That scarcity of innings though meant Masao saw his purse fall ?12M to ?40M.

Hirotoshi Ishii – Longstanding Yakult servant and former ace closer (37 saves and 1.95ERA in 2005), a shoulder injury has threatened to destroy the man’s career. Hopefully he’ll see some service in 2009, but he’ll have to make do with a little less money, down ?26M to ?40M (he earned ?150M in 2006)

Noriyuki Shiroishi – Yakult’s very own “no speed, no power, no skill” triple-threat saw his stock fall ?7M to ?29M.

Ryuji Miyade – Lanky utility man, who has never quite filled his potential saw his salary fall ?10M to ?38M.

The New Boys

Ricky Barrett - ?46.5 M

Hye-cheon Lee - ?76M

Jamie D’Antonia - ?47.5M  

And last, and by all means least……..

David Watkins – From not nearly enough in 2008 to not nearly enough in 2009.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp 3

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 13

Streak: Won 2 Last 5: LLLWW

(Jingu Stadium)

Don’t call it a comeback.

Another hiccup for Hiroshima at the hands of Tokyo as the Swallows put up another big mid-game inning and walked all over the visitors.

Hiroshima scored first off of Tokyo starter, Tateyama, when they squeaked in a run in the top of the second. Tokyo leveled it in the bottom of the third on a solo shot to right by Aoki. 1-1.

Tateyama struck out all three batters he faced to start the fourth, and then it got ugly.

Fukuchi drew a walk to start things off. Then Hatakeyama drew a walk. Then Iihara also drew a walk. And then Kajimoto also got a free trip to first base which resulted in Fukuchi, the go-ahead run, waltzing across home plate.

With the bases still loaded, Tanaka laced a single to left that scored two. Then Kawamoto ripped a double that brought one more run around. Tateyama finally provided the first out by politely giving Hiroshima’s first reliever of the inning, Ueno, his only out (he replaced Saito after those four consecutive walks that started the blood-letting…by the way, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen before–at least not by one pitcher). Tokyo’s Norichika Aoki kept it going with a single to left that plated two runners, and Kawashima followed that up with a single to center field. Then Fukuchi drew his second walk of the inning (another thing that I’ve never seen before), and Hatakeyama drew a bases loaded plunking from Hiroshima’s second reliever of the inning, Hayato Aoki (there are two pitchers with the surname Aoki on Hiroshima’s first team. The other Aoki from Hiroshima, second year Takahiro Aoki, pitched the sixth and seventh innings). Iihara and Kajimoto both followed with singles that scored a run each which marked the third and fourth players of the inning to reach base twice.

When Tanaka finally grounded into a double play, the birds had scored nine runs.

A few more runs scored (including two for Hiroshima), but that was largely the end of the excitement. Kawamoto had a two run blast in the bottom of the sixth (his 2nd) and was a single shy of hitting for the cycle. Also with three rbi’s on the evening was leadoff hitter Norichika Aoki who went four-for-five. Fukuchi, Hatakeyama and Iihara all reached base three times during this contest, and Kawashima (two hits) and Kajimoto (1 hit, 1 walk) reached base twice.

This was the second game in a row in which Tokyo was able to assemble a huge inning and put the game away early (bunting not included)–more evidence that Takada should have a little more faith in his players (click on that link to read my rant in the comments section) when it’s a tight game or Tokyo is trailing by a few runs.

Tateyama (3.08 ERA) took the win and his record now stands at 11-3. In five innings he gave up three runs off of five hits with five K’s, one walk, and one beanball.

Oshimoto (3.11) pitched the sixth and seventh innings. He faced seven batters and gave up only one hit.

Matsui (3.52) pitched the eighth and Matsuoka (1.51) had two strikeouts in the ninth. This was Oshimoto’s 63rd, and Matsuoka’s 60th, appearance of the season.

Hiroshima will be hosted at Jingu again tomorrow night starting at 6:20 PM. Tokyo still trails third place Chunichi by six games.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp 6

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5

Streak: Lost 8 Last 5: LLLLL

(Jingu Stadium)

Another close game, and another last inning loss.

The pitching has disintigrated, and the offense is not able to manufacture runs during the late innings of the game. Both are recent phenomena.

I don’t know what happened, but we are apparently in the midst of one of “downs” that are so often attributed to baseball. It looks like we’re going to run out of games before we have a chance to experience another “up”.

Tateyama started and gave up five runs (only two earned) through seven innings. Other stats: four K’s, two walks and one plunked batter. Matsuoka, Igarashi, Kida and Matsui (yeah, I know, I was wondering where he had run off to as well) followed in relief. Matsui took the loss (welcome back!) giving up a run in the 11th frame.

Down 0-4 after the second inning, Tokyo rallied over the next several innings to pull ahead 5-4. However, offensive production halted after that, and Hiroshima tied the game in the seventh and won it in the 11th.

Only Fukuchi (2 for 6) had more than one hit for Tokyo in this game, and only Kawashima had two rbi’s. Tokyo batters did draw six walks though. That’s commendable.

That’s Tokyo’s eighth consecutive loss. With 20 games left to play, Tokyo is six games behind third place in the Central League. That will mean that the team needs to win most of the games from here on out to ensure a postseason berth.

The way that they’re playing now, that’s most likely not going to happen.

Game three of the series versus the Carp is tomorrow night at 6:20 PM (Jingu).

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Hanshin Tigers 4

Streak: Lost 2 Last 5: WLWLL

(Koshien Stadium)

For the second night in a row, the Swallows suffered a sayonara loss to the Tigers, this time on a 9th inning bases loaded walk from Matsuoka to lose a game that they really should have won.  Tokyo outhit Hanshin 15 to 9, but suffered from a chronic lack of timely hitting as they stranded legions of men on base.

Yakult’s starter was Tateyama, who worked 6 innings of six hit, three run ball, while walking three, striking out three and hitting two men.

For the second game in succession, the Tigers got ahead early in the bottom of the 1st, with three hits yielding three runs for Hanshin, to give them an early 0-3 lead.

Tokyo pulled one back in the 3rd off Tigers starter Fukuhara.  But four hits in the inning would score only one run, an RBI single from Ihara, as a Tanaka double play stranded three on base to end the inning at 1-3.

They pulled another back in the 5th off Hanshin reliever Egusa, Kawashima with the RBI for 2-3.

The Swallows stranded three more runners in the 6th before pulling level in the 7th.  The shaky Kubota took the mound for Hanshin, Yuichi with the pinch hit RBI single to tie things up at 3-3.  But Aoki couldn’t pull the trigger with the bases loaded and 2 outs, and they would strand three more yet again.

Hanshin would strand three runners of their own in the the 8th, as Oshimoto, pitching the second of his two innings of relief, escaped a bases loaded two out jam unscathed.

And so to the 9th, with Fujikawa again making short work of the top of the inning, Matsuoka took the mound in the bottom.  What followed was: a single, a blooped and caught bunt attempt for out number one, a dead ball, a strike out for out number two, a single, and then with Katsuragi up, a walk to bring home the sayonara runner and gift Hanshin a victory they scarcely deserved.

Tokyo stranded loaded bases on four occasions during tonight’s game.

Matsuoka was tagged with his 3rd loss of the year in his 54th appearance.

With both Chunichi and Hiroshima winning, Tokyo now slip back to 5th place, a game back of the Carp and now 4 games out of 3rd place.

The final game of the series is tomorrow evening.

Chunichi Dragons 3

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 7

Streak: Won 4 Last 5:LWWWW
(Jingu Stadium)

Tokyo continued its stretch of decent play with a second consecutive win over the Chunichi Dragons. The Swallows have now won four straight and will attempt the series sweep tomorrow night at Jingu.

For the third night in a row, Tokyo scored six runs in the fifth inning. That’s a little weird, but it’s also very welcome. With that type of run support, the pitching has a bit more breathing room to get the win.

Tateyama got his ninth win of the season and gave up three runs (all of them earned) in five and a third innings. He gave up seven hits, struck out two and walked three. Oshimoto, Matsuoka, Igarashi and Lim did the rest of the work without giving up another run.

On offense, Fukuchi went three for five and Iihara and Fukukawa both had two-hit nights. Iihara and Fukukawa both hit home runs in the bottom of the fifth that turned out to be so sweet for the fans in the right field stands. Iihara’s was a three-run shot, and Fukukawa’s plated two runs.

Up seven to one after the fifth, Chunichi responded with a couple of runs in the sixth, but then Oshimoto was brought in to calm things down, and the rest of the game played itself out rather uneventfully.

Tokyo now sits 1.5 games behind third place Chunichi.

Game three of the series will take place tomorrow night at Jingu Stadium. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:20 p.m.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2

Yomiuri Giants 3

Streak: Lost 2.  Last 5: WLWLL

(Tokyo Dome)

This game started alright.

Fukuchi doubled to left. Miyamoto grounded out. Aoki drew a walk, and then Hatakeyama brought Fukuchi around by way of a troublesome liner to short that resulted in an error. 1-0 Tokyo.

Another run scored in the fourth on an Iihara solo shot to right. 2-0 Tokyo.

Tokyo starter, Tateyama, pitched marvelously. He didn’t give up a hit until the fourth when former teammate, Alex Ramirez, doubled to left. Tateyama got out of that inning without letting another runner reach base.

Yomiuri catcher, Abe, managed to get Yomiuri’s first run in the eighth when he drilled a solo home run to center. 2-1 Tokyo.

Tateyama again allowed his teammates to sit down without another runner reaching base. The eighth was his last inning though. Tateyama (6-2, 3.20) threw eight innings of two hit, one run ball. He had 11 K’s and only one walk!

Lim came in for the 9th, but he got roughed up in a hurry.

Ogasawara doubled to right. Ramirez singled to right. Takahashi was intentionally walked to load the bases with no outs. (Yeah, I don’t know why they did that, either). Lee flied out to second. One out, bases loaded.

Abe took one for the team to bring in the tying run. Ouch, but yay for Yomiuri. 2-2.

Tani brought the winning run around on a single to center field. 3-2 Yomiuri.

Lim (1-4-24, 2.23) took the loss, his fourth for Tokyo.

Takahashi (4-3, 4.84) took the no-decision for Yomiuri. Ochi got his first win of the season for Yomiuri in his 40th appearance. His record is now 1-2, and his ERA is 2.74.

The next game of the three game series at Tokyo Dome is tomorrow night, July 26th, at 6 p.m.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp 3

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 8

Streak: Won 2. Last 5: WWLWW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Like last night, this was another weird one. Hiroshima did everything they could to give Tokyo the win in the end.

To Tokyo’s credit, Tanaka had a good game with three hits and one rbi. Tateyama had a decent game on the mound pitching six innings of eight hit, three run ball. Kawashima also chipped in with his second home run of the season.

But in the end, a lot of things just didn’t go Hiroshima’s way. Three errors and 10 walks spelled the difference.

In the seventh inning, for example, Tokyo had only two base hits but scored five runs. Hiroshima had a 3-2 lead up until that point, but things just went from bad to worse.

The bottom of the seventh went a little something like this:
With Schultz (4.43 ERA) pitching, third baseman, Kawashima, strikes out. Aoki and Hatakeyama draw successive walks. Tanaka grounds out to first. Aoki and Hatakeyama score on Iihara’s liner to the gap in right-center field. Iihara never slows down and beats the throw to third base. That’s Iihara’s league-leading fourth triple on the year.

Exit Schultz stage right.

Then, with Umetsu pitching, it was Takeuchi and Fukukawa’s turn to draw successive walks (numbers three and four of the inning!). With the bases loaded, pinch-hitter Kawabata (who came in for pitcher, Igarashi) smacked a double to left that scored Iihara, Takeuchi and Fukukawa. Fukuchi struck out to end the inning. 7-3 Swallows.

A final run was added in the eigth when Kawashima and Aoki drew successive beanings from Hiroshima’s Kishimoto, and then Shida drew a walk. Bases loaded again. Kawashima scored on Tanaka’s deep sacrifice fly to left. 8-3 Swallows.

Hiroshima used seven pitchers during this contest with Schultz (1-4) taking the loss in relief. Hiroshima starter, Kozlowski (1-0, 4.18), gave up two runs (one earned) in five innings of work while taking a no-decision. He struck out two and walked three.

Tokyo starter, Tateyama (6-2, 3.39) , also ended up with a no-decision after six innings of work. Igarashi (1-0, 3.71) got his first win since 2006 while working a scoreless seventh.

Game two of the series versus the Carp starts at 6 pm tomorrow at Jingu stadium.