NPB Roundup – 10/4: Carp eliminated; Giants lose, Tigers tie, re-gain half game lead
by Gen on Oct.04, 2008 @ 10:02 am, under NPB
Central League
The Yakult Swallows and Hanshin Tigers finished in a 2-2 tie.
If the Giants somehow do manage to win the CL pennant, they may want to consider taking the Swallows out to dinner. The Giants manage to remain a half game back behind the Tigers only because the Swallows beat the Tigers yesterday and held them to a tie tonight.
The Tigers' relief staff did an amazing job against the Swallows, retiring 13 straight batters a one point: fly out, strike out, pop out, ground out, ground out, fly out, strike out, fly out, ground out, fly out, fly out, strike out, strike out. After the 3rd inning, the Swallows couldn't get more than one runner on base.
The Swallows' pitching staff also did pretty well: Norihiro Akahoshi, 0-for-6 with 2 strike outs; Tomoaki Kanemoto, 1-for-4 with a runs scored, 1 walk, 1 strike out; and Makoto Imaoka, 0-for-3 with an RBI.
NOTES: Aoki went 1-for-4 with a run scored, a walk (!), and a stolen base. He is now batting .356.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E
HAN 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 1
YAK 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 0
WP: --
LP: --
HR: HAN: None. YAK: None.
Hanshin Tigers
IP BF NP H HR K BB HBP ER R
Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi 5.0 22 64 6 0 0 2 0 0 2
Scott Atchison 2.0 7 30 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Kyuji Fujikawa 2.0 6 24 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Jeff Williams 1.0 3 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ryo Watanabe 2.0 7 31 1 0 2 0 0 0 0
Yakult Swallows
IP BF NP H HR K BB HBP ER R
Mikinori Kato 4.0 18 51 5 0 2 1 0 2 2
Kosuke Matsui 2.0 10 46 1 0 2 3 0 0 0
Masao Kida 1.0 3 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kenichi Matsuoka 2.0 7 24 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
Ryota Igarashi 1.0 3 13 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Takehiko Oshimoto 2.0 7 25 1 0 2 0 0 0 0
The Yokohama Bay Stars beat the Hiroshima Carp, 14-5.
The last time the Bay Stars won a game was September 13th against the Dragons. It only took the Bay Stars 14 losses and a tie to register their 44th victory of the season.
Seiichi Uchikawa had a big night for the Bay Stars, going 3-for-5 with a double, 2 homers, 5 rbis, and 2 runs scored. Every player in the lineup, except for the pitcher, had a hit; 7 had two or more hits, and 6 scored at least one run. In the 6th inning, the Bay Stars sent 9 players to the plate scoring 4 runs on 6 hits (1 double).
Colby Lewis began the day with a league-leading 2.33 ERA, but saw that rise to 2.68 over his four innings of work. Despite giving up 8 runs and watching his ERA rise, Lewis still has the top ERA in the CL.
The loss by the Carp and the win by the Dragons means the Carp are now officially out of the Climax Series.
NOTES: Seiichi Uchikawa's 3-for-5 night pushed his batting average to .377.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
HIR 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 5 9 0
YOK 3 0 1 4 1 4 1 0 x 14 18 0
WP: Futoshi Kobayashi (5-5)
LP: Colby Lewis (15-8)
HR: HIR: Scott Seabol (14, 15). YOK: Seiichi Uchikawa (12, 13).
Hiroshi Carp
IP BF NP H HR K BB HBP ER R
Colby Lewis L 4.0 22 98 9 2 6 1 0 8 8
Hirofumi Ueno 1.0 5 26 1 0 2 1 0 1 1
Ken Takahashi 0.1 5 10 4 0 0 0 0 4 4
Hayato Aoki 0.2 4 17 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Takahiro Aoki 1.0 5 11 2 0 0 0 0 1 1
Mike Schultz 1.0 3 12 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Yokohama Bay Stars
IP BF NP H HR K BB HBP ER R
Futoshi Kobayashi W 8.0 36 128 9 2 4 2 2 5 5
Kazuya Takamiya 1.0 3 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
The Chunichi Dragons beat the Yomiuri Giants, 4-3.
Seth Greisinger pitched a great game for the Giants, tossing 8 solid innings of 1-run, 5-hit ball. But unfortunately Marc Kroon couldn't keep the Dragons down. After walking the first two batters he faced on 9 pitches, he struck out Tyrone Woods swinging. A first pitch, wild pitch moved the batters up a base with Norihiro Nakamura at the plate. Kroon probably should have been removed at this point, but he was given the opportunity to go after Nakamura. Two pitches later, Tatsunori Hara would probably regret his decision as Nakamura banged out his 24th home run of the season, breaking the 1-1 tie.
The Giants did threaten in their half of the 9th, pushing 2 runs across off Hitoki Iwase, but that would be all they'd score.
NOTES: Iwase has now given up 8 hits and 4 runs over his last 3 appearances. ... Kroon can be nearly unhittable when he's on, but when he's having control issues, it's usually best to yank him early. ... The Giants now have 5 game remaining on their schedule.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
CHU 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 6 0
YOM 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 3 7 0
WP: Masahiro Yamamoto (2-1) SV: Hitoki Iwase (36)
LP: Marc Kroon (1-4)
HR: CHU: Masahiko Morino (19), Norihiro Nakamura (24).
YOM: Michihiro Ogasawara (35).
Chunichi Dragons
IP BF NP H HR K BB HBP ER R
Masahiro Yamamoto 7.0 26 103 5 1 4 0 0 1 1
Akifumi Takahashi W 1.0 3 6 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Hitoki Iwase S 1.0 7 36 2 0 2 2 0 2 2
Yomiuri Giants
IP BF NP H HR K BB HBP ER R
Seth Greisinger 8.0 29 125 5 1 5 0 0 1 1
Marc Kroon L 0.1 4 16 1 1 1 2 0 3 3
Daisuke Ochi 0.2 4 17 0 0 2 2 0 0 0
W L T WPCT GB Hanshin Tigers 80 55 3 .593 - Yomiuri Giants 80 56 3 .588 0.5 Chunichi Dragons 71 65 5 .522 9.5 ----------------------------------------- Hiroshima Carp 68 69 5 .496 13 Yakult Swallows 62 71 4 .466 17 Yokohama Bay Stars 44 91 2 .326 36
Nakamura celebrates with team mates after his
tie-breaking 3-run homer
Pacific League
The Rakuten Golden Eagles beat the Seibu Lions, 4-3.
After losing their first 3 games of the month, the Eagles have finally registered their first win of October. While this wasn't a game the Seibu Lions needed, it probably would have been nice for them to finish the season with a win (they are now 2-8 over their last 10). The Lions also committed three errors, one of which led to 2 unearned runs.
The Eagles did a nice job of controlling the middle portion of the lineup -- the 4, 5, 6 batters went a combined 1-for-12 with a double, 3 strike outs, 2 walks, and one run scored. But they had a very difficult time containing the top three hitters (6-for-14 with 3 rbis, 2 runs scored, a walk and 2 strike outs).
The Eagles won the game on a single by Masato Nakamura in the bottom of the 10th with the bases loaded and no outs.
NOTES: The Eagles have 3 more games left on their schedule. All three games are at home and will be against the Softbank Hawks. ... The Eagles finish the year with a 10-14 records against the first place Lions. Down the stretch (Aug, Sept, Oct), the Eagles went 7-5 against them. ... Rick Short did not play and is currently batting .332 ... Nakajima went 2-for-5 leaving his batting average at .331.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
SEI 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 10 3
RAK 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 4 10 0
WP: Tsuyoshi Kawagishi (4-3)
LP: Koji Oonuma (2-4)
HR: SEI: Hiroyuki Nakajima (21). RAK: None.
Seibu Lions
IP BF NP H HR K BB HBP ER R
Kazuyuki Hoashi 4.0 17 63 4 0 1 1 0 1 1
Fumiya Nishiguchi 1.2 9 39 2 0 2 2 0 0 2
Shuichiro Osada 1.1 5 21 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Tomoki Hoshino 1.0 4 21 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
Koji Oonuma L 1.0 7 23 3 0 0 1 0 1 1
Rakuten Golden Eagles
IP BF NP H HR K BB HBP ER R
Hisashi Kitani 2.2 13 61 4 0 2 0 1 1 1
Shinichiro Koyama 2.1 10 44 1 0 2 2 0 0 0
Marcus Gwyn 1.0 6 17 2 0 0 1 1 1 1
Koji Aoyama 1.0 5 16 1 1 1 1 0 1 1
Kenta Satake 1.0 4 19 1 0 2 1 0 0 0
Tsuyoshi Kawagishi W 2.0 6 28 1 0 2 0 0 0 0
The Nippon Ham Fighters, Orix Buffaloes, and Chiba Lotte Marines no longer have any more games left on their schedules.
W L T WPCT GB Seibu Lions 76 64 4 .543 -- Orix Buffaloes 75 68 1 .524 2.5 Ham Fighters 73 69 2 .511 4 ----------------------------------------- Lotte Marines 73 70 1 .507 4.5 Softbank Hawks 63 75 3 .457 12 Rakuten Eagles 63 75 3 .457 12
Thanks for the notes on the Pacific League batting race (and for the daily Aoki watch!). It’s nice to see the Swallows battling it out to the end and playing a bit of a spoiler role.
Forgot to include that Craig Brazell was hit in the back of the head by a pitch from Hiroshi Kitani ans was subsequently removed from the game. Kitani was immediately rejected, which is why he only managed to pitch 2.2 inning.