Series Recap – April 28-30, 2015

When it rains, it pours. And when it shines, it blazes. The Tigers went all of April without winning a single series, following a season sweep of the Dragons to start the season. And now they have found a way to sweep another series and crawl to within a game of .500. The winning streak is now at four, and the gap between them and the rest of the league has been significantly narrowed. The players look happier, the fans are happier, and Golden Week is just around the corner. Let’s have a quick look at what went down at Koshien over the past three days:

Taiga Egoshi launches a Naruse offering into the left field stands for a 3-0 Tigers lead. It was his first career home run.

Game 1: The upstart Swallows brought newly acquired pitcher Yoshihisa Naruse to the mound against the Tigers’ star import Randy Messenger. This one was determined solely by the long ball, as the Tigers opened the scoring in the second inning with a three-run blast from rookie outfielder Taiga Egoshi. Prior to his at bat, veterans Kosuke Fukudome and Matt Murton set the table nicely, and on the second pitch he faced, Egoshi made no mistake, driving the ball well over the fence in left center. These three hits represented the extent of the Tigers’ offense, and the rest was left up to Messenger and the relief squad. Despite giving up a fair number of hits and baserunners, the only damage against Messenger was a solo blast in the seventh, one that just missed landing in the glove of a leaping Murton. Final Score: Tigers 3, Swallows 1.

A win at last! Minoru Iwata celebrates victory with Matt Murton on the heroes’ podium after Wednesday’s 3-1 triumph. It was Iwata’s first win of the season despite his consistency right from the start.

Game 2: How would lefty Minoru Iwata follow up last week’s outing? Perfect through six against the Baystars, the Tigers’ #1 philanthropist was actually quite generous this time around, scattering 10 hits over seven innings. Fortunately for him, none of these came around to score, and he left the game lined up to be the winning pitcher yet again, as the Tigers staked him a 3-0 lead as they had done for Messenger the night before. This time it was the result of some timely hitting from their cleanup hitters Mauro Gomez and Murton. They jumped on Swallows starter Ishiyama early with two runs in the first, then combined for another run in the sixth when Murton drove in Gomez, who had advanced to third base on a pass ball and a wild pitch. Again the relievers held down the fort, but not without a little drama as veteran Yuya Andoh loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth. Fortunately he was bailed out by Kazuya Takamiya and Shinobu Fukuhara, and closer Seung-hwan Oh came in to finish things off in the ninth for the second straight night. Final Score: Tigers 3, Swallows 1.

Hiroki Uemoto was the hero of the night, knocking in three runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Game 3: For the first time in the series, the Tigers trailed. Starter Akira Iwamoto gave up a single run in the third inning, but just two innings later, Hayata Itoh doubled home Murton, who was on first base after a walk. The score remained tied for two more innings, but in the seventh the Tigers bats came to life. This, however, was not without its drama as well. A leadoff triple by Fukudome made it look like the lead was guaranteed, but a sharp grounder by Murton and a pinch-hit strikeout by Keisuke Kanoh left things in doubt. Fortunately, the third straight pinch hitter of the inning, Shunsuke, walked to load up the bases. The steadily improving Hiroki Uemoto came up to the dish and quickly slashed a double to left field, clearing the bases. Tsuyoshi Nishioka followed that up with an RBI single, and the game was suddenly a blowout. The relievers (who had been holding down the fort since the start of the sixth) took care of the rest, ensuring the Swallows never put up a crooked number all series. Final Score: Tigers 5, Swallows 1.

Series Notes: As mentioned in a previous article, closer Oh now holds the team record for most career saves (48) by an import player. Until this series started, the record belonged to the much beloved Jeff Williams… Three foreigners have established club marks or league marks this season. Early in the campaign, Murton played in his 703rd career game with the team, most by a foreigner. Last week, Messenger broke the CL record for most double-digit strikeout performances by a foreigner (12). Can Gomez set a club record this season, too?… While Murton has found his way out of a bad slump, it looks like Takashi Toritani has started one of his own. His defense was outstanding all series, but he has now gone 11 at bats without a hit, and is just .250 on the year… Egoshi’s game-winning home run on his first career bomb was the first for the Tigers since Akinobu Okada accomplished the same feat back in 1980…

Here are the current standings:

Up next for the Tigers after Friday off: a two-game weekend series at the EGG against the Yomiuri Giants. A sweep there would extend the winning streak from 4 to 6, and bring them above .500 for the first time since the beginning of April. GO TIGERS!

Foreigners Coming Through!

At one point a few weeks ago, there were lots of complaints about our fabulous four. These men all won individual awards last season but were off to pretty slow, uninspired starts, it seemed.

Co-heroes of last night’s game: Taiga Egoshi (3-run HR) and Randy Messenger (7 IP, 1 ER)!

Randy Messenger was 1-3 with a 5.63 ERA to start the year. What does he do? Just pitch 7 innings of 1-run ball to help the team start just its second winning streak of the season. And he’s still not pitching his best! He even said so in the hero interview. I’m sure we are going to see a great May from the team’s best pitcher. Perhaps another wins title, another strikeout title as well? After all, he now holds the Central League record for most career double-digit strikeout games by a foreign pitcher (12). Here’s Randy having fun trying to sign the camera lens after the game.

Oh’s early season struggles — blue = walks, green = hits — have settled down significantly in recent weeks.

Seung-hwan Oh was putting men on base like it was the latest fashion in the early going. Through four outings he had allowed 11 baserunners and despite only giving up a run, he looked really shaky. Since then, he has calmed down and has recorded 9 saves in 10 chances. He now holds the club record for most career saves by a foreigner (48), surpassing Jeff Williams.

The team is getting used to seeing Gomez clearing the bases while getting on board himself.

There was talk of Mauro Gomez being overweight and out of shape, but over the past two weeks he has knocked in 13 runs and is in second place in the Central League with 19 on the season. His batting average (.316) is tops on the team as well. Not bad for a guy that everyone complains “strikes out too much” or “chases too many bad pitches.”

The hero of tonight’s game with two hits and two RBIs: Matt Murton!

Finally, Matt Murton was dropped to sixth in the batting order because of “poor hitting.” I’m not going to deny that he looked a little lost up there and grounded out to pitcher (or any of the infielders) way too much for the first half of April. But since ending a 24-at bat hitless streak, Murton has hit safely in five straight games (8-for-19 = .421) with 4 runs batted in. His average nearly dipped below the Mendoza Line last week, but is now a much healthier .245 – and it continues to rise with each passing game.

In all fairness to these four men, they have were the most consistent players on the whole team last year, and cannot be expected to carry the load every game of every season. But it sure is nice to see them back in the headlines – for all the right reasons.

The Tigers now are now riding a three-game winning streak — their first since the opening series of the season — and sit just 2.5 games behind the Giants and Swallows in the Central League standings. Just a few more wins and they will look like a completely different team than the one that was tied for last place less than a week ago. GO TIGERS!

Miniseries Recap – April 25-26, 2015

No need to sound the alarm just yet, Tigers fans! Toritani to the rescue! His 3 RBIs on Sunday represented his first in over a week.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness…” — A Tale of Two Cities

How better to describe the last two games but to say that two different teams showed up each day. For each team.

The Tigers spent their weekend in Hiroshima, facing the last place Carp in a two-game series. The first game could not have gone worse for the Tigers, while the second game could not have gone much better.

The Tigers got pounced on early and often as the Carp walked all over the pinstripes on Saturday.

Game 1: The Tigers started young ace Shintaro Fujinami against the Carp’s veteran hurler Hiroki Kuroda. Right from the beginning, Fujinami’s control was off, as was his pitch choice, as the Carp jumped on him for three hits and a run. He nearly plunked Kuroda with a couple of brushback pitches in the second, which caused both benches to clear and the Tigers to lose their composure. A fielding error by Mauro Gomez (who had been fighting a fever) brought home a run, and two more errors (a bobbled pop-up by Tsuyoshi Nishioka and a throwing error by Ryutaro Umeno) brought more runs across the plate for the home team. Then after Fujinami left the game, the relievers (Hiroya Shimamoto and Kazuyuki Kaneda) gave up bases-clearing triples in the sixth, and the Carp bats, which had been silent much of the season, came to life. The Tigers’ lone bright spot was spot starter Hayata Itoh, who recorded three hits including a 2-run home run in the top of the sixth. Final Score: Carp 11, Tigers 3.

A huge sixth inning on Sunday started with a Murton RBI and was capped off with Gomez’s RBI double.

Game 2: Once again, Atsushi Nohmi was led by veteran catcher Akihito Fujii, and the two combined for an excellent performance. Nohmi scattered six hits (all singles) and threw a complete game shut-out. The Tigers piled up ten hits and ten walks, and put up six runs in the sixth inning on RBI hits by Matt Murton, Takashi Toritani and Gomez, plus a bases-loaded walk drawn by Nishioka. The Carp only once had a runner in scoring position, and never put more than one man on base in a single inning. The Tigers, on the other hand, had at least two baserunners in six of the nine innings. Could this be a sign that the Tigers’ bats are coming to life? Final Score: Tigers 6, Carp 0.

Series Notes: Nishioka drew four walks in today’s game… Murton has now hit safely in three straight games, including three hits today for his first modasho of the season. Kosuke Fukudome also recorded three hits on the day… This was the first game all season that the Tigers won by more than three runs. In other words, closer Seung-hwan Oh stayed on the bench for a win for the first time this season out of ten wins… Toritani hit a foul ball in the fifth inning that set off a fire alarm at Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium. The game was halted for several minutes… Former Tiger Takahiro Arai reached base safely four times (2 hits, 2 walks) on Saturday and twice more (both hits) on Sunday. He finished the series 4-for-7 (.571)… Murton is hitting .417 (5-for-12) in the three games since moving down to the six slot. It will be interesting to see if they keep him there or move him back up to his customary spot (fifth) in the order… Rookie Taiga Egoshi made his return to the team (and the starting lineup) on Sunday, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts… The Tigers host first place Yakult Swallows early this week at Koshien, and then play a short two-game series at Tokyo Dome against the Giants on the weekend. This is a much-needed chance to gain some ground in the standings. GO TIGERS!

Translation – Why Hanshin Can’t Bench Murton

The original article can be found here 元の記事はこちら

Matt Murton’s recent slump could no longer be tolerated. As he had gone 20 straight at-bats without a hit, team management finally bumped him down in the batting order on the 22nd (against DeNA) to the sixth spot. Batting sixth for the first time since Opening Day 2013, Murton’s 8th inning RBI single in the 8th was his first in 24 plate appearances, but his average has meanwhile spiraled down to a pedestrian .207. He still shows no signs of returning to form.

From this season, he has developed a slight twitch in his left leg as he bats, but he still has not been able to find his timing with the new approach. Manager Wada commented, “His core is not in a ‘power position’ when he bats, and as a result he has not been able to pick up on pitches early enough.”

A former Tiger added, “He used to keep his weight off his right foot and instead make strong contact with the ball, but this year he’s lunging even farther ahead. When your stance has fallen apart that badly, there’s no way you can see the ball well up there.”

The umpires’ slight changes to the strike zone have poured more salt in the already gaping wound. Murton’s sensitivity to umpires’ calls have been the start of a vicious cycle, where he blows up at the umpires, loses his focus and plays with less fighting spirit. This is nothing new. But recent attempts by the league to speed up the game has resulted in umpires broadening the strike zone, causing Murton to be extra sensitive and easily disrupted. Says Wada, “The strike zone has changed a little this season. I can’t say that is the reason for Murton’s slump, but it is definitely to the pitchers’ advantage, so there’s no denying it plays against him.”

Newspaper headlines read, “Murton Benched” but Wada avoided making comments one way or the other.

The team plans to recall 22-year old rookie Taiga Egoshi from the farm (today) but Murton, who has faced a lot of two-seam pitchers (like today’s starter Hiroki Kuroda), so he’ll likely get the start. That, plus the one player the team has been counting on lately, Mauro Gomez, has come down with a fever, so it’s probably best to keep Murton in the lineup at least one more day. Wada did say that this is a “period of patience” for the team.

The reason the Tigers’ management is so hesitant to remove Murton from the starting lineup is his attitude.

Despite all the bashing he has been receiving from fans, who say he has gotten apathetic, he faithfully spends an hour, even two, after games watching video footage, going over the strike zone and what his form looks like. This has made a strong impression on the organization, as it is rather uncommon among foreign athletes. If he were lackadaisical off the field, management would likely bench him immediately. However, his keenness towards improving his game, plus the fact that he is the reigning batting champ, makes it understandable that management can’t easily cut ties with him.

But in the world of sports, results are everything.

The Carp are planning on starting lefty Kris Johnson on the 26th, so it would make sense that management replace Murton with Egoshi, should there be no change in the former’s performance against veteran Kuroda, but…

Obviously we hope Murton’s hard work will be rewarded with good results in (today’s) game. Last season’s lineup, especially cleanup hitters Toritani, Gomez and Murton, fed off each other. Without Murton’s bat, there’ no RBI title for Gomez. Murton’s revival is the key to the team’s success moving forward.

Miniseries Recap – April 21-22, 2015

This week features two short two-game series split by two days off in the middle The Tigers are already half done their week, as they visited Yokohama to face the slumping Baystars. Let’s end all suspense and reveal the scores. Yesterday’s game extended the home team’s losing streak to 7, with the Tigers winning 5-3. Tonight’s game evened the series at 1, as the Tigers fell 7-4 after a big 6th inning from the Baystars.

Mauro Gomez has been tearing the cover off the ball lately, with 11 RBIs in his last 6 games.

Game 1: Here is Minoru Iwata‘s progression from the start of the game: out, out, out; out, out, out; out, out, out; out, out, out; out, out, out; out, out, out. Perfect through six. It really looked like he was going to pull off a perfect game. But then the seventh happened. Plunk the leadoff guy. Strike out the next. OK still looking good, still have a no hitte… oh no! HIT! Still have a shutou… wait, that’s gone, too, another hit! And another!?! So after 6 1/3 innings, he leaves the mound ahead 3-2. At least he’s still in line for his first win of the seaso… nope, a home run off reliever Shinobu Fukuhara took care of that, too! Poor Iwata, pitching so well but never notching wins. Fortunately for the Tigers, another clutch hit by revived first baseman Mauro Gomez gave them a two-run lead heading into the home side of the ninth. Seung-hwan Oh, who recently went public about his relationship with Girls’ Generation hottie Yuri, followed a leadoff hit with three straight strikeouts. Game over. Final Score: Tigers 5, Baystars 3.

Slump buster? Matt Murton finally gets a hit after 20 straight ABs without one. Hopefully this one wakes his bat up!

Game 2: For the second straight outing, starter Randy Messenger gave up a crooked number in the first inning. And for the second straight outing, I missed it. Fortunately this time, the number was smaller (2 vs. the 3 he gave up against the Giants on Friday night) and the Tigers were able to give him a lead, as well, scoring 3 in the third. As the game went on, Randy got stronger and stronger, at one point striking out six straight. The game’s outcome was decided in the sixth, though, as with two outs, the Baystars rallied for four hits (including a 3-run home run) and a walk, scoring five and taking a 7-3 lead. The inning ended well for Messenger, as he recorded his 10th strikeout of the game before leaving the mound. Unfortunately the damage was done and the Tigers could only put one more run on the board. Final Score: Baystars 7, Tigers 4.

Series Notes: In Tuesday’s game, Tsuyoshi Nishioka picked up his second straight modasho (3 hits in a game), and then got two more hits tonight. He is back in the top-5 CL hitters on the year… speaking of CL batting champs, Matt Murton finally broke out of his career-worst slump by driving in a run in the 8th inning of tonight’s game. He batted sixth tonight for the first time ever with the Tigers, and still struck out twice (adding to the three from the night before) and desperately needs to turn his season around… Gomez now has RBIs in a career-best six consecutive games and is second in the league with 17. This puts him on pace for 111, which would eclipse last year’s mark by 2… Hiroki Uemoto has drastically improved at the plate since moving back into the leadoff spot. He was batting well under .200 when hitting second or seventh, but is around .320 since the change was made 6 games ago… Messenger set an NPB record for career games by a foreigner with double-digits in strikeouts, with twelve. Next record up for the big hurler: career strikeouts by a foreign pitcher with the Tigers. He trails legend Gene Bacque by 28.

Messenger, According to Andoh & Fujinami

The original Japanese article can be found here.

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Let’s Ask His Teammates!

Pitcher Yuya Andoh

Q. What is Messenger really like?

Just what you see. He’s really cheerful.

Q. Fill in the blank. “Surprisingly, Messenger is actually ______.”

Hmmm… there is nothing really surprising about him (laughs).

Q. What is it about Messenger that you think is awesome?

He’s got awesome potential as a pitcher. He throws hard, has a good curve and forkball.

Q. What does Messenger like?

He’s American, so I’d have to say he probably really loves his family. That and ramen. He likes his noodles.

Q. Give us the dirt on Messenger. Has he got any secrets?

Nothing that I can say on the record (laughs).

Q. Give Messenger a score (out of 5) on these areas: 1) Keeping his locker clean; 2) Sense of fashion; 3) Japanese ability

1) Five. His locker is tidy. Nothing just laying around. It might be rude to say this, but for a man of his size he really pays close attention to details. 2) I can’t get away with giving him a 3, so we’ll just say he’s a 5 (laughs). 3) Maybe two? He speaks a few words of Japanese here and there.

Q. Fill in the blank. “Messenger is the biggest ______ on the team.”

Ramen lover! (laughs)

Q. What would you compare Messenger to?

He’s kind of changed his look this year with his hairstyle. I’d say he looks like a big bear (laughs).

Q. What Chinese character (kanji) would you attribute to Messenger?

“BIG” (大)

Pitcher Shintaro Fujinami

Q. What is Messenger really like?

He likes to mess around a lot. Like many foreigners, he’s really cheerful and energetic.

Q. Fill in the blank. “Surprisingly, Messenger is actually ______.”

He might look a little sketchy or rough around the edges but actually he’s pretty detail-oriented. He’s got a set routine when it comes to baseball, and pays close attention to small adjustments.

Q. What is Messenger’s habit?

When he gets annoyed on the mound, he’ll catch the catcher’s toss-back barehanded (laughs).

Q. What are some things Messenger often says in Japanese?

He complains a lot. When the drills at camp aren’t to his liking, he would say “jikan tsubushi” or “jikan no muda” (waste of time!) (laughs).

Q. What is it about Messenger that you think is awesome?

He’s really stoic when it comes to baseball. Well, in other aspects of life as well, but especially when it comes to baseball. I really admire that.

Q. Anything about Messenger that you wish he’d stop doing?

He likes to muck around but he doesn’t know his own strength and sometimes it hurts! (laughs)

Q. What does Messenger like?

He watches martial arts (combat sports) a lot. Oh, and ramen.

Q. What is Messenger’s weakness?

Good question… he’s a big man but he doesn’t hate running… Oh, he said udon was kind of like rubber (laughs). I don’t know if he hates it, but when I asked if he wanted to eat some, he said, “It’s too rubbery, no thanks.” (laughs)

Q. Give us the dirt on Messenger. Has he got any secrets?

He’s got some that I can’t tell you, but there’s nothing that I *can* tell you. Oh well I guess at the start of camp, he said he had only gained 2 kilograms but obviously he gained more than that (laughs).

Q. Fill in the blank. “Messenger is the biggest ______ on the team.”

He’s just the biggest, period. Even from my perspective.

Q. What is the most charming thing about Messenger?

He’s got a real youthful personality. It might sound weird coming from me since I’m a lot younger than him (20 years old), but he is definitely rambunctious!

Q. What would you compare Messenger to?

He looks like a bear.

Q. What Chinese character (kanji) would you attribute to Messenger?

A. “Giant” (巨)

The Game I Saw – Tigers 2, Giants 0?

The view from the right field stands last night. Though distant, it sure was a beautiful night to be at Koshien Stadium! The Tigers lost 3-2 despite a pretty good night all around.

The Hanshin Tigers game I saw last night was one of total dominance for the home team. Starter Randy Messenger pitched 6 innings of 4-hit, 10-strikeout shutout ball while the hitters put up two runs in the 4th inning. The relievers (Kaneda, Takamiya, Shimamoto, Matsuda and Ishizaki) cobbled together two more innings of shutout ball as well. The Giants pressed at times for runs but could not bring anyone home.

Unfortunately for the team and its fans, this was the “game I saw” and does not count the first inning, one I spent lining up for a special fan club gift, in which the Giants rallied for three runs before anyone realized the game had started. So the final score was 3-2 Giants, despite the misleading headline.

I will not throw anyone under the bus, but I do have to say that so far this year (not just last night), Matt Murton has been a shadow of the man he was last season, not to mention the other four seasons preceding it. His four plate appearances went: groundout to pitcher, groundout to second, groundout to second, walk. He has grounded out too many times to count (OK, it’s been 10 so far in 16 at bats this week) and just is not hitting the ball well at all. I love the guy and do not place the blame on him for any of the team’s losses… but they definitely need the Murton of 2010-2014 to show up. I’m sure he is more aware of this than anyone else.

On the bright side, Kosuke Fukudome has found his game this year, and actually leads the Central League in OBP among Japanese players so far. Mauro Gomez seems to be hitting the ball better as well, albeit he now has a 15-game homer-less drought going. Hiroki Uemoto definitely looks more comfortable in the leadoff slot than he did batting second or seventh, as well. Ryutaro Umeno is hitting the ball much better than he did last year, striking out way less frequently and spraying the ball all over the outfield, too. There are a lot of positives the team can carry out of the recent funk.

Once Murton picks up his pace and the team finds a solid center field option (Yamato has struggled mightily, Shunsuke is a decent place holder but not likely the answer, and Hayata Itoh and Taiga Egoshi still need to mature as hitters and especially as fielders), the Tigers should be able to right the ship. Hang on tight, Tigers fans… the wins will start to pile up soon, and not just the ones that start in the second inning like it did for me last night!

Series Recap – April 14-16, 2015

Nishioka pumps his fist after driving home the winning run in Game 3. The Tigers bounced back from back-to-back walkoff losses with 6 runs, their highest total of the month.

Despite winning the series finale against the Carp on Sunday, the Tigers were in no place to get complacent. In fact, they juggled their roster and order throughout this series in hopes of generating more offense and breaking out of their losing skid. They brought in Shunsuke, Keisuke Kanoh and Hayata Itoh as starting outfielders and even put Hiroki Uemoto back in the leadoff spot for game 3.

Game 1: For the second straight game, the Tigers open up a lead (something they have struggled to do this season) and cough it up. To his surprise, catcher Ryutaro Umeno hit a solo home run in the third inning to give the team a 1-0 lead. Starter Minoru Iwata‘s lone bad inning was the fourth, when he started the inning with a walk and two hits to tie the game. The ensuing double play brought home another run and the Tigers found themselves back in familiar territory, down 2-1. Time ran out on Iwata as he again pitched fairly well but would not factor into the decision, as the Tigers could only manage one run after he was pulled for a pinch hitter. He was replaced after the seventh with the score tied 2-2 (back-to-back pinch hits by Kanoh and Kentaro Sekimoto). The team brought out 3-game winner Ryoma Matsuda to pitch the eighth and ninth, and unfortunately he could not hold down the fort, as the Dragons pushed him around for two hits including a walk-off single to end the game. Final Score: Dragons 3, Tigers 2

The odds caught up to reliever Ryoma Matsuda, who won 2 relief games against the Dragons earlier in the year. He was the victim of two straight walk-off losses in this series.

Game 2: Young starter Akira Iwamoto hoped to bounce back from a mediocre outing in his last one, and on paper it looks like he did. He threw 5 2/3 innings and just one earned run against, however, the leadoff hitter got on base in every inning and he allowed a total of 10 hits (and plunked a guy as well), so perhaps he was lucky to leave just a run down. The Tigers bats were not too bad either, but they never created any scoring chances until Takashi Toritani doubled in a run in the eighth. Unfortunately the rally ended with a Matt Murton double play (more on that later) and the game went into the ninth tied 1-1. As Japanese managers like to do, the team brought Matsuda in to the exact same situation he blew the night before. This is supposed to show the pitcher that the team has confidence in him and that he can overcome tough situations like that. Unfortunately the results were the same as the previous night, as the Dragons pushed the winning run across the plate to end the game. Final Score: Dragons 2, Tigers 1

Matt Murton takes exception to an outside strike 2 called against him in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game. After nearly being ejected, he grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Game 3: Someone or something lit a fire under the Tigers’ bats. The first inning started with six straight baserunners, including consecutive RBI singles by Mauro Gomez, Murton and Kosuke Fukudome. Umeno added an RBI on a groundout and the Dragons found themselves down 4 before they swung a bat. Fortunately for them, the third boulder (Suguru Iwazaki) was not at his best, and they managed to chase him before the end of the 4th by tying the game up. The usually unreliable relievers held down the fort for the game’s final 5 1/3 innings and the Tigers scored in the sixth and eighth innings (Umeno touched home on hits by Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Toritani, respectively) and Seung-hwan Oh closed the game out. Final Score: Tigers 6, Dragons 4

The Giants have heated up and the Tigers are a distant fifth place, but could make that ground up with a sweep of the Giants this weekend at Koshien. Here are the current standings.

Series Notes: The team demoted outfielder Taiga Egoshi and promoted Itoh on Tuesday, then de-activated Iwamoto and activated Yuya Andoh before Thursday’s game. With just four games next week, Iwamoto will not need to make a start again until the end of the month at the earliest… The Dragons won three straight walk-off games (and have five on the month) including their extra-innings victory Sunday over the Baystars. It set a club record and was the first time the Tigers lost back-to-back walk-offs since 2011… The Tigers fell to four games below .500 on Wednesday for the first time in April since 2001. They were the first Central League team to 10 losses (tying with the Carp) for the first time since 1997… The Tigers amassed a season-high 13 hits in Thursday’s win. Their high for runs is 10, also against the Dragons back on March 29.

His favorite ramen

Remember in the preseason when Akihiro Yano interviewed Randy Messenger? One of the questions he asked him was, “What is the best ramen you’ve eaten in Japan?” And Randy replied that it was Yoshimuraya in Yokohama?

So this past weekend I was in that general area but did not have time to take in any games or go anywhere touristy. Fortunately for me, as I was being all Japanese and looking for last-minute omiyage (souvenirs for family and co-workers, usually snacks) I found this:

Ramen from their shop. Noodles, broth and extras so I can make it at home! The best news of all is that my wife insisted that we try the real deal sometime. So next time I go to Yokohama, I’ll try out Randy’s favorite bowl of noodles and tell you exactly how good it is. In the meantime, these remain packaged and will be eaten on a rainy day. Say, isn’t it raining today?

Series Recap – April 10-12, 2015

Things just didn’t go the Tigers’ way on Saturday. Messenger (right) catches the ball with his throwing hand as Uemoto and Nishioka look on.

As the Tigers’ miserable start on home soil left fans drowning their sorrows, the heavens decided to give the team a break on Friday. Continuous rain all Friday caused the night game to be canceled (and rescheduled for September 11), and gave the Tigers another day to regroup and hopefully put an end to their 5-game losing streak.

Unfortunately the Carp rained on the Tigers’ parade on Saturday, getting the better of starter Randy Messenger, chasing him by scoring 4 straight runs before any outs were recorded in the sixth. Again the Tigers bats failed to produce much early or consistently, scoring on Kosuke Fukudome’s solo shot in the second and his RBI single in the sixth. Major league returnee Hiroki Kuroda pitched effectively enough to earn the win for the Carp, who extended their season-best streak to three. Final Score: Carp 7, Tigers 2.

For Sunday’s game, Wada decided to juggle his hitting order in a big way. Tsuyoshi Nishioka led off, Yamato was back up to second, Takashi Toritani hit third and Akihito Fujii made his first start at catcher, batting eighth. Birthday boy Shintaro Fujinami (21) took the mound against newcomer Kris Johnson, and for the first time since April 3, the Tigers found themselves leading as Fujinami hit a sacrifice fly and Nishioka brought another run home in the bottom half of the second. Unfortunately the offense sputtered after that, and Fujinami gave up a number of hits before leaving the game in the seventh, down 3-2. But wait! In the bottom of the 8th inning, pinch hitter Ryota Arai drew a walk, which was followed by a dramatic Toritani home run, putting the Tigers up by a run with just three outs to go. Closer Seung-hwan Oh gave up a lead-off hit, was given a courtesy out on a sacrifice bunt, then mowed down the next two Carp hitters. The losing streak was over at last! The game also featured many fine defensive plays, including outstanding outfield catches by Fukudome and Yamato. Final Score: Tigers 4, Carp 3.

The Tigers still have their work cut out for them, having only won one game this year by more than a single point. They have not looked convincingly strong at all this season, and the fans will not be satisfied with just this one win. They are still in the lower half of the standings and need to put together a strong winning streak against the Dragons next week in Nagoya.

Series Notes: By picking up the win on Sunday, reliever Ryoma Matsuda now has half of the team’s six wins. Chalk it up to being the right pitcher at the right time. Still, when is the last time a reliever has led the team in wins this deep into the season? Should continue for awhile, as no one else has more than a win so far. Messenger, Fujinami and Akira Iwamoto have the other W’s… The Tigers tied a club record on Saturday by losing their first four games of the season at Koshien. Saturday’s loss tied the 1999 squad for futility, a club that ended up in last place. Let’s hope these Tigers avoid doing the same… Minoru Iwata missed his turn in the rotation and will likely start the first or second game of the next series. With four left-handed starting pitchers currently, the Tigers are at a disadvantage against the bulk of the league, as right-handed hitters typically hit better against southpaws… With Toritani’s bomb in the eighth, the team now has 6 on the season so far. At this point last year they had double digits already. Look for Mauro Gomez and Matt Murton to bring their big bats into the next series.