March 16: Stomping on the Eagles in Shizuoka
This game started quite slowly, as the two aces showed off their repertoires before helpless bats. Our guys finally got to Takahiro Norimoto in the fifth, when Kento Itohara smacked a 2-run double to the left field corner. T 2-0 E
Randy Messenger is just getting warmed up. He allowed a fifth-inning run on a double play ground ball (which was preceded by another infielder error by our boys), and that was all the Rakuten Eagles got off him in five innings of solid work. T 2-1 E
Our guys even got a couple more runs off Norimoto, including a solo home run by Hayata Itoh!
That was followed by back-to-back doubles, the latter of which came off the bat of Ryutaro Umeno. T 4-1 E
But the true damage came in the seventh, when the Tigers sent 14 men to the plate, and eight more runs were tacked onto the lead. Two of those came courtesy of Shun Takayama‘s two-run home run. T 12-1 E
The Eagles got 3 runs back off Suguru Iwazaki on a bases-clearing double from Zelous Wheeler, but that was all. Big win for our boys, and finally a sign that the bats are coming to life!
Final Score: Hanshin 12, Rakuten 4
March 17: Green in the Face on St. Patty’s Day
First of all, it’s great to see two veterans smacking the ball HARD. Yoshio Itoi and Wilin Rosario hit back-to-back jack in the top of the first, and it looked like a continuation of the previous day’s romp. T 2-0 D
🐯負けたけど…
いい事もあったよね。👍😆#阪神タイガース #糸井嘉男 #WilinRosarios pic.twitter.com/5BV8DUX0XK
— ⚾埼とら⚾今年も怪我無く！ (@yakyuragu) March 17, 2018
But Yuta Iwasada had other ideas. He allowed runs in each of the first four innings, and the lead had vanished. T 2-5 D
And the relievers came in and did more of the same. Three runs against Kyuji Fujikawa in the seventh and four more against Rafael Dolis in the eighth, and you have a bunch of fans sick to their stomachs and green in the face.
Final Score: Chunichi 12, Hanshin 2
March 18: Spanked Thoroughly Again!
Starter Takumi Akiyama was not hitting his spots, and he gave up runs in four of his six innings of work, including a 3-run home run. Kentaro Kuwahara gave up a dinger of his own, too.
The bats did nothing. Literally almost NOTHING.