When you’re playing on a field with smaller dimensions, against a team that’s not know for its pitching (the Yakult Swallows), you have to take advantage. And that’s exactly what the Tigers did. A couple of bombs and their first 10+ hit game in two weeks, and you’ve no longer got a losing streak on your hands! That, and our top hurler maintained his perfect record in countryside stadiums, as tonight’s tilt was played in Kurashiki, Okayama.
Starting Pitchers: Randy Messenger (6-2, 1.95 ERA) vs. Masanori Ishikawa (2-0, 5.52 ERA)
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Great chance for the Tigers to take the lead. Masahiro Nakatani had his first at bat of the year on the top squad, and looked to make decent contact. His fly out to deep left was disappointing, until he kept motioning to the catcher. Apparently, someone’s glove blocked his swing. I can imagine that could have been a homer, were it not for the interference. Still, he got first base for free.
🐯最近、珍しいね。🤔
もしかして当たらなきゃ
スタンドに放り込んだんじゃ
ね〜のか！？ww😅#阪神タイガース #中谷将大 pic.twitter.com/j2FuAsuzYm— ⚾埼とら⚾今季も怪我無く！ (@yakyuragu) May 22, 2018
Unfortunately, all it took was two pitches. Double play and ground out. Inning over, no score.
Hanshin 0, Yakult 0
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But we got on the board the next inning. Randy started things off with a single, and one out later, thanks to some uncharacteristic ineptness by Tetsuto Yamada, the inning stayed alive. His two consecutive bad throws to second led to two runs, and while before the inning ended, Wilin Rosario and Yoshio Itoi hit back-to-back jacks!
これは大きい！ロサリオ、糸井の連続ホームラン！！！ #hanshin #虎テレ pic.twitter.com/pNbhnI22e8
— 虎テレ運用担当 (@toratele) May 22, 2018
Hanshin 5, Yakult 0
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The very next inning, Randy walked the leadoff guy on a squeezed strike zone on full count, and that led to three straight guys hitting singles on the first pitches they saw. That, plus a ground out to second, helped the Swallows get back in this one.
Hanshin 5, Yakult 3
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We got one right back, as the bases loaded up in front of Kosuke Fukudome, who hit a sacrifice fly to right.
Hanshin 6, Yakult 3
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For the record, Messenger’s night ended after six innings of work. He went: 6 IP, 131 (!) TP, 7 H, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 3 R, 3 K. Takashi Toritani pinch hit for him in the sixth and got just his 10th hit on the year.
Itoi continued to punish the ball, this time hitting a double to the center field wall. It was his third hit of the night. He eventually scored on an RBI triple from Yusuke Ohyama. And with two outs, Ryutaro Umeno actually pulled off a “surprise” bunt… it should have resulted in the end of the inning, but the fielder left it, hoping it would roll foul. It did not.