Akihiro Yano looked every bit the inexperienced manager in Game 1, leaving two of his power bats on the bench and calling for a hit-and-run that backfired in the fifth. The result was that the Tigers needed a win (or tie) in this one, or the season would come to a premature end. And this is what the starting lineup looked like on this day, quite different than yesterday:
- #5 Koji Chikamoto CF
- #51 Takumu Nakano SS
- #33 Kento Itohara 2B
- #31 Jefry Marte 1B
- #3 Yusuke Ohyama 3B
- #24 Mel Rojas Jr. LF
- #2 Ryutaro Umeno C
- #8 Teruaki Sato RF
- #50 Koyo Aoyagi P
First Inning
Matsubara singled to left, Wakabayashi flied out to short, Sakamoto grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.
Chikamoto singled to left. Nakano flied out to third. Itohara singled to right. Marte struck out looking, Ohyama struck out swinging.
Second Inning
Maru flied out to first, Kamei grounded out to pitcher, Wheeler lined out to pitcher.
Rojas lined out to second. Umeno doubled to center. Sato doubled him home on a gapper to left-center! Aoyagi struck out swinging. Chikamoto singled to right. Nakano knocked in a run with a single to left! Yuki Takahashi out, Takagi in. Itohara grounded out to first.
Third Inning
Nakano muffed a Yoshikawa grounder. Ohshiro and Yaoita (pinch-hitter) and Matsubara singled, scoring one. Wakabayashi grounded out to pitcher. Sakamoto struck out swinging. Maru singled home two runs on a drive to right. Aoyagi out, Masashi Itoh in. Kamei walked. Wheeler flied out to center.
Togo entered in relief. Marte flied out to left. Ohyama walked. Rojas singled to right. Umeno hit a screamer down the third baseline, 5-3 double play.
Fourth Inning
Yoshikawa struck out swinging. Ohshiro singled to left. Togo struck out bunting. Matsubara grounded out to short.
Sato walked. Pinch-hitter Yoshio Itoi flied out to second. Chikamoto flied out to center (nice grab by Maru). Nakano singled to right. Itohara flied out to third.
Fifth Inning
Raul Alcantara takes over on the bump. Wakabayashi flied out to left. Sakamoto flied out to center. Maru grounded out to second.
Marte flied to center. Ohyama struck out swinging. Rojas doubled to right. Umeno grounded out to pitcher (check swing off the knob of his bat).
Sixth Inning
Kamei lined out to second. Wheeler flied out to third. Yoshikawa grounded out to first.
Takanashi relieved Togo. Sato grounded out to first. Yasuhiro Yamamoto (pinch-hitter) singled to left. Chikamoto flied out to right. Nakano and Itohara walked the bases loaded. Kagiya came in to put out the fire… Marte grounded out to third.
Seventh Inning
Suguru Iwazaki comes into the game. Ohshiro struck out swinging. Nakata grounded out to third. Matsubara walked. Wakabayashi flied out to short.
De la Rosa needed eight pitches to get Ohyama (fly out to second), Rojas (ground out to second) and Umeno (ground out to short).
Eighth Inning
Ohyama could not field a grounder, Sakamoto reached first. Maru bunt-singled to third. Kamei bunted the runners over. Robert Suarez took over for Iwazaki. Wheeler hit a sac fly to center. Yoshikawa grounded out to first.
Nakagawa needed just eight pitches to get Sato (ground out to pitcher), Sakamoto (ground out to short) and Chikamoto (ground out to third).
Ohshiro flied out to center. Hirooka grounded out to short. Matsubara struck out swinging.
Vieira came in to try to close the game. Nakano struck out swinging. Itohara grounded out to third. Marte singled to short. Ohyama walked. Rojas struck out swinging on a full-count breaking ball just minutes after Yomiuri-TV ended their broadcast.
Final Score: Hanshin 2, Yomiuri 4
LP: Aoyagi (2.2 IP 3 R 0 ER)