You know, there are days when the team plays well but loses a close one. There are days when the team plays alright but wins a close one. And then there are outright stinkers, like today. Instead of dwelling on the negatives, here are some of the “highlights” of today’s shutout loss.
Starting Pitchers: Takumi Akiyama (1-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Masanori Ishikawa (1-0, 9.31 ERA)
2
With the bases empty and two outs, Kosuke Fukudome does this:
ドメさんに拍手喝采!(ﾟ∇ﾟﾉﾉ“☆(ﾟ∇ﾟﾉﾉ”☆(ﾟ∇ﾟﾉﾉ“☆ﾊﾟﾁﾊﾟﾁﾊﾟﾁ!!! RT @yakyuragu: 🐯ヨッシャ〜❗
素晴らしいキャプテン✋😆#阪神タイガース pic.twitter.com/AZCbdPyyNN— まこと (@bakucook99) April 14, 2018
Inning over, game remains scoreless.
7
One inning after Akiyama gave up the game’s opening run (double for Yamada, out, RBI double by Balentien on a ball outside the zone), Fukudome repeats his performance…
🐯またも留ちゃんが…👏🏻
気合い入ってんのキャプテンだけかよ❗😠ありゃ、ツイートしてる間に
ホームラン打たれた。😔#阪神タイガース pic.twitter.com/SogazskFnQ— ⚾埼とら⚾今年も怪我無く！ (@yakyuragu) April 14, 2018
Akiyama would give up a solo homer to the next batter, but completed the inning without any further damage. He went 7 IP, 98 TP, 4 H, 1 HBP, 2 R, 3 K.
That is all. Relievers stank it up the rest of the way. We got hits from just three men: Fukudome with 2 (you could have guessed that, since he’s the only hitter showing up these days), Itoi with 2 and Itohara with 1. Two more double plays against, and two more errors. Yep. As if watching in the rain wasn’t bad enough for the fans, they got golden showered by their own team.