I wouldn’t say the Tigers won this game so much as they didn’t lose it. They did very little to put points on the board, and played sloppy enough defense to put the win in jeopardy, but in the end, it was the Dragons, and that in itself was enough to get our boys the win.
Starting Pitchers: Taiki Ono (1-0, 2.92 ERA) vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-1, 3.60 ERA)
2
Wilin Rosario took one for the team, advanced to third on a Kosuke Fukudome single, and scored on a Kento Itohara sacrifice fly. Yusuke Ohyama ensured the rally ended there, hitting into a 6-4-3 double play.
Tigers 1, Dragons 0
2
And while Ohyama could have redeemed himself for his poor batting by starting an inning-ending double play on defense, instead he let a ball skip under his glove, and a wild pitch later, the Dragons got on board despite no hits.
Tigers 1, Dragons 1
4
Tsuyoshi Nishioka got on base via a Dice-K error (bobbled a grounder, glove tossed it in the general direction of his dugout). While he could have scored on a Rosario single to right, instead he waited for a Fukudome 6-4-3 double play to cross home plate. I suppose a run’s a run, but that certainly isn’t a way to earn more playing time in the future…
Tigers 2, Dragons 1
6
Uneventful, other than it being the final inning of Ono’s start, which went: 6 IP, 101 TP, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 K.
8
Play of the game. Save of the game. Thank you, Shunsuke, for being a defensive replacement.
🐯ヨッシャ〜❗
センター俊介だったよ。スーパープレー👏🏻😆#阪神タイガース pic.twitter.com/NaCh1eQXRX
— ⚾埼とら⚾今年も怪我無く！ (@yakyuragu) April 19, 2018
7
And one reason Ono’s night came to an end early is because his turn in the order came with the bases juiced and two outs. But naturally, the Tigers didn’t capitalize.
9
Despite walking the leadoff batter, Rafael Dolis finished the game facing just three batters. The pinch runner got caught napping at first, and a grounder and liner later, the Tigers escaped with a win by the narrowest of margins.
🐯今日の勝因の１つだね。👍😆
9回の裏ノーアウトランナー１塁#阪神タイガース pic.twitter.com/9Hl45DT6vs
— ⚾埼とら⚾今年も怪我無く！ (@yakyuragu) April 19, 2018
And there you have it. The Tigers got their runs on a sacrifice fly and a double play ground ball, and the Dragons got theirs on an error. Definitely not high quality ball. Still, a win’s a win, I suppose.
Final Score: Hanshin 2, Chunichi 1.
WP: Ono (2-0). SV: Dolis (7)
Team Record: 9-7-0
Notes: The Tigers out-hit the Dragons 4-3 in this one, with Fukudome picking up half of ours… Ohyama is hitting .063 (1-16) with runners in scoring position after missing out on yet another chance to bring a man home in this one… Rosario now has hits in three straight games but does not have a home run since Game 3 (@ Giants)… The team has just four homers in its last 13 games.