Tuesday, May 1. You’d think that after the Yokohama DeNA BayStars showed us who’s boss last postseason, that they would continue to put up a good showing against our guys. But not so far. Four of our guys got multiple hits, five knocked at least one runner in, and one of the lightest guys on the team knocked one over the fence. And our pitcher? Well, he came just one out shy of a shutout. Not a bad way to start the homestand!
Starting Pitchers: Takumi Akiyama (1-3) vs. Shota Imanaga (0-1)
1
Tonight’s TV broadcast started at 6:14pm, and there was already a score on the board. Apparently, Hiroki Uemoto doubled, got bunted over to third and scored on a Yoshio Itoi double. That’s when the broadcast began. Itoi then moved to third on a grounder, and scored on Kento Itohara‘s single to shallow center. Then a third run scored on a Shunsuke single to shallow center.
Hanshin 3, Yokohama 0
4
The game stayed quiet until Itohara and Shunsuke singled back-to-back to start this inning. The old faithful bunt-before-pitcher actually paid off for once, as Akiyama slashed a ball into left field for an RBI single. Uemoto fought to a full count in his at bat before hitting one deep enough to center to score another run. But the small (lucky) baseball didn’t end there. Kai Ueda kept the inning alive with a bloop single to center, and Itoi dribbled one to no-man’s land between pitcher and second. All runs look the same in the box score. No complaints here.
Hanshin 6, Yokohama 0
6
Uemoto completing his modasho in style. Wilin Rosario, give that man a hug.
上本、猛打賞となる本日3本目はホームラン！！！ #hanshin #虎テレ pic.twitter.com/SvF0td747p
— 虎テレ運用担当 (@toratele) May 1, 2018
Hanshin 7, Yokohama 0
9
Akiyama needed just 90 pitches to get to the start of this inning. And then he kinda fell apart in a small way. Two hits and a sacrifice fly ruined his bid for a shutout. “Typical of me,” Akiyama shrugged in the post-game hero interview. Nevertheless, he completed the game, and the Tigers started their Golden Week home stand with a great game.