Hanshin used its two best pitchers against the Hawks, to no avail. Now they were left with the back end of their rotation, against the powerful Saitama Seibu Lions hitting order. This had the making of an ugly weekend and a terrible start to interleague play.
Game 48 – Another Great Start Wasted
Starting Pitchers: Yuta Iwasada vs. Yusei Kikuchi
This one can be boiled down to one team taking advantage of its few chances, and another failing to deliver on any of its numerous ones. The Lions led off with a home run into the opposite field corner by Shogo Akiyama, and added another run two innings later on an RBI single to the wall by Yamakawa.
Meanwhile, Hanshin had: runners on 1st & 2nd with no outs (1st inning), runner on 2nd with no outs (2nd inning), runner on 3rd with no outs (5th inning), and a runner on 2nd with no outs (9th inning) but did not produce a single run all night. Iwasada went the distance, with this line: 8 IP, 112 TP, 6 H, 2 BB, 10 K, 2 R.
Final Score: 
2, 
0
LP: Iwasada (2-2)
Game 49 – Bats Come to Life At Last
Starting Pitchers: Taiki Ono vs. Shinsaburo Tawata
The Tigers took a little lead in the first (Yoshio Itoi knocked in Kento Itohara, but squandered it over two sloppy innings by Ono, who left the game with his tail between his legs: 4 IP, 93 TP, 5 H, 4 BB, 4 R, 3 K. No one would have been surprised to see him tagged with the loss.
The bats got one back in the fifth, as Kosuke Fukudome brought Itohara (4 hits on the day in total) home. The bases loaded up on a couple of walks, but with those bases juiced, Hanshin did what it usually does: squandered the chance.
The next inning would be a different story, though. With the bases loaded and one more run already across the plate (on an Itohara single), Itoi did something he had never before done in his life, and no Hanshin player had done in nearly two seasons:
グランドスラム！糸井の一撃で逆転！！！ 【映像提供：パシフィックリーグマーケティング】 #hanshin #虎テレ pic.twitter.com/NYrdaa694p
— 阪神タイガース (@TigersDreamlink) June 2, 2018
And the bases eventually clogged up again three walks later, but this time a backwards K prevented the game from getting too far out of hand. The very next inning, though, Itoi came up with a chance for another grand salami, His fly ball to the opposite field landed in the fielder’s glove around the warning track, which was good for another run.
Despite a second home run on the day for Yamakawa, the Tigers buckled down in the ninth, getting RBIs from Noriharu Yamazaki and Takashi Toritani, and the losing streak (and collective hitting slump) was over.
Final Score: 10, 5
WP: Masaki Tanigawa (1-1)
Game 50 – Defensive Letdowns, Poor Relief
Starting Pitchers: Shintaro Fujinami vs. Daiki Enokida
Let’s get the most important issue out of the way: Fujinami pitched well. His line (5.1 IP, 101 TP, 6 H, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 7 R, 4 ER, 5 K) may appear to contradict this, but considering how sloppy the defense was behind him, you could say that for once, he was not to blame for the number of runs he allowed. A double steal (second and home) scored one run, which actually was preceded by an easy double-play ball being bobbled. Another run scored on poor fielding by the right fielder. Fujinami did allow some ill-timed hits, and threw a ball away at first on a pick-off, but overall, he hit a lot of spots, and showed signs of his younger, more dominant self.
On the hitting side of things, Naomasa Yohkawa took advantage of a recently farmed Wilin Rosario. He started at first base, and knocked in the team’s second and third runs.
今日1軍登録の陽川！期待に応えるタイムリーヒット！！！ 【映像提供：パシフィックリーグマーケティング】 #hanshin #虎テレ pic.twitter.com/xghsjXZVG5
— 虎テレ運用担当 (@toratele) June 3, 2018
Then he clobbered his first home run of the season.
陽川 尚将 1号 2ラン ホームラン 2018年6月3日 西武vs阪神 pic.twitter.com/wKxYwfEU1Q
— ホームラン動画速報 (@nuremoh) June 3, 2018
He now has homers in each of the last three seasons. What remains to be seen is whether or not he can hit more than 2 in a single season, and if he can stay on the top squad long enough that he does not win another double crown on the farm (which he has done two seasons running). Anyways, as you may have guessed, the Tigers got their feline butts handed to them.