After a lot of rain and mediocrity during the week at Koshien, the Tigers took their act on the road for the final week of interleague play. First stop: Sapporo Dome to face the resurgent Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. Given the powerful bats they have, Hanshin would need theirs to come out and play, plus get the most out of their pitchers. They got the former but not the latter, and now the Tigers are deeper in the hole than they have been all year.
Game 55: Making the Prince Cry into his Handkerchief
Starting Pitchers: Randy Messenger vs. Yuki Saito
There was nothing even close about this one. Saito had no control of his pitches early on, and gave up single runs (Ryutaro Umeno RBI infield single in the second, Masahiro Nakatani sacrifice fly in the third) early on. But the fun was just beginning. With two runners on, recently recalled Shun Takayama just missed lacing a double down the right field line, and then clobbered a pitch over the fence instead. A few batters later, with Yoshio Itoi on third, Nakatani blasted one over the left field foul pole.
🐯今日の高山と中谷の
スタンド放り込みです❗👍😆#阪神タイガース#高山俊#中谷将大pic.twitter.com/poBtC5CIwu
— ⚾埼とら⚾今季も怪我無く！ (@yakyuragu) June 12, 2018
In the top of the 8th, Kento Itohara hit an RBI double, and Nakatani cashed in two more with a bases loaded single.
Messenger was rock solid until a shaky 8th, when he allowed 4 straight hits, and eventually got charged with a pile of runs. His line: 7.0 IP, 120 TP, 8 H, 1 BB, 1 HPB, 8 K, 5 R.
Final Score: 
10 
5
WP: Messenger (8-3)
Game 56: Ono! Onaka Itai!
Starting Pitchers: Taiki Ono vs. Naoyuki Uwasawa
Our starter really didn’t have his best stuff right from the beginning of the game. Despite his poor pitching through three innings, though, the Tigers were down just one run. Unfortunately, they had just one hit through that same span. Then came the fourth. With just one out, the bases were juiced for Naomasa Yohkawa, who cleared them while putting himself in scoring position with a big double. Tigers lead!
いいぞ陽川！！！走者一掃の逆転タイムリー！！！ 【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/2y8Nx0JWTt
— 虎テレ運用担当 (@toratele) June 13, 2018
Unfortunately, Ono struggled again in the fourth, walking two before getting yanked with two outs (3.2 IP, 96 TP, 3 H, 5 BB, 4 K, 3 R)… Two extra runs charged to him because reliever Yuya Onaka gave up two straight RBI singles, an RBI double, and then the piece de resistance: a three-run sushi bomb to Brandon Laird. The ball may or may not have landed at press time. In any case, the damage continued in the next inning, as Masaki Tanigawa gave up a solo shot.
Game over? Hold your horses. The Tigers actually fought back! Itoi knocked in Itohara, and Takashi Toritani brought Itoi home in the top of the 7th. Then with just one out left in the game and the team down three, two guys got on base for Hayata Itoh, who came through with a triple that was just a few feet from tying the game up.
伊藤隼太やっぱかっこええ♡ pic.twitter.com/N3T8BZyzRT
— りんちゃん@6/26.28ハマスタ (@tora_rin44) June 13, 2018
Unfortunately, Fumihito Haraguchi struck out on a full count pitch in the dirt to leave the Tigers just a run shy of pulling off a sweet comeback.
Final Score: 7 8
LP: Onaka (0-1)
Game 57 – All Sorts of Birthday Hate
Starting Pitchers: Takumi Akiyama vs. Nick Martinez
The defense didn’t help – an error by Kai Ueda, plus another uncalled error, plus lousy fielding by Takayama, all meant innings went longer than they should have, and the score piled up at times. Still, the Fighters poured it on at the end of the game, scoring their second run in the fifth, two more in the sixth, and four in the seventh (all of Akiyama’s runners that were passed on to Koki Moriya scored, giving him a line of: 6.1 IP, 114 TP, 9 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 3 K, 8 R. Moriya also loaded the bases in the eighth and then gave up a Kensuke Kondoh bases-clearing double.
My lone birthday present came in the eighth in garbage time, as Fukudome hit a two-run homer. Apparently now he has bombs against all 12 NPB teams, making him the 33rd man in history to do so. Meh, it’s all the celebrating I’ll do tonight… at least with these Tigers.
🐯留ちゃん…ww
この驚き顔の後はしっかり
スタンドに放り込む❗👏🏻😆#阪神タイガース pic.twitter.com/YCPAqFPa4w— ⚾埼とら⚾今季も怪我無く！ (@yakyuragu) June 14, 2018