Yesterday was somewhat solemn, in that both teams were playing in memory of their deceased ex-manager (and in the Dragons’ case, pitcher), Senichi Hoshino. Today was also a somber day for Japan: 7 years ago, a terrible disaster (earthquake, tsunami, nuclear meltdown) struck the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan. But at least for Hanshin fans, the day also had moments of joy.
March 11: Starter Haruto Takahashi was getting his first shot at participating in the Hanshin-Kyojin rivalry. And he got baptised (to an extent) early on. He only got one of the first five guys he faced out. Fortunately, some help from his fielders and an inning-ending strikeout kept the damage to a minimum. T 0-1 G
Takahashi was fine the rest of the way, coaxing 5 grounders and getting one more strikeout in the next two innings. Yuta Iwasada took the mound in the fourth inning, pitching two clean innings and becoming the winning pitcher on record, because…
In the bottom of the fourth, Naomasa Yohkawa stroked a ball to right to tie the game up (video here). Then Masahiro Nakatani lashed a ball to the left field corner (video here), and Shun Takayama drove him in with a single of his own (no video here). T 3-1 G
In the top of the sixth, however, Iwasada did what he has done when off his game: he allowed a big home run to a big hitter. Rich boy Alex Guerrero deposited a ball into the left field bleachers to tie the game up. T 3-3 G
Fortunately, our same guys came up to the plate in the sixth, and (kind of) repeated the feat. Nakatani hit another double, this one to the left-center gap (video here), and was followed by an additional run on some bad fielding on a squeeze play, and then a sacrifice fly by Takayama. T 6-3 G
Our man Rafael Dolis closed the door in the ninth, and there you have it. Hanshin finally got a W in March. Let’s hope they can do more of this on March 30 and beyond!