After what has to be the worst preseason in history, the Tigers looked lifeless, and that all the February talk about a pennant was smoke and mirrors. And heading into Tokyo Dome to face the reigning Eiji Sawamura Award winner surely wouldn’t be an encouraging start to the regular season, would it?
Starting Pitchers: Randy Messenger (11-5, 2.38 ERA) vs. Tomoyuki Sugano (17-5, 1.59 ERA)
1
Just eight pitches and Sugano was out of the inning. Ho-hum.
1
A leadoff single was followed by a one-out walk, but with two men on base, Randy clamped down and left the Giants shaking their heads. Strikeout, groundout, no score.
2
With one out and the bases empty, captain Kosuke Fukudome broke up the perfect game, no-hitter, and shutout with one swing of the bat…
プロ野球2018シーズン第１号は、
阪神 福留のソロホームラン‼‼‼#Tigers pic.twitter.com/H9Ug07pyZS
— プロ野球おもしろ超速報 (@baseballchosoku) March 30, 2018
That was followed by three straight singles (Yusuke Ohyama, Kento Itohara, Ryutaro Umeno). And with two outs and the bases juiced, Shun Takayama legged (and head-slid) out an infield RBI single, adding to our lead early.
2
The Giants got another hit, but that was it. Another strikeout for Messenger.
Score: Hanshin 2, Yomiuri 0
3
Fukudome picked up his second hit in as many at bats, and then Ohyama brought him (and himself) home on this opposite field beaut…
[速]【⚾プロ野球開幕戦】
大山の第1号2ランホームラン！！
巨人 0×4 阪神
阪 ｜022 ｜4
巨 ｜00 ｜0 pic.twitter.com/QrCjLeMaGu— Nicholas V (@a60486588) March 30, 2018
3
Nothin’ doin’. Grounder, infield fly, grounder.
Score: Hanshin 4, Yomiuri 0
4
Takayama got his second hit of the game. That is all.
4
Grounder, strikeout, infield fly. Nothin’ but business. But our two middle infielders collided on that last play. Nothing serious, though.
5
Fukudome gets his THIRD hit of the game, and is still batting 1.000 on the year.
5
The first real threat of the night from the Giants came off two straight singles and a Sugano sac bunt to put two men in scoring position. But a strikeout and a liner to second kept the shutout intact.
6
Nothing out of the bottom third of the order.
6
Nothing out of the heart of their order.
7
Three straight singles (Takashi Toritani, Yoshio Itoi and Wilin Rosario), the latter of which brought home a run, gave us our best ever outing against Sugano, and gave him his worst Opening Day start ever.
7
A two-out infield single (nice grab by Tori, but bad throw after his pivot) was followed by two more hits, and the Giants returned the run they gave up in the top of the frame. Randy finished with 7.0 IP, 108 TP, 7 H, 5 K, 1 BB, 1 ER.
Score: Hanshin 5, Yomiuri 1
8
Itohara got his second hit of the night, and was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, but ended up stranded there.
8
Marcos Mateo came in, gave up a one-out single, but fanned the next two batters.
9
Just get us to the hotel so we can rest up for tomorrow’s afternoon game! Three up, three down.
9
Rafael Dolis got three outs on five pitches. Can’t get much more efficient than that!
Final Score: Hanshin 5, Yomiuri 1. WP: Messenger (1-0). Team Record: 1-0-0
Hero interview (#54) here.