The big win on Opening Day was a great sign that our guys could still hit the ball, hit it hard, hit it often, even against top notch pitching. That fun continued in Game 2, but when the tides turned in the sixth, they carried us out of the driver’s seat and into loserland.
Starting Pitchers: Shintaro Fujinami (3-5, 4.12 ERA) vs. Kazuto Taguchi (13-4, 3.01 ERA)
1
Hiroki Uemoto got the nod at second over Toritani, and got on base with a one-out single. Then got picked off. The next pitch went for a long ride off Yoshio Itoi‘s bat…
よっぴ、キターッ(*ﾟ∀ﾟ人ﾟ∀ﾟ*)♪ pic.twitter.com/kw0ZfHxHpN
— 福井 繁 (@toripon001) March 31, 2018
Hanshin 1, Yomiuri 0
3
Uemoto got things going again with a one-out double, which was followed by an Itoi walk, a Wilin Rosario RBI single, then another by Kosuke Fukudome and then an RBI double by Yusuke Ohyama (only scored one run because Rosario got picked off at second). But…
3
With two outs and two runners in scoring position, Fujinami gave up a hit to Okamoto, and the lead was immediately cut in half.
Hanshin 4, Yomiuri 2
6
Hanshin didn’t score here, but it’s worth pointing out that with Kento Itohara on first and no one out, our team pulled the classic “sac bunt with the pitcher on deck” trick out of their back pocket (or somewhere in that vicinity). Fujinami walked, but no run scored. And Fujinami remained in the game for…
6
A hit and two walks. No outs. Suguru Iwazaki walks the next batter, and the lead is down to one. Two strikeouts later, a base hit scores the game-tying run. Fujinami’s line: 5.0 IP, 104 TP, 6 H, 5 BB, 4 K, 4 R.
Hanshin 4, Yomiuri 4
7
Kentaro Kuwahara struggled to get outs until he gave up the go-ahead run. Then he struck out two and sat down. Still, the comfortable lead was now a slim deficit. For the time being…
Hanshin 4, Yomiuri 5
8
Kyuji Fujikawa is still warming up, it would seem. With two men on and two outs, he threw a fatball that got crushed. And the deficit was now unsurmountable.