Once again, the team’s most dependable pitcher came through when needed the most. In fact, the only run the bad guys got against him were assisted by some shaky fielding on our part. The bats took just enough advantage of the Swallows inferior pitching to make this one a no-doubter. The losing streak stops at 3.
Starting Pitchers: Randy Messenger (3-1, 1.99 ERA) vs. David Huff (0-2, 7.71 ERA)
2
Tomorrow’s “birthday boy geezer” Kosuke Fukudome got things going with a walk, and after a Kento Itohara single and a Yusuke Ohyama beaning, Ryutaro Umeno essentially bunted (well, it was a weak grounder to pitcher) home a run.
Hanshin 1, Yakult 0
3
With a couple of outs, it was the same sequence of guys getting it done: Fukudome, Itohara and Ohyama with singles to plate a second run. It was Ohyama’s first RBI hit in ages. Doesn’t atone for last Saturday, but whatever…
Hanshin 2, Yakult 0
4
Sakaguchi got on board on the feeblest of swings, and then a Balentien blast to the right field corner popped out of Yoshio Itoi‘s glove. Shutout ruined, but Randy kept the damage to a minimum.
Hanshin 2, Yakult 1
7
Not the most impressive of hits, but it was good enough for a score. Wilin Rosario got his grounder just past a diving shortstop and into shallow right. Then Itohara collected his third hit of the night (none of them were hard-hit balls, but that’s OK) to bring home another insurance run.
Hanshin 4, Yakult 1
7
Nothing here for the birds. Two grounders and a nine pitch strikeout. Messenger’s night ended with a truly impressive line: 7 IP, 110 TP, 3 H, 2 BB, 1 R, 6 K.
9
A one-out single by Balentien was followed by a grazed batter, and then Rafael Dolis gave up a run on a two-out single. But that was all.