When wins are not coming easy, you don’t take any of your opponents for granted. Even if they are the Chunichi Dragons. Even if they’re putting a developing pitcher on the mound. And especially when your own starter is unproven. But the team pushed runs across when they needed them, and the pitching was rock-solid in this one. Win!
Starting Pitchers: Haruto Takahashi (1-1, 3.71 ERA) vs. Shinnosuke Ogasawara (1-3, 4.73 ERA)
3
Haruto was cruising along at a ridiculous pace up to this point. He needed just 20 pitches to get his first seven outs. Then he missed with a pitch to their catcher. Didn’t even need a full swing to put it over the fence. Fortunately no one was on base, and the damage was minimal.
Tigers 0, Dragons 1
6
Chances arose in other innings, most notably when Yusuke Ohyama led off with a double in the third, but nothing became of it, and it was not until this inning when that the shutout was broken. Shunsuke led off with a single, and a couple of outs later he found himself on third. Kosuke Fukudome walked, and with runners on the corners, Wilin Rosario got his second hit of the game, wiring one up the middle to tie the game up.
🐯ヨッシャ〜❗
ロサリオ選手が
同点タイムリー❗👏🏻😆#阪神タイガース#WilinRosarioss pic.twitter.com/OkLA2Ggzy2— ⚾埼とら⚾今季も怪我無く！ (@yakyuragu) May 18, 2018
Then Kento Itohara hit one into right, scoring Fukudome from second.
Tigers 2, Dragons 1
8 & 9
Try as they may, the Dragons could not get the tying run across the plate. Haruto left the mound with runners on the corners and two outs in the 8th, and Kentaro Kuwahara got him out of the jam. Haruto’s line: 7.2 IP, 103 TP, 5 H, 2 BB, 1 R, 7 K. In the top of the ninth, Takashi Toritani made his token appearance as a pinch hitter bunter, and set a new franchise record for career games played with 2011. Then in the bottom half of the inning, Rafael Dolis was a boss. He was also helped by a fabulous defensive play by Ohyama.