If only it had rained a few more times. This series against the Chiba Lotte Marines came during the heart of rainy season, and in case you missed it, Hanshin is perfect so far this season on days after rainouts. So Friday’s rainout was a good omen, but Monday’s rainout only helped them win their first game up in Sapporo. The makeup game on June 19 came after a sunny Sunday loss up in Sendai, and the result was that the Tigers are guaranteed a losing record once league play resumes.
Game 53: Neither Team Wanted the W (But We Got It)
Starting Pitchers: Yuta Iwasada vs. Hideaki Wakui
Friday’s game was called at the last minute, which meant both starters had already gone through their warmup routines. That didn’t stop Iwasada from bringing his A game on Saturday. The Marines only got 4 guys on base (never more than one in an inning) while he was on the mound.
Meanwhile, Kosuke Fukudome came to the park ready to support his pitcher. He hit this blast in the first inning…
🐯やっぱり頼りになるね❗👏🏻😆#阪神タイガース #福留孝介 pic.twitter.com/ca1VrFsUGL
— ⚾埼とら⚾今季も怪我無く！ (@yakyuragu) June 9, 2018
Then added some support in the sixth with a sacrifice fly. (There was also a gaffe in the fifth inning, but you can read about that in a different article.)
Anyhow, Kentaro Kuwahara pitched a clean eighth, leaving the Tigers three outs from victory. But the Marines connected on four of the first six pitches Rafael Dolis threw, and with the help of a bad throw to first on a bunt attempt, they tied this one up.
Neither team acted as though it wanted to win this one in extras, either! Yes, the visitors loaded the bases in the tenth, but Kyuji Fujikawa stepped in and struck out the one guy who could have ended the game. That was all the Marines managed, as Atsushi Nohmi threw two shutout innings to ensure at least a tie.
We got lucky. With runners on first and second and just one out, Noriharu Yamazaki grounded out to shortstop for a surefire game-ending double play. But baseball is pretty interesting at times, isn’t it? Walk off win on an error.
阪神、サヨナラ勝ちきたあああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああああ＼(^o^)／
サヨナラとらほー！＼(^o^)／ pic.twitter.com/gY1coU6Ezn
— や す ぽ ん くん@FCU (@ksmokya_fcu_21) June 9, 2018
Final Score: 
3x, 
2
WP: Nohmi (1-2)
Game 54: Just Another Frustrating Close Loss
Starting Pitchers: Haruto Takahashi vs. Mike Bolsinger
Kai Ueda is fast. His first inning bunt to pitcher, which was only supposed to advance the leadoff runner to second, turned into an infield hit. Fukudome’s grounder to pitcher advanced them each a base, and Yoshio Itoi brought them home for an early lead against a strong pitcher.
But that was all. Haruto gave up run a run in the top of the third, then two more after he was pulled (with the bases loaded) in the top of the fifth, and the tides had turned. Still, there were five full innings to scrape together a run or two.
No dice. The saddest part of it was that our skipper chose to use a cleanup hitter to bunt the leadoff runner over the second in the bottom of the ninth. Bunt failed. Runner stuck on first. Game over.
Final Score: 2, 3
LP: H. Takahashi (2-3)
Game 61: Smacked Around Early, No Late Charge
Starting Pitchers: Randy Messenger vs. Ayumu Ishikawa
Randy started quite poorly in this one, walking the leadoff batter, and a sac bunt later, giving up two straight RBI doubles. The very next inning, he gave up a one-out single, and a sac bunt later, an RBI single.
The batters simply did not produce when it mattered. (And once again, the manager’s decisions were questionable as well.) We got our leadoff hitter on base, but the second batter watched strike three instead of bunting him over. In the third inning, with runners on first and third and no outs, we go for a Randy safety squeeze bunt (anyone else sick of this call?), which served only to advance the first base runner. Two grounders later, Ishikawa walks off the mound grinning. Our one run came in the fourth, when Shun Takayama singled home a runner with a slick bit of hitting.
Hanshin got hits in each of the next four innings, but were unable to cross home anymore.