Koyo Aoyagi has not been the same since the Olympics. He has now given up 17 runs in his last five starts after giving up just 24 (21 earned) in his first 16 starts. That said, the bats once again came up short when they had chances. Two straight innings of bases-loaded situations yielded two…
The Tigers got hold to just 4 hits on this day, but it was not all that important, given that they were handed 8 free passes in the first five innings. Two of their hits produced the runs they needed, and three of the walks scored those runs. The Giants made it close at the…
It may be a mystery, but it is no hidden secret that the Hanshin Tigers struggle to score and win at Vantelin Dome Nagoya. After getting on the board in the top of the first and watching starter Masashi Itoh cruise through the first five innings of the game, it looked as though this would…
Despite getting the leadoff man on base five times tonight, the Tigers bats were simply unable to push anyone across home plate. That is mostly because the same three guys kept getting on base, but the rest of the batters did pretty much nothing. Great outing by rookie Masashi Itoh goes to waste. Swallows win,…
Coming from behind to win games feels good, but falling behind early game in and game out, well, does not feel so good. Once again, the Tigers’ starter – in this case, Masashi Itoh – surrendered three runs in the game’s first three innings… and our bats only really came to life in the fifth…
We’re back in first! This was a true nail-biter, as the teams exchanged blows from the fourth inning on. Both teams also had bases-loaded chances that came up short, and both teams got big home runs from last year’s two biggest home run hitters. Kazuma Okamoto’s sixth-inning bomb was a dagger through the hearts of…
Through the top of the sixth, this one looked really lopsided, as though the Tigers were going to simply bow down to the Giants yet again… but somebody turned off the orange light and flipped on the yellow switch. Yuki Nishi missed his spot a few times in the middle innings, putting the team down…
Neither of these teams looked like the ones that combined for 27 hits and 13 runs on Tuesday. Perhaps that is a good thing, though, as it was getting a little old seeing our team falling deep into holes early in games. This time around, Masashi Itoh pitched masterfully, with the lone run he surrendered…
Yuki Nishi continued to look for elusive career win #100, and while he started out reasonably well, and technically did produce a quality start (6 IP 3 R), the bullpen doubled the runs against in two innings of work, and captain Yusuke Ohyama failed to capitalize on three big chances with runners in scoring position:…
After yesterday’s embarrassing loss, the Tigers came out roaring on both ends. Joe Gunkel mowed down the first three batters he faced really quickly, and Koji Chikamoto smacked the first pitch in the bottom half of the inning over the wall. From there, the batters kept the foot on the pedal most of the night,…