[7/31 Hanshin 2-4 Yakult W] A comeback victory with Mr. Murakami's miraculous 3 home runs!!! A great effort by the relief pitchers to hold them to 2 runs!! Avoiding a 3-game sweep and Mr. Taguchi gets his win for the season!! However, we are still not in top form... It might be a season of patient baseball from next week onwards.
Hello. No, wait. Good evening? This is Damachun.
The hot days continue, and lately I've been waking up in the morning feeling uncomfortable from the heat.
It's usually painful, but today I feel refreshed.
Winning really feels great♪ Thank you, manager and players!!
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Yesterday's game against the Hanshin Tigers. A 3-game sweep was something we absolutely could not allow...
If we let the Hanshin team build any more momentum, our 20-game lead in the standings would be as good as nothing... We absolutely had to win...
Our starting pitcher, Juri Hara-san.
In his previous game against the Hiroshima team on 7/23, he was in a terrible state, giving up 6 hits and 7 runs in 1/3 of an inning, but I think he started well yesterday!
He was hitting the low corners at key moments, and I think it was a gritty pitching performance, wasn't it?
And then, the dreaded bottom of the 4th inning... As expected, the Hanshin lineup is in top form. They caught up to him...
Three consecutive hits by Chikamoto-san, Satoteru-san, and Oyama-san gave them an easy lead... followed by Itohara-san hitting a perfect sacrifice fly for an insurance run...
They are flawless. This is the fierce Tiger lineup, isn't it... (>_<)
Furthermore, in the bottom of the 5th, the fangs of the fierce Tigers attacked the low-flying Swallows...
Umeno-san (the YS Umeno is Umeno-kun) hit a single to right, and then, surprisingly, a walk to Gunkel-san (>_<)
This just smells like a massive run-scoring inning...
.
.
.
That was when the savior appeared, Takuma Kubo (#61)-kun
The promising left-hander arrived to fill the void left by Koshiro Sakamoto-san, who was traded to Lotte the other day!!
He really did it for us. He tried so hard. I was moved.
Even while giving up a walk, he finished by striking out the monster Satoteru-san on 3 pitches!! A wonderful slider that broke away and dropped to the outside corner!!
Thank you for a pitching performance that made me think we can still do this! Personally, he is my shadow MVP of yesterday!! Keep it up from here on out!! (^_^)v
From then on, the relief corps really worked hard.
Kizawa-kun, Shimizu-san, Taguchi-san, and others—I really take my hat off to them... They always set up the game for us. I have nothing but gratitude (^∧^)
After the bottom of the 6th, it was 2-0, and one hit could change everything!
As Swallows fans nationwide (is that an exaggeration?) prayed, finally a god descended!!
A pursuit shot to the opposite field left stand off Watanabe (YS's Watanabe is "Nabe-chan")!
However, the God remained with a fierce look on his face (-.-)
In the top of the 9th with no room for error, the God was indeed the God.
A game-tying solo shot off closer Iwasaki, powerfully driving an inside high pitch!
Amidst the mix of cheers and screams in the stands. Although he showed a guts pose, the God's eyes were not yet smiling. (-_-)
With the tense situation continuing, 2 outs in the top of the 11th. Number 37?! A go-ahead 2-run homer to settle it!
Finally, the God smiles (^^)
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The Swallows have finally begun to emerge from the dark tunnel.
However, the runs came solely from the performance of Lord Murakami, and it seems that the players who returned from COVID are not necessarily in top form. I feel that neither the pitching nor the batting is in a good rhythm yet.
Tough battles will continue from tomorrow onwards, but I want to send my full support so that they can regain their true strength under Manager Takatsu's leadership and head into August.
I want to win the next series!!
Go! Go! Swallows!!
Thank you for reading until the end!
Damachun♪