Around this time last year, Tokyo Yakult Swallows pitcher Masanori Ishikawa was not pitching well at all. He was knocked around routinely, and he was also having trouble progressing as a pitcher.
Fast forward one year, and Ishikawa is one of the best pitchers in the Central League. He has been very consistent, and again pulled some magic today against the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks by combining with closer Lim Chang-Yong on a 4-hitter to defeat the Hawks 3-0 and stop their winning streak at five games.
Recently recalled form ni-gun, Hawks starter Jeremy Powell has been struggling this year. Today, while Powell didn't pitch terribly, he did not put his team in a position to win. He labored through 5 innings, giving up all 3 Swallows runs on 8 hits, walking 1 and striking out 2. Fujioka and Takeoka each went 2 innings, striking out 2 batters, with Fujioka giving up 1 hit while Takeoka surrendered 2.
The second inning was where Yakult would find all the offense they would need. After retiring Matsumoto and Hiroyasu Tanaka for the first 2 outs of the inning, Powell gave up a pair of singles to Iihara and Kawamoto. Those may have been rendered inconsequential had shortstop Munenori Kawasaki not committed an error that ended up scoring Iihara.
The only other offense came in the 5th inning, Powell's last. Fukuchi, the Swallows compensation for losing Kaz Ishii, singled to begin the inning. After Shinya Miyamoto grounded out for the first out of the inning, the Swallows proceeded to kill the Hawks by 1,000 cuts. By that, it means three straight singles by Norichika Aoki, Hatakeyama, and Matsumoto, scoring Fukuchi and Aoki to make it 3-0.
That was all that Ishikawa needed. He had the Hawks batters flailing at almost everything, and only gave up three hits over 8 innings, walking 1 and striking out 8. Lim then came in and made it interesting in the 9th, giving up a single to Matsunaka and walking Kokubo, but then promptly struck out Shibahara to end the game Softbank's winning streak, and their home-stand on a sour note.
After a day off, the Hawks renew acquaintances with the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien. The Hawks split a 2-game series previously with the Tigers at Yahoo! Dome
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Fast forward one year, and Ishikawa is one of the best pitchers in the Central League. He has been very consistent, and again pulled some magic today against the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks by combining with closer Lim Chang-Yong on a 4-hitter to defeat the Hawks 3-0 and stop their winning streak at five games.
Recently recalled form ni-gun, Hawks starter Jeremy Powell has been struggling this year. Today, while Powell didn't pitch terribly, he did not put his team in a position to win. He labored through 5 innings, giving up all 3 Swallows runs on 8 hits, walking 1 and striking out 2. Fujioka and Takeoka each went 2 innings, striking out 2 batters, with Fujioka giving up 1 hit while Takeoka surrendered 2.
The second inning was where Yakult would find all the offense they would need. After retiring Matsumoto and Hiroyasu Tanaka for the first 2 outs of the inning, Powell gave up a pair of singles to Iihara and Kawamoto. Those may have been rendered inconsequential had shortstop Munenori Kawasaki not committed an error that ended up scoring Iihara.
The only other offense came in the 5th inning, Powell's last. Fukuchi, the Swallows compensation for losing Kaz Ishii, singled to begin the inning. After Shinya Miyamoto grounded out for the first out of the inning, the Swallows proceeded to kill the Hawks by 1,000 cuts. By that, it means three straight singles by Norichika Aoki, Hatakeyama, and Matsumoto, scoring Fukuchi and Aoki to make it 3-0.
That was all that Ishikawa needed. He had the Hawks batters flailing at almost everything, and only gave up three hits over 8 innings, walking 1 and striking out 8. Lim then came in and made it interesting in the 9th, giving up a single to Matsunaka and walking Kokubo, but then promptly struck out Shibahara to end the game Softbank's winning streak, and their home-stand on a sour note.
After a day off, the Hawks renew acquaintances with the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien. The Hawks split a 2-game series previously with the Tigers at Yahoo! Dome