Hawks Sweep Away Carp, Win 9-4

The Hawks' main problem this season has been stringing together wins, and in the straight-jacket tight Pacific League, the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks need to start doing just that. The Hawks got off to a good start with Interleague play by sweeping both games with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp at Fukuoka Dome, beating them today 9-4.

The offensive stars for the Hawks were the 2-3-4 hitters, Kawasaki, Matsunaka, and Hiroki Kokubo. Kawasaki went 3-for-5 with 2 runs scored, Kokubo knocked in a run in the 7th to help break the game open, and Matsunaka hit his 9th home run of the season in a 3-for-4 effort.

The big inning for the Hawks was the 8th inning, in which Softbank hung a crooked number of four on the board that inning. After pinch-hitter Kidokoro struck out, catcher Yamazaki hit a single to right, Honda walked, and Kawasaki singled to load the bases. That brought up Matsunaka, who was intentionally walked in his previous at-bat. Maybe a little unconventional wisdom would've kept the bleeding down, but either way, Matsunaka slammed a pitch into the right-field seats for a manrui home run.

The game did not start well for the Hawks, as Jeremy Powell took the mound and quickly gave up 2 runs in the first inning. Amaya and Higashide singled to begin the game, then Ochoa and Kurihara were both retired. However, Maeda doubled to bring in Amaya and Higashide to give the Carp a quick 2-0 lead.

However, Hiroshima starter Miyazaki did not fare any better in his half of the first, as Kawasaki tripled and Matsunaka singled to bring in Kawasaki to make it 2-1. With still only one down, the very next batter was Kokubo, and he was hit with a pitch to unintentionally set up the double play. It wasn't to be, as Shibahara singled to left to bring home Matsunaka to tie the score at 2.

The Hawks got one more in the 4th thanks to a double by Matsuda and a single by Yamazaki to make it 3-2. Two more runs were added in the 7th via singles by Tsuji and Honda. After a flyout by Kawasaki, Matsunaka was intentionally walked to load the bases, but Hiroki Kokubo came up with his clutch hit to make it 5-3.

The Carp did not score again until the 7th inning when they got to Ogura for a run thanks to a walk and 2 singles. Other than that, the Hawks' bullpen was solid, only giving up 2 runs and 6 hits over 4 innings of work. Nitkowski, Ogura, Kume, and Houlton all came in for an inning after Powell was lifted after 5 innings.

Powell had another shaky start, but recovered after the rocky 1st inning. Powell's final line was 2 runs on 9 hits, 2 walks and 3 strikeouts over his 5 innings of work.

When looking at the numbers, Miyazaki didn't do all that badly over four innings of work. Miyazaki gave up 3 runs on 5 hits, walked 2 and struck out 3. In 2 and 1/3 innings, Ohshima gave up 2 runs on 3 hits, but Kishimoto gave up the Matsunaka slam, which proved to be the backbreaker.

The Carp got one more run in the 9th off of closer DJ Houlton, as Kokubo doubled, Alex and Kurihara singled to score 1 more to give us the final score of 9-4.

The Hawks have a day off tomorrow but go right back to work on Friday against the red-hot Hanshin Tigers for another short 2-game series.