2007 PL Climax Series: Stage 1 Game 1

TRANSCRIPT generated on| 2007/10/08
CHATROOM| 2007 PL Climax Series/Stage 1 Game 1

12:57| Deanna: The game's actually happening?
13:03| Deanna: I guess it is!
13:04| Deanna: And Honda leads off for Softbank. You can clearly see the wind blowing (Shunsuke's uniform is waving).
13:04| Deanna: Honda strikes out!
13:05| Deanna: Here's Munenori Kawasaki, who hits a grounder to third. Easy out.
13:07| Deanna: Whee, Matsunaka also strikes out.
13:09| Deanna: Ok, here's Kazumi Saitoh, pitching to leadoff hitter Tsuyoshi Nishoka. First pitch bounces in front of the plate.
13:11| Deanna: Nishoka grounds out to second.
13:12| Deanna: Oh, uh, starting lineups:
13:12| Deanna: FSH: Honda 2B. Kawasaki SS. Matsunaka DH. Kokubo 3B. Shibahara RF. Ohmura LF. Tamura CF. Honma 1B. Matoba C.
13:13| Deanna: Daisuke Hayakawa struck out on a slider in the dirt.
13:13| Deanna: Jose Ortiz flies out to right.
13:14| Deanna: CLM: Nishioka SS. Hayakawa CF. Ortiz 2B. Saburo RF. Satozaki C. Ohmatsu LF. Benny DH. Fukuura 1B. Imae 3B.
13:16| Deanna: Dang, Shunsuke's throwing all strikes
13:17| Deanna: Ok, Kokubo also flies out to right.
13:17| westbaystars: Hi. I've been off approving a whole flurry of messages.
13:17| westbaystars: Things have really picked up on the message board this past week.
13:18| westbaystars: The weekend before last I thought something was wrong with the server there was so little.
13:18| westbaystars: I take it you're pulling for the Hawks.
13:18| Deanna: I'm not pulling for either team
13:19| Deanna: Shibahara strikes out swinging.
13:19| westbaystars: OK. I'll commit. I'm pulling for the Marines.
13:19| Deanna: Ohmura comes up bunting? and goes down grounding out to short.
13:20| Deanna: Honestly, I'm okay with either team. I'm not sure which one I worry about my Fighters facing more
13:20| westbaystars: A bunch of hearts on banners in the stands today.
13:20| westbaystars: That's the first I'd seen that.
13:20| Deanna: And of course, Saitoh and Shunsuke are literally my two favorite pitchers in Japan.
13:20| Deanna: Kizuka being the third
13:21| westbaystars: Watching Saitoh callaps after the sayonara lost last year was really heart wrenching.
13:22| Deanna: Yeah, it really was
13:23| Deanna: I really wanted to be at the game today but it sold out by the time I could get to a Lawson's last week
13:23| Deanna: So today I got up and went there at 10am, and I got a few tickets to the CL second stage... to games that might not happ
13:24| westbaystars: It looked that way on the pre-game clips. Fans were really crowded in all around the stadium.
13:24| Deanna: Saburo hits a liner towards first, nice play by Honma to snag it and tag the base
13:24| Deanna: Well, if it weren't raining I'd go down to Yokohama -- free outfield jiyuuseki seats today!
13:25| westbaystars: It looked like Saburo was describing Saitoh's pitches to someone there in the dugout.
13:25| Deanna: Not too surprising, that's probably what they always try to do
13:25| Deanna: Saitoh's curve looks pretty good today actually
13:26| westbaystars: The rain's been on and off all day here in Yokohama.
13:26| Deanna: holy... oh. nevermind, Satozaki hits a fly to left, which is caught. Two out.
13:27| Deanna: Yeah. His curve today is GOOD.
13:27| westbaystars: Satozaki lined out to left.
13:28| Deanna: what happened with the Hawks' catchers, anyway? why has Matoba been playing so much?
13:29| westbaystars: Let me see ...
13:29| Deanna: Ohmatsu hits the ball up in the air and Honma catches it in foul territory halfway up the 1B line. Three out.
13:31| westbaystars: I thought that Matoba was the regular catcher.
13:31| westbaystars: Lead off double by former BayStar Tamura.
13:31| Deanna: HEY
13:32| Deanna: that means Yahoo Douga is behind
13:32| Deanna: Matoba hasn't been the regular catcher in a while because of his bat
13:32| Deanna: He was always Saitoh's favorite catcher though, and I noticed he was getting more playtime lately
13:32| westbaystars: Error!
13:33| westbaystars: Home in!
13:33| westbaystars: I've got Chiba TV. It's usually about 30-45 seconds ahead of satalite channels
13:33| Deanna: Dammit I am totally going to have to try to resync after this inning and WHOA
13:34| Deanna: was that a throwing error or a catching error at first?
13:34| Deanna: I have the internet TV. I don't have cable at all
13:34| Deanna: Satozaki comes out to the mound to tell Shunsuke, "it's ok, dude, don't worry"
13:34| Deanna: oh. looks like a catching error there
13:35| westbaystars: I hear that J:COM is good for providing Internet TV.
13:35| Deanna: no, I mean, I have a TV set, but just broadcast TV on it. I'm watching Yahoo's stream of the game.
13:35| westbaystars: One can get most of the cable/CS/BS channels from it.
13:35| Deanna: not sure it's worth getting cable or satellite or anything since I'm not home at the right hours to watch
13:36| westbaystars: Can't get Chiba TV there? UHF.
13:36| Deanna: I don't seem to have an option to use any channels aside from the normal 12
13:36| westbaystars: I'll hold off calling the game, then.
13:37| Deanna: ok, Matoba bunts Honma to second sucessfully.
13:37| Deanna: nah, don't worry about it
13:37| Deanna: I'll try to at least resync the net feed after this inning and then play with my TV more.
13:37| Deanna: wow, Honda's fanfare sounds almost exactly like Ibata's
13:38| Deanna: and Honda singles to left
13:38| westbaystars: Relay home on the fly ball to left is not in time. Hawks add another run.
13:38| westbaystars: I see Akiyama in the Hawks' dugout. I thought he was being groomed to take over as manager.
13:39| Deanna: flyball to left by Kawasaki I assume? I haven't seen it yet
13:39| Deanna: ahhh, yes. Close play at the plate, Honma runs into Satozaki but the ball gets away
13:39| westbaystars: But Oh-kantoku said he'd like to continue next year. And he's been granted Manager for Life.
13:40| westbaystars: Was the catch in fair territory or foul?
13:40| westbaystars: Ground ball through the left side by Matsunaka.
13:40| westbaystars: And Honda doesn't stop at third! He comes in without a throw!
13:40| westbaystars: Hawks up 3-0.
13:41| westbaystars: Looks like Honda had taken second on the throw home a batter earlier.
13:41| Deanna: Kawasaki's fly ball catch was in foul territory
13:42| Deanna: and, that's pretty funny that they didn't bother throwing in the ball on Matsunaka's single
13:44| westbaystars: Back to the catcher situation, I'm not sure why Yamazaki was sent to the farm.
13:45| Deanna: what about Tanoue?
13:45| westbaystars: Nikkan Sports just said "再調整" - for readjustment - which could be for anything.
13:46| Deanna: Oops... Matsunaka hits a high fly ball to third, Imae making the catch.
13:46| westbaystars: Tanoue is still at 1-gun.
13:47| westbaystars: I think you're off a little bit with the batters. Matsunaka singled driving in Honda from second.
13:47| westbaystars: At least, that's who it looked like.
13:47| westbaystars: Honda was the one who drove in the second run, not scored it on the sacrifice fly, too.
13:48| Deanna: oh, yes, that last one is wrong. Kokubo hit the fly out
13:49| Deanna: Honma and Honda both scored
13:49| Deanna: ah, infield single for Benny?
13:49| westbaystars: Yep. He really does hustle.
13:50| westbaystars: Despite his numbers being way down.
13:51| Deanna: I'm not wrong about Honma/Honda. Honma scored on Kawasaki's sac fly. Honda scored on Matsunaka's hit.
13:52| westbaystars: Benny running on the pitch!
13:52| westbaystars: Fukuura grounds the ball through the left side, and Benny ...
13:52| westbaystars: No throw.
13:53| westbaystars: That was a bit risky going to third on that one.
13:53| Deanna: Hahaahahaha
13:53| Deanna: Why isn't Ohmatsu throwing in the ball faster?
13:53| westbaystars: OK. I guess I got Honma/Honda backwords.
13:53| Deanna: errrr
13:53| Deanna: not Ohmatsu
13:53| Deanna: Ohmura
13:54| Deanna: I can't believe both teams have a leftfielder batting 6th named Ohm-something
13:54| westbaystars: Another infield hit!
13:54| westbaystars: Benny scores. 1-3.
13:54| Deanna: it was worse when Kawasaki was out and Honma/Honda played SS/2B. Describing DPs was hard
13:55| westbaystars:
13:56| westbaystars: Like the Inaba, Ibata, Inada debuckle last year?
13:56| Deanna: whoops. Saitoh takes a grounder off his leg and Benny scores, Imae reaching first safely.
13:56| westbaystars: Was that off the pitcher. I missed that part.
13:56| Deanna: Yes, well, if you'd been putting up with Inada/Inaba all year you'd be used to it too
13:57| Deanna: Yeah, it was off his leg, then ... Kawasaki fielded it, I think
13:57| westbaystars: And Tsuyoshi beats out a sacrifice bunt up the third base side.
13:58| westbaystars: Good dive by Matsunaka to keep the ball from going into right field.
13:58| Deanna: wheeeee!
13:58| westbaystars: Bases loaded.
13:58| Deanna: yeah, Matsunaka's a better first baseman than he gets credit for, I think
13:58| westbaystars: Batter (Ohmura?) batting .334 with the bases loaded.
13:59| Deanna: Hayakawa I thought
13:59| Deanna: he's pretty good
14:01| westbaystars: Yes, that was Hayakawa.
14:01| westbaystars: ... striking out swinging at a pitch way outside.
14:02| Deanna: ...so of course Hayakawa strikes out once I say that
14:02| westbaystars: Otis up now. I've only seen him a couple of times, but he's come through in the clutch each time.
14:03| westbaystars: Whoops. Now did I curse him?
14:04| westbaystars: I think I see why Yamazaki was sent down, he's wasn't batting much better than Matoba.
14:04| Deanna: You mean Ortiz, not OTis
14:04| Deanna: The last time the Hawks had a catcher who could actually hit a baseball with a bat, his name was Johjima
14:04| westbaystars: Tanoue has a better bat, but is still learning to lead, I think.
14:05| Deanna: yeah, that's the thing. Matoba's a fantastic catcher, so sometimes it's worth having him despite the bat
14:05| Deanna: and Saitoh in particular loves working with him
14:07| westbaystars: I've noticed that some veteran catchers stick around a little longer because a particular pitcher prefers him.
14:08| Deanna: well, and in this case, Saitoh's team captain, so I think that has a little more influence
14:08| westbaystars: 三振。From nobody out bases loaded to two outs bases loaded.
14:09| westbaystars: Saitoh is team captain this year? But he's only been with the top team about 30 days in all.
14:10| Deanna: back when I was really young, the only reason Tim McCarver stuck around with the Phillies is because of Steve Carlton.
14:10| Deanna: and... yeah, I'm pretty sure Saitoh was named team captain before the season started
14:11| westbaystars: The Marines get the base hit they needed! Saburoooooooooo.
14:11| westbaystars: And we have a tied ball game, 3-3.
14:11| Deanna: hehe, Saburo
14:13| Deanna: I can see all of the raindrops on the camera lens
14:16| westbaystars: Satozaki draws a base on balls to load the bases again.
14:17| Deanna: heh, I was about to say, this at-bat must be even longer than I think it is
14:17| westbaystars: Give up 3, take back ___?
14:17| Deanna: see, and Satozaki is team captain for the Marines, right?
14:18| westbaystars: Looks like the answer is 3. The next batter grounds out to second.
14:18| Deanna: that would be Ohmatsu
14:19| westbaystars: I'm not sure who the captain is this year. I expected Fukuura to step up to that responsibility.
14:19| westbaystars: The announcers give Benny's hustle the credit for getting that inning going for the Marines.
14:20| Deanna: I'm pretty sure Bobby said in his blog that he made Satozaki captain
14:21| Deanna: and Shibahara singles to... center, was it?
14:21| westbaystars: I'll accept that then.
14:22| Deanna: I really like Satozaki so I remember thinking that was pretty cool
14:22| westbaystars: I'd have said left-center. It was between the two, over the shortstop.
14:22| Deanna: and here's Ohmura, not to be confused with Ohmatsu or Ohmichi or...
14:23| Deanna: ...who bunts over Shibahara successfully.
14:26| Deanna: aaaaand Tamura walks.
14:27| Deanna: Okay, here's is HonMA, up with one out and runners at first and second
14:29| Deanna: oof, he just fouled a ball off Satozaki's mask
14:29| Deanna: that's gotta be annoying (Sato's trying to readjust his mask now)
14:30| Deanna: ...and the next pitch he strikes out called. Two out.
14:30| westbaystars: Hayakawa's throw home looked like Satozaki got him to me.
14:30| Deanna: fourth strikeout for Watanabe, if anyone's counting.
14:31| Deanna: huh
14:31| Deanna: Matoba (?!!?!) singles to right and Hayakawa throws it in and I really need to see that replay
14:31| Deanna: dang
14:31| westbaystars: Matsunaka's single up the middle.
14:31| Deanna: I think you might be right
14:31| westbaystars: The throw to the plate.
14:31| westbaystars: Looks like you're two batters behind.
14:32| Deanna: uhh... Matsunaka? that was Matoba
14:32| Deanna: no, the batter after Honma is Matoba
14:32| Deanna: now HonDA is up to bat
14:33| westbaystars: It was? It looked like Matsunaka.
14:33| Deanna: shibahara singled, ohmura bunted, honma struck out, matoba singled, honda just made an out somehow
14:33| Deanna: uhh, matsunaka does not bat right handed.;
14:33| westbaystars: Nonetheless, the Hawks take a 4-3 lead in the 4th.
14:33| westbaystars: It was Matoba. Just recited on TV.
14:34| Deanna: the ?!?!! was for the idea of Matoba actually hitting a single, not for "who is it?"
14:35| westbaystars: My bad. I'm trying to do some work, too.
14:36| Deanna: Benny hits a fly ball out to right-center and Tamura catches it just short of the warning line.
14:37| westbaystars: Left-center.
14:38| Deanna: it looked like right from the camera angle on this broadcast, but whatever, it's not a big deal, Tamura made the catch
14:39| Deanna: Fukuura walks, anyway
14:39| westbaystars: Saitoh seems to be giving up an unusually large number of walks today.
14:40| Deanna: ...that's his second one
14:41| westbaystars: ... and third. When your buffer catches up.
14:42| westbaystars: I thought he averaged about 1-2 per game.
14:42| Deanna: ah, yes, Imae walked too. And I tried reloading the game, but I guess it's still behind.
14:43| Deanna: yes, this year he averaged 2 walks and 6 strikeouts per game
14:43| westbaystars: Tsuyoshi rips the ball up the middle, scoring Fukuura from second.
14:44| westbaystars: We're tied up again, 4-4.
14:44| Deanna: ah, on my broadcast Nishioka just fouled a ball off himself and Matoba
14:44| Deanna: and there's the single
14:44| westbaystars: The Internet can't be faster than terrestrial broadcasts, no matter how small you set the buffer.
14:47| westbaystars: Fly ball to right. Touch up and the runner scores.
14:47| westbaystars: But what's Tsuyoshi up to?
14:48| westbaystars: Getting thrown out at second base!
14:48| Deanna: "No," says Saitoh, "I don't really feel like coming out of the game, thanks."
14:48| westbaystars: Well, the run game across first.
14:48| westbaystars: Lotte up 5-4.
14:49| westbaystars: What was that about? I glanced up and Oh-kantoku was signaling "stop" to Saitoh?
14:49| westbaystars: Then Kokubo went over for a word.
14:49| Deanna: Imae advanced to third on Nishioka's double, tagged up on Hayakawa's sac fly, and then... whoops, yeah
14:50| Deanna: yeah, I don't know what that was all about
14:50| Deanna: top of the 5th! here comes Kawasaki to the plate!
14:51| Deanna: ...and he grounds out to second.
14:51| Deanna: Guess who's up to bat now? It's Matsunaka. No, really, it actually IS Matsunaka
14:52| westbaystars: Thanks. I verified with the big 3 on his back this time.
14:52| westbaystars: Rather than just relying on what he looks like.
14:53| Deanna: I love watching the replays of Shunsuke's pitches when they show the trajectory from the side
14:54| Deanna: it makes you realize how cool submariners are
14:54| Deanna: whoops, the umpire just took a foul ball off the mask too
14:54| westbaystars: Like that strike out pitch where Shunsuke is just centemeters off the ground.
14:55| Deanna: yeah, well, you look at his right leg and you can tell how far he is off the ground. all that dirt
14:55| Deanna: Matsunaka strikes out swinging.
14:56| Deanna: Kokubo hits a fly out to right and hey, Saburo makes a nice play on it
14:57| Deanna: and that's three outs. Bottom of the 5th!
14:58| Deanna: new pitcher? Yanase?
15:00| Deanna: yup, Akihiro Yanase pitching for the Hawks, and Jose Ortiz up to bat
15:03| westbaystars: Ortiz hits one that there's no doubt about to left.
15:03| westbaystars: Marines up 6-4.
15:03| westbaystars: That Chiba Marine wind had no chance against that line drive.
15:03| Deanna: hey, I just realized something. why isn't Zuleta playing today?
15:04| Deanna: oh
15:04| Deanna: he got injured?
15:04| Deanna: oh, yeah, there goes Ortiz's home run, that was huge
15:06| westbaystars: Yea. Zuleta was hurt just a week or two ago.
15:06| Deanna: hey, the game in Yokohama is actually starting, I take it that means the rain stopped?
15:06| westbaystars: Bobby is hoping he'll be back for Stage 2.
15:06| westbaystars: But something I read recently suggested that he might not be.
15:07| Deanna: oh, I failed to notice Saburo hitting a pop fly out to somewhere, whoops. here's Satozaki
15:07| westbaystars: It hasn't been raining for a while here. But even 10 km south of the stadium can have different weather.
15:07| Deanna: I just didn't feel like coming to Yokohama two days in a row, even for free tickets
15:08| Deanna: ...and I figured it'd rain out today
15:08| Deanna: but it'll be interesting to see whether Guiel or Murata come out on top of the HR race
15:08| westbaystars: Rain has been off and on. But never that heavy.
15:09| westbaystars: Kind of a light mist most of the time.
15:09| westbaystars: Yea, Guiel hit that running home run yesterday - one of two to pull within 1 of Murata.
15:10| Deanna: heh, "inside-the-park home run"
15:10| Deanna: I dunno, Tyrone said he didn't think the Yokohama pitchers would give him anything to hit yesterday. he was mostly right
15:11| Deanna: oh, Satozaki and Ohmatsu both struck out. Three outs. Top of the 6th!
15:11| westbaystars: Got to go for a second. Be right back.
15:16| Deanna: Shibahara hits a pop fly to shallow right, Jose Ortiz making the catch.
15:17| Deanna: Over in Yokohama, Guiel walked for his first at-bat.
15:19| Deanna: Ohmura grounded out and Tamura struck out and that was one quick inning. Bottom of the 6th!
15:20| westbaystars: Woods got several good pitches. And he walked on a pitch that Katoh thought was strike three.
15:21| westbaystars: It was wishful thinking, though. The ball was outside.
15:22| westbaystars: Kinjyoh drives in a run in Yokohama. BayStars batting in the bottom of the 1st. Tied 1-1.
15:22| westbaystars: Murata at the plate.
15:22| westbaystars: Where did Guiel come from. I hadn't really heard anything about him all year.
15:22| westbaystars: Most of the focus had been on Ramirez.
15:23| Deanna: Guiel's just got a lower average. he's been around all year. I saw him play a bit in the majors and nobody noticed him
15:23| Deanna: then either. must be because he's Canadian
15:24| Deanna: just kidding.
15:24| westbaystars: And Furuta "daida ore" Kantoku.
15:24| westbaystars: Murata walks.
15:25| Deanna: and in Chiba, Benny hit a pop fly out and Fukuura walked
15:26| Deanna: so in reality, if Yakult and Yokohama walk each other's HR guys, then Murata wins
15:27| westbaystars: That's right. And that's how the seasons have ended a number of times.
15:27| westbaystars: And not just against gaijin. Giants' Matsui and Chunichi's Yamazaki had a similar walk-fest.
15:28| westbaystars: At Yokohama, Yoshimura reaches out and hits the ball over the right field fense!
15:28| westbaystars: BayStars take a 4-1 lead.
15:30| Deanna: ahh, back when Takeshi was younger
15:30| Deanna: Yoshimura's pretty awesome
15:30| Deanna: Imae's still at bat in Chiba
15:31| Deanna: seriously, Yokohama had a pretty kickass draft so far, and with the young players they already have...
15:31| westbaystars: That's a long at bat.
15:31| Deanna: yeah, full-count
15:31| Deanna: ....and he walks on a pitch in the dirt
15:32| westbaystars: Ohya-kantoku brought around a bunch of young players back in the mid-1990s.
15:32| westbaystars: Time to do it again.
15:32| westbaystars: He started off the season with veterans. But finished up with a young squad.
15:33| westbaystars: I've especially like Nonaka.
15:33| westbaystars: Miura is pitching for the BayStars today.
15:34| Deanna: It was strange seeing the Fujita-Nonaka middle infield yesterday
15:34| Deanna: but kind of cool. I mean, Toshihisa and Takuro are both 37 or so
15:34| Deanna: though the best part of yesterday was that I got Tyrone's autograph
15:35| westbaystars: Really? Hang out on the Dragons' side?
15:36| westbaystars: In your Morino uniform?
15:37| Deanna: and Nishioka hits a double off the back wall, scoring Fukuura. 7-4
15:37| Deanna: yeah, I hung out on the dragon's side and took about 500 pictures.
15:37| Deanna: and a whole bunch of people swarmed Tyrone for his autograph, so I used my secret powers to get him to sign for me too
15:37| Deanna: ...I spoke to him in English
15:38| westbaystars: That's a pretty underhanded method!
15:39| Deanna: Over in Chiba, pitching change -- Yoshiaki Fujioka replaces Yanase. Daisuke Hayakawa is at bat
15:40| Deanna: Yeah, underhanded, but whatever. I talked to him a bit, and asked about the HR race, and he said he didn't think that
15:40| Deanna: Yokohama would pitch to him, so.
15:41| Deanna: Hayakawa hits a grounder to shortstop, and Kawasaki throws out Imae at the plate. Two outs
15:43| westbaystars: Maybe that's why he grounded out to third and struck out his first two at bats?
15:43| Deanna: Ortiz hits an easy fly out to left field and that's three outs. Top of the 7th!
15:43| westbaystars: He didn't think he'd get anything better to swing at?
15:43| westbaystars: Wow. This game is really sailing right along.
15:44| Deanna: yeah, well, that's what he thought BEFORE the game, due to Murata and the race
15:44| Deanna: so yeah, he was wrong. but still
15:45| Deanna: of course, whatever, the Dragons made FOUR ERRORS yesterday
15:45| Deanna: I thought it was funny how I finally saw the Baystars win another game. It just took showing up in another uniform
15:46| westbaystars: That's the secret! Burn that Murata uniform!
15:46| westbaystars: Oh, yea. The errors. And even Ibata was throwing the ball away.
15:46| Deanna: which isn't really true. I guess they were 2-3 in games I attended in Yokohama this year
15:46| westbaystars: That was very out of form for them.
15:46| Deanna: yeah, Ibata making an error was awful. though Tanishige chucking the ball into center wasn't much better
15:47| Deanna: I'm surprised any of the runs were earned
15:47| Deanna: Oh, back in Chiba, HonMA hit a pop fly out, and Adam Hyzdu just pinch-hit for Matoba... and struck out swinging./
15:48| westbaystars: Got to go now. Be back in a half hour or so.
15:48| Deanna: ok
15:49| Deanna: HonDA grounds out to the pitcher and that's one quick inning. Bottom of the 7th ahoy!
15:52| Deanna: Tanoue's in as catcher for Softbank, Fujioka is still pitching, and Saburo is leading off the batting.
15:53| Deanna: ...heh, Saburo pops out to left, although Ohmura misjudges the ball before making the catch.
15:57| Deanna: Satozaki grounds out and Ohmatsu walks
15:57| Deanna: ...and Ohtsuka comes in as a pinch-runner for Ohmatsu.
15:58| Deanna: Benny hits a pop fly out to second -- three outs. Top of the 8th! Over in Yokohama. Guiel struck out.
16:01| Deanna: Ohtsuka stays in to play left field for the 8th...
16:01| Deanna: ...and is immediately tested by a long pop fly that goes foul in left field, which he runs out to catch.
16:01| Deanna: so Kawasaki's down and HERE'S MATSUNAKA!
16:04| Deanna: Haha, Matsunaka grounds out to short and the announcer says "three outs, change!"
16:04| Deanna: "wait, no, it's only two outs. dummy!"
16:08| Deanna: Kokubo hits a pop fly out and it's really the end of the inning. Bottom of the 8th...
16:10| Deanna: New pitcher for the Hawks - Takayuki Shinohara. Fukuura is leading off.
16:17| Deanna: Fukuura hits a fly out, Imae walks, Tsuyoshi is up, I'm beginning to lose attention span.
16:20| Deanna: Nishioka strikes out swinging.
16:23| Deanna: Hayakawa hits the ball, it goes off the pitcher, then off the shortstop, then both outfielders in left-center drop it
16:24| Deanna: thus Imae scores and Hayakawa ends up with a single
16:24| Deanna: 8-4 Lotte
16:26| Deanna: Hayakawa gets himself caught stealing and that's three outs. Top of the 9th! Is Shunsuke still pitching? Looks like i
16:28| westbaystars: Just got back.
16:28| westbaystars: My son's team lost today.
16:28| westbaystars: I heard the 8th run on the radio.
16:29| westbaystars: And it looks like Yokohama's lead has been cut to 4-2.
16:29| westbaystars: So, 3 outs to go?
16:29| westbaystars: Yes, Nabe is still on the mound.
16:29| Deanna: Oops
16:29| Deanna: Yeah, 2 outs to go
16:29| Deanna: Shibahara fly out to Ortiz
16:31| Deanna: Ohmura grounds out to shortstop
16:31| Deanna: and... one more one more
16:31| westbaystars: 1-1 pitch grounded to third.
16:31| westbaystars: The throw to first is in time.
16:32| westbaystars: And the Marines go up 1-0 in Stage 1.
16:32| Deanna: yup
16:33| Deanna: man, now I wish I'd gotten up earlier on Thursday to try to get a ticket to this
16:33| Deanna: ok, not really, I kind of have a cold, and sitting out in the rain wouldn't help
16:33| Deanna: hahaha, Benny has whiskers painted on his face or something?
16:33| westbaystars: Riggs hits a sacrifice fly at Yokohama. One run ballgame.
16:34| Deanna: it's interesting having the rami-guiel-riggs in the middle of the yakult order
16:35| westbaystars: That does sound like a potent lineup. Why hasn't Yakult managed to win a few more?
16:35| westbaystars: Without Furuta leading their pitchers are ineffective?
16:35| Deanna: I dunno
16:36| Deanna: I get the feeling that their defense isn't that great
16:36| Deanna: how are their numbers on things like turning DPs and whatnot?
16:36| Deanna: I mean, I also intuitively think that Arakibata is the best middle infield in Japan, but that's just from watching.
16:37| Deanna: ok, the game hero is... Shunsuke Watanabe! Is that surprising? No.
16:37| Deanna: oh, also Nishioka
16:38| Deanna: best part is, thanks to Nishioka's long hair, you can really see the wind blowing, his hair is in his face
16:39| westbaystars: Good question about their team DPs. Unfortunately, I'm going through and fixing my data at the moment,
16:39| westbaystars: so it's not very usable.
16:40| westbaystars: I agree about Arakibata. He's still amazing to watch.
16:41| Deanna: Err
16:41| Deanna: That's two people
16:41| Deanna: Araki and Ibata
16:42| westbaystars: Arakibata is a single person with two instances. What are you talking about.
16:42| westbaystars: He plays the middle infield as one.
16:43| westbaystars: Murata up at Yokohama.
16:44| westbaystars: Fouls off the first pitch. The second over a good portion of the outter part of the plate.
16:45| westbaystars: Third pitch grounded out to short. No insurance.
16:45| Deanna: Well, but sometimes the infield is Ibataraki.
16:45| Deanna: And I think Ibata has more of the brains.
16:55| westbaystars: Well, I'm done for the day.
16:55| westbaystars: You've done such a great job keeping the game log, I think I'll post it.