Home Runs the Key for Giants' Success
Well, that was just a prolog for things to come. Maru-chan hit a solo shot just before my train arrived at Kanasawa Hakkei for my final transfer on my way home. Wish I could have slept better on the train.
Then, after getting home and turning on the tube, Matsui hits a ball just centemeters from a home run for an RBI double. (He was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.) Those balls sure do fly against our pitching.
Now, in the 7th inning, just as I was pulling my computer out of my bag, Maru-chan hits a surprise second home run in a row to put the Giants up 5-1.
I won't even tell you what the final was last night. Better to forget it. But the BayStars need to learn how to keep the balls in the yard against the Giants. That looks like the only way to beat them.
[Format edited by: westbaystars on May 30, 2002 8:39 PM JST]
At the end of play yesterday (6/14), Here's how the teams fair in the Central League:
Team Record Runs HR SB BA ERA
Dragons 30-26 226-225 40 30 .258 3.64
Giants 30-27 267-191 79 11 .255 2.79
Carp 30-28 257-268 62 52 .250 4.16
Swallows 26-25 203-204 41 30 .254 3.69
Tigers 25-30 171-216 41 24 .229 3.48
BayStars 23-28 201-221 39 13 .259 4.00
Look at the runs scored vs. given up. The Giants have scored 76 runs more than they've allowed! Chunichi has scored one more, Yakult one less. Otherwise, everyone has quite a deficit in run discrepancy.
It looks like Hanshin is having the hardest time scoring runs, while the 'Stars and Giants don't seem to be making inroads on the base paths.
Then, there's the home run department. Giants are dominating the league, with their closest contender being Hiroshima 17 dingers back. (That may be as many as 20 depending on how the Carp do tonight.)
It seems to me that the BayStars have given up an unusually large amount of home runs this season. And I had that impression before they gave up 9 home runs in this Tokyo Dome series. Is there anybody out there with stats like that? How many home runs has has each team given up, and to who, if you can cross reference them? I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be intersted to know.
[Format edited by: westbaystars on May 30, 2002 8:40 PM JST]
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The Giants took the BayStars deep three times last night in their 7-4 victory. The only run the Giants scored that wasn't due to the ball leaving the yard was Etoh's sacrifice fly to left with bases loaded in the 5th inning. So, one could still say that all 7 runs were via "long balls."
Of course the deciding stroke came from the bat of Maru-chan, who, a walk after Etoh's game tying sacrifice fly, launched a grand slam to straight away center. No doubt about it. That was a "grand" slam in more ways than one.
Takahashi and Big Matsui both hit solo shots, Matsui's being his league leading 19th homer.
Nonetheless, just how important is the long ball for the Giants? Chiba-san compiled a list of the Giants' winning percentages through the first 35 games based on the number of home runs the Giants hit:
Runs
As you can see, the Giants almost can't win without a home run.
Komi-chan tonight (6/14) gave up a two run shot to Etoh (his 16th) in the 2nd inning to greatly increase the Giants' chances of winning. He just didn't have anything on the ball, giving up 5 runs in the first two innings, while walking 5! This after shutting the Giants out in Fukuoka without giving up a walk last week. The Giants added another run on a solo blast a couple innings later, and as I type this, Matsui just hit his 20th of the year, a 3-run shot to make the score 9-0 in the 6th inning.
This game is becoming unbearable. But I'll faithfully watch it to the end, hoping that the 'Stars' machine gun will kick in. (Hey, they've come back from this kind of deficit before!) With three home runs or more, though, the Giants' chances of winning are a great deal better than a coin toss.
[Format edited by: westbaystars on May 30, 2002 8:32 PM JST]