Bay Tide Rising - Yokohama in 4th Place

It's been a while since I last wrote. Sorry about that, but work has been very busy, leaving little time for the pleasure of writing. Besides that, I've been milling over the way I write game recaps, and unlike Deanna's and/or Christopher's commentary, my recaps seem to be dry, just a listing of what went on which anyone can get from looking at the box score. I'll try to write more frequently, but as I told Borisov-san in a recent e-mail about the relevancy of Pro Yakyu News, the media in general, and my writing in particular, I want to write something relavant that doesn't sound like a poor excuse for a Touring Machine, which is what I feel my writing had become. I don't know where it'll be going, but it's time to start something new.

And for starters, there isn't anything like winning to get the creative juices flowing. And the Yokohama BayStars have been doing just that, climbing out of last place to take over sole possession of 4th in the Central League. Look out A-Class, here we come!

As those of you who have been reading my ramblings know, the BayStars spent the first few weeks of the season winning 1 for every three game series. It was the 5th series of the year, against the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, that Yokohama took 2 out of 3. Dropping 2 out of 2 against the Giants on April 20th and 21st kind of erased that slight advantage, though.

But then the BayStars took 2 out of 3 against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows at Yokohama Stadium between April 23rd and 25th and also took 2 out of 3 against the Carp in Hiroshima to start off Golden Week between April 27th and 29th. With both Yakult and Hiroshima struggling, the BayStars headed to Jingu with a 2-game winning streak and in 4th place.

With Daisuke Miura on the mound to start off the Jingu series, things were hopeful for the BayStars' first 3 game winning streak since before I can remember. But things didn't start off so well for the 'Stars. Yakult batted around in the first inning, scoring 5. Miura gave up another run in the third (a solo shot by Yakult first baseman Shinichi Takeuchi). Ouch.

Obana-kantoku went to the bullpen early, calling on Futoshi Kobayashi for what appeared to be a mop-up role. Kobayashi combined with 4 other pitchers to shut the Swallows down the remainder of the game, the Swallows just getting 4 hits from the 4th inning on. While Kobayashi hit a batter, there were zero walks allowed by any of the 6 BayStar hurlers. Now that is a very good sign.

An even better sign was a 3-run home run by starting catcher Shingo Takeyama in the 5th made it a 2-run game. Terrmel Sledge evened it up in the top of the 6th with a 2-run blast to right. In the 7th, it was the slumping number four batter Shuichi Murata who drove in the go-ahead run for Yokohama, and the BayStars went on to win it, 7-6. This marked the first time in 3 years that the BayStars have been able to come back from a 6-run deficit. Yokohama has won 3 in a row and hold on to 4th place!

Speaking of Takeyama, his home run in the 5th was his first in his 8 year career. But what's more, since starting behind the plate on April 24th against Yakult, the BayStars have won 5 of their last 6 games to this point. Furthermore, he's actually capable of throwing base runners out trying to steal, something that I have yet to see Tasuku Hashimoto or Takeshi Hosoyamada do. (They may have, but not while I've been watching.) I really thought that Hashimoto was better defensively than I've seen so far.

Nonetheless, with a comeback like that, one starts to believe that anything is possible. And it sure felt that way last night as the BayStars were trailing 5-2 in the top of the 9th. With the bases loaded and 1 out, number four batting Murata came to the plate. Already 1 for 4 and having driven in the first run of the game in the first inning, maybe this was the time that Murata turned things around and extended our winning streak!

No, it wasn't. Murata struck out swinging for out number two.

OK then, Sledge! Batting .400 with runners in scoring position, and with his wife getting prepared to give birth, Sledge is the man for the job. Well, almost. Chang-yong Lim wouldn't give him anything juicy to hit, so Sledge walks in the third BayStars run.

Alright, alright. Still down by two, and Jose Castillo coming up next. Granted, he's only hitting .200 over the past 8 games (6 for 30). But if he can put some wood on the ball, anything could happen. Unfortunately, he doesn't put any wood on the ball and goes down swinging. Game - set.

Two big comebacks in a row would have been so sweet. And it would have totally demoralized the Swallows.

With Hiroshima losing to the Chunichi Dragons, the BayStars retain 4th place for another day. The direction we need to go is up, not back down. So these next few games will determine if they're deserving to rise to A-Class or destined to B-Class for yet another season.

Rise, tide, rise!