Fighters Continue Dominance of Hawks, Deliver 10-2 Thumping
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SoftBank sent American Jeremy Powell to the mound, trying to get a good start out of him. On the other side was Masaru Takeda, who is 2-1 against the Hawks this season with a 1.23 ERA, a 0.64 ERA against the Hawks at Yahoo! Dome. With Powell's struggles all season long, it was an epic mismatch on paper.
And what a mismatch it was. Powell could never get into a groove, and could not go anywhere in the strike zone without the Fighters hitting the cover off the ball.
The first inning was a harbinger of things to come. Powell surrendered a leadoff double to Hichori Morimoto. After getting Kudoh to pop out, the barrage started. Kensuke Tanaka and Atsunori Inaba both singled to drive in Morimoto, then Koyano doubled in Tanaka and Inaba. The Hawks hadn't even gotten their first ups yet, and it was already 3-0 Fighters.
The 3rd inning was where Powell had more trouble after a 1-2-3 2nd inning. Kudoh, Inaba, and Koyano all singled to add to the Fighters' lead, 4-0. Despite a solid 4th inning, Powell's day was done after walking the first 2 batters in the 5th. He only managed to get through 4+ innings, giving up 4 runs (3 earned) on 9 hits, with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.
Takeoka took over for Powell in the 5th and, despite loading the bases with a walk of his own, cleaned up Powell's mess. The top of the 6th, however, yielded another increase to the Fighter's lead. The light-hitting Makoto Kaneko launched a 1-out home run to left to make it 5-0 Fighters, but they weren't done in the inning. Morimoto doubled (his 2nd of the day) and Kudoh singled in Morimoto, 6-0 Fighters.
The Hawks did manage to get one back in the bottom of the frame. Nobuhiko Matsunaka drilled one of his patented right-field home runs to pull the Hawks to within 5, 6-1.
However, the Fighters put the game away in the 8th, as the Hawks bullpen suffered another implosion. Rookie Yuki Kume was lit up like a Christmas tree. The only man he was able to get out was Inada, who grounded out to short. Kaneko and Morimoto then both walked, and then Kudoh doubled off the young sinkerballer.
Kume was then lifted in favor of Keisuke Kattoh, who didn't start well himself. First Kattoh walked Tanaka, then induced a groundout from Inaba. Koyano then finished the Fighters' scoring with a 2-run single to make it 10-1. SoftBank managed to get one back in the bottom of the 8th, as Kawasaki singled, Matsunaka walked, Kokubo singled, and then mop-up man Tatsuo Katoh walked in a run by walking pinch-hitter Hasegawa to finish the scoring. Final score, Fighters 10, Hawks 2.
Masaru Takeda got the win, improving his record to 5-3. His line was 7 innings, giving up 1 run on 5 hits, walking 2 and striking out 8. Jeremy Powell was far less effective, and his record falls to 1-5.
Home runs were hit by Makoto Kaneko (1), and Nobuhiko Matsunaka (21). Munenori Kawasaki stole his 19th base of the season, the only steal of the game.
The Hawks finish up their brief 2-game series with the Fighters tomorrow at Yahoo Dome, as Yan Yao-Shun (1-1, 8.10) makes his first career start for the Hawks against Brian Sweeney (7-3, 3.35). This is also the Hawks last game before the All-Star Break.