Five plus five equals win for Hawks

One thing that the Hawks have seemingly not had trouble with is scoring runs in bunches in one inning, and that inning affecting the outcome of the game. Today, they gave us a double dose of that as they scored five runs in the first and fifth innings en route to a 10-5 win and a sweep of the Yokohama BayStars.

The game did not start auspiciously, as former ikusei pitcher Hiroki Yamada was given the ball for his first professional start. He was touched up for three runs in the first inning, as two walks and a hit batsman loaded the bases. With Sledge at the plate, Yamada gave up an oshidashi (bases loaded walk) to give the 'Stars a 1-0 lead.

It got worse as Tatsuhiko Kinjoh took a Yamada pitch and doubled home two more runs for a 3-0 Yokohama lead. Not a good start for the pitcher, but unlike with Shingo Tatsumi earlier this season, Yamada did a fairly good job of avoiding further damage from the walks. He would only walk one more batter and hit another in his six innings of work, giving up just the three runs in the first.

SoftBank's offense also put their man in position to win the game with a five-run outburst in the 1st. Yokohama starter Futoshi Kobayashi was rocked, as the first three batters reached. Kawasaki legged out an infield single, Honda singled, and Ortiz walked for a quick bases-loaded pinch.

Even though the Hawks won yesterday, they still left 11 men on base. Hitoshi Tamura smacked a two-run single to cut the lead to 3-2. Recent call-up Roberto Petagine then tied the game with a timely hit of his own.

The Hawks kept the fun going as Hasegawa reached on an error which allowed another run to score. Yamazaki capped the rally by hitting an RBI single to give the Hawks a 5-3 lead.

It would last until the BayStars' lucky 7, when Tadashi Settsu was called on to hold the 5-3 lead. I thought the Hawks were supposed to be resting this guy, but he has made 33 appearances already this season, and he is on pace to match the 70 appearances he made last year.

The fatigue may be getting to him already, as he gave up two runs in the 7th to tie the game. Tasuku Hashimoto singled his way on, and after two outs, Takehiro Ishikawa legged out an infield single, and he also stole second to set up Uchikawa, who tied the game with a two-run single.

However, just like in the first inning, the Hawks answered with another five-run outburst. Once again, the Hawks took advantage of their speed to begin the inning, as Honda beat an infield single, and Ortiz singled to set up Matsunaka, who singled in Honda to break the tie at 6-5.

SoftBank's rally was in trouble as Tamura couldn't duplicate his performance in the first inning as he hit into a double play. Petagine, on the other hand, did duplicate his performance from the first, as he singled in another Hawks run. Hasegawa then singled his way on as well, and after yesterday's hero Sanada came in, he quickly hit Satoru Morimoto with a pitch to load the bases.

Sanada's bad fortune against the Hawks continued as Katsuki Yamazaki hit a three-run double to end the scoring and give the Hawks a 10-5 lead. Falkenborg and Yao-Hsun Yan finished out the game for the Hawks with two perfect innings, Yan recording two strikeouts.

The Hawks will get back to work on Saturday against the Yomiuri Giants at Yahoo Dome for two crucial games to finish out the regular interleague schedule, with one rainout to make up at Yokohama.