Week In Review: June 18 - June 24



The Dragons in Toyama (Dragons Official Photo Blog)

This week was a short week as the Dragons played only two games.  The majority of the week was saved for make-up games of inter-league games that were rained out.  Chunichi wasn't involved in any inter-league games that were rained out and so were able to enjoy five straight days off. 
The two games this week were played against Hiroshima in Toyama and Kanazawa with Chunichi being the home team in both.
The Dragons dropped the first game of the series 3-1.  Chunichi wasn't able to get much going offensively against the Carps' ace Kenta Maeda and trailed a majority of the game.  Chukyodai Chukyo product Shota Dobayshi of the Carp had a homer in the game off of starter Kenichi Nakata.
Chunichi hung on to win the second game of the series 5-4.  The bullpen held the Carp scoreless after Soma Yamauchi was pulled in the 4th inning.  Tony Blanco and Ryosuke Hirata homered in that game.
Here are a couple additional notes from this week:

• Shuhei Takahashi has been practicing in the outfield.  He also played a ni-gun game in right field on June 20th.
• Kosuke Fukudome was designated for assignment earlier this week by the Chicago White Sox.  Rumors are that his return to Japan is imminent, so far Yokohama has shown the most interest in him in the media.