Thanks to an excellent performance by Daisuke Yamai, Chunichi was able to defeat Hanshin yesterday and move into a tie for third place with the Tigers. The Dragons scored a run in the 8th to break a 1-1 tie and Yamai and Iwase were able to escape jams in the bottom of the 8th and 9th innings to preserve the victory.
Chunichi had been stuck in 4th place since nearly the start of the season, but the Cental League has been tightening up. Interleague play was good to the Dragons as they gained ground against Hanshin and Hiroshima. Hopefully Chunichi can keep it up and make the Central League race interesting down the stretch, the season is almost half over already. Hiroshima has been coming back down to earth so 2nd place isn't out of the question.
Asao is back, and pitching well, and Yoshimi could be back as soon as next month. That should help. Hirata is banged up now, hopefully he won't be out for long. Anderson Hernandez has gotten hot and given the team a boost as Naomichi Donoue has slumped back to the bench. Outside of Yomiuri, all of the Central League teams have flaws so really any of the other teams could find themselves playing in the Climax Series.
The Dragons are making a run, get fired up Dragons fans!
5 comments:
I watched that game that Yamai pitched well in, it was a great one. It is very nice to see Hernandez hitting so well after he got off to such a slow start too.
I watched last night`s game (at least until the TV broadcast cut off after 8 innings) and it was a bit of a heartbreaker, it looked liked they might come from behind against Kyoujin.
Their offence has been unusually good this year, if only they had a bit more pitching depth.
Definitely Yamai and Ono have been really good and Hamada has been a nice surprise, but there's hasn't been much consistancy in the starting pitching after that. It's pretty weird to see a Dragons team short on pitching.
Hernandez is turning into a nice pick up, they needed some middle infield help. Tani has been hitting the ball well too, but I don't know if he can keep it up.
Good to hear from another Dragons fan, where have you been watching the games? TV/online?
Yeah, I`ve been glad to see Tani hitting so well too. And what a year Ohshima is having after last year`s dissapointment!
I watch the games on TV and sometimes in person, I live in Nagoya about a 20 minute bike ride from the Dome!
Love the blog, BTW, it is awesome to see someone writing in English about the Dragons, please keep it up!!
Very cool that you live in Nagoya, if you could, please let me know of any interesting local Dragons info/happenings.
I live in Seattle and usually watch a game or two a week online and follow news on yakyubaka and other places. I've been to Japan a handful of times and been to several Dragons games, but I generally follow from a distance.
You should check out justin.tv if you have internet connection, it often shows the satalite broadcasts all the way to the end of the game, it's always annoying when they cut off early on TV.
Yes, I`ll try to keep you updated on any interesting stuff I hear!
I`ll check out Justin tv. I`ve been using Nico Nico recently which is also great, but they mainly carry Pacific League games (i used to live in Fukuoka so I also follow the Hawks, I`m always torn when they play the Dragons in interleague games)!
Tonight`s game against Hiroshima will be broadcast, though I`m not as upbeat as I was a weak ago. It seems this season that every time they go on a hot streak and get to third place or near it, they collapse.
Post a Comment