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2007 PL Climax Series: Stage 1 Game 1

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2007 PL Climax Series: Stage 1 Game 1
The Pacific League Climax Series for 2007 begins this afternoon between the Chiba Lotte Marines and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks at Chiba Marine Stadium. Game time is 1:00 pm JST and will feature Shunsuke Watanabe on the mound for the Marines and Kazumi Saitoh for the Hawks.

I've opened the chat room for the game if anyone wants to join in and converse. If need by, some play-by-play can probably be provided for those of you who can't get the game.

Game results will be posted below after the game.
Comments
Re: 2007 PL Climax Series: Stage 1 Game 1
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Oct 8, 2007 5:10 PM | YBS Fan ]

TRANSCRIPT generated on| 2007/10/08
CHATROOM| 2007 PL Climax Series/Stage 1 Game 1

12:57| Deanna: The game's actually happening?
13:03| Deanna: I guess it is!
13:04| Deanna: And Honda leads off for Softbank. You can clearly see the wind blowing (Shunsuke's uniform is waving).
13:04| Deanna: Honda strikes out!
13:05| Deanna: Here's Munenori Kawasaki, who hits a grounder to third. Easy out.
13:07| Deanna: Whee, Matsunaka also strikes out.
13:09| Deanna: Ok, here's Kazumi Saitoh, pitching to leadoff hitter Tsuyoshi Nishoka. First pitch bounces in front of the plate.
13:11| Deanna: Nishoka grounds out to second.
13:12| Deanna: Oh, uh, starting lineups:
13:12| Deanna: FSH: Honda 2B. Kawasaki SS. Matsunaka DH. Kokubo 3B. Shibahara RF. Ohmura LF. Tamura CF. Honma 1B. Matoba C.
13:13| Deanna: Daisuke Hayakawa struck out on a slider in the dirt.
13:13| Deanna: Jose Ortiz flies out to right.
13:14| Deanna: CLM: Nishioka SS. Hayakawa CF. Ortiz 2B. Saburo RF. Satozaki C. Ohmatsu LF. Benny DH. Fukuura 1B. Imae 3B.
13:16| Deanna: Dang, Shunsuke's throwing all strikes
13:17| Deanna: Ok, Kokubo also flies out to right.
13:17| westbaystars: Hi. I've been off approving a whole flurry of messages.
13:17| westbaystars: Things have really picked up on the message board this past week.
13:18| westbaystars: The weekend before last I thought something was wrong with the server there was so little.
13:18| westbaystars: I take it you're pulling for the Hawks.
13:18| Deanna: I'm not pulling for either team
13:19| Deanna: Shibahara strikes out swinging.
13:19| westbaystars: OK. I'll commit. I'm pulling for the Marines.
13:19| Deanna: Ohmura comes up bunting? and goes down grounding out to short.
13:20| Deanna: Honestly, I'm okay with either team. I'm not sure which one I worry about my Fighters facing more
13:20| westbaystars: A bunch of hearts on banners in the stands today.
13:20| westbaystars: That's the first I'd seen that.
13:20| Deanna: And of course, Saitoh and Shunsuke are literally my two favorite pitchers in Japan.
13:20| Deanna: Kizuka being the third
13:21| westbaystars: Watching Saitoh callaps after the sayonara lost last year was really heart wrenching.
13:22| Deanna: Yeah, it really was
13:23| Deanna: I really wanted to be at the game today but it sold out by the time I could get to a Lawson's last week
13:23| Deanna: So today I got up and went there at 10am, and I got a few tickets to the CL second stage... to games that might not happ
13:24| westbaystars: It looked that way on the pre-game clips. Fans were really crowded in all around the stadium.
13:24| Deanna: Saburo hits a liner towards first, nice play by Honma to snag it and tag the base
13:24| Deanna: Well, if it weren't raining I'd go down to Yokohama -- free outfield jiyuuseki seats today!
13:25| westbaystars: It looked like Saburo was describing Saitoh's pitches to someone there in the dugout.
13:25| Deanna: Not too surprising, that's probably what they always try to do
13:25| Deanna: Saitoh's curve looks pretty good today actually
13:26| westbaystars: The rain's been on and off all day here in Yokohama.
13:26| Deanna: holy... oh. nevermind, Satozaki hits a fly to left, which is caught. Two out.
13:27| Deanna: Yeah. His curve today is GOOD.
13:27| westbaystars: Satozaki lined out to left.
13:28| Deanna: what happened with the Hawks' catchers, anyway? why has Matoba been playing so much?
13:29| westbaystars: Let me see ...
13:29| Deanna: Ohmatsu hits the ball up in the air and Honma catches it in foul territory halfway up the 1B line. Three out.
13:31| westbaystars: I thought that Matoba was the regular catcher.
13:31| westbaystars: Lead off double by former BayStar Tamura.
13:31| Deanna: HEY
13:32| Deanna: that means Yahoo Douga is behind
13:32| Deanna: Matoba hasn't been the regular catcher in a while because of his bat
13:32| Deanna: He was always Saitoh's favorite catcher though, and I noticed he was getting more playtime lately
13:32| westbaystars: Error!
13:33| westbaystars: Home in!
13:33| westbaystars: I've got Chiba TV. It's usually about 30-45 seconds ahead of satalite channels
13:33| Deanna: Dammit I am totally going to have to try to resync after this inning and WHOA
13:34| Deanna: was that a throwing error or a catching error at first?
13:34| Deanna: I have the internet TV. I don't have cable at all
13:34| Deanna: Satozaki comes out to the mound to tell Shunsuke, "it's ok, dude, don't worry"
13:34| Deanna: oh. looks like a catching error there
13:35| westbaystars: I hear that J:COM is good for providing Internet TV.
13:35| Deanna: no, I mean, I have a TV set, but just broadcast TV on it. I'm watching Yahoo's stream of the game.
13:35| westbaystars: One can get most of the cable/CS/BS channels from it.
13:35| Deanna: not sure it's worth getting cable or satellite or anything since I'm not home at the right hours to watch
13:36| westbaystars: Can't get Chiba TV there? UHF.
13:36| Deanna: I don't seem to have an option to use any channels aside from the normal 12
13:36| westbaystars: I'll hold off calling the game, then.
13:37| Deanna: ok, Matoba bunts Honma to second sucessfully.
13:37| Deanna: nah, don't worry about it
13:37| Deanna: I'll try to at least resync the net feed after this inning and then play with my TV more.
13:37| Deanna: wow, Honda's fanfare sounds almost exactly like Ibata's
13:38| Deanna: and Honda singles to left
13:38| westbaystars: Relay home on the fly ball to left is not in time. Hawks add another run.
13:38| westbaystars: I see Akiyama in the Hawks' dugout. I thought he was being groomed to take over as manager.
13:39| Deanna: flyball to left by Kawasaki I assume? I haven't seen it yet
13:39| Deanna: ahhh, yes. Close play at the plate, Honma runs into Satozaki but the ball gets away
13:39| westbaystars: But Oh-kantoku said he'd like to continue next year. And he's been granted Manager for Life.
13:40| westbaystars: Was the catch in fair territory or foul?
13:40| westbaystars: Ground ball through the left side by Matsunaka.
13:40| westbaystars: And Honda doesn't stop at third! He comes in without a throw!
13:40| westbaystars: Hawks up 3-0.
13:41| westbaystars: Looks like Honda had taken second on the throw home a batter earlier.
13:41| Deanna: Kawasaki's fly ball catch was in foul territory
13:42| Deanna: and, that's pretty funny that they didn't bother throwing in the ball on Matsunaka's single
13:44| westbaystars: Back to the catcher situation, I'm not sure why Yamazaki was sent to the farm.
13:45| Deanna: what about Tanoue?
13:45| westbaystars: Nikkan Sports just said "再調整" - for readjustment - which could be for anything.
13:46| Deanna: Oops... Matsunaka hits a high fly ball to third, Imae making the catch.
13:46| westbaystars: Tanoue is still at 1-gun.
13:47| westbaystars: I think you're off a little bit with the batters. Matsunaka singled driving in Honda from second.
13:47| westbaystars: At least, that's who it looked like.
13:47| westbaystars: Honda was the one who drove in the second run, not scored it on the sacrifice fly, too.
13:48| Deanna: oh, yes, that last one is wrong. Kokubo hit the fly out
13:49| Deanna: Honma and Honda both scored
13:49| Deanna: ah, infield single for Benny?
13:49| westbaystars: Yep. He really does hustle.
13:50| westbaystars: Despite his numbers being way down.
13:51| Deanna: I'm not wrong about Honma/Honda. Honma scored on Kawasaki's sac fly. Honda scored on Matsunaka's hit.
13:52| westbaystars: Benny running on the pitch!
13:52| westbaystars: Fukuura grounds the ball through the left side, and Benny ...
13:52| westbaystars: No throw.
13:53| westbaystars: That was a bit risky going to third on that one.
13:53| Deanna: Hahaahahaha
13:53| Deanna: Why isn't Ohmatsu throwing in the ball faster?
13:53| westbaystars: OK. I guess I got Honma/Honda backwords.
13:53| Deanna: errrr
13:53| Deanna: not Ohmatsu
13:53| Deanna: Ohmura
13:54| Deanna: I can't believe both teams have a leftfielder batting 6th named Ohm-something
13:54| westbaystars: Another infield hit!
13:54| westbaystars: Benny scores. 1-3.
13:54| Deanna: it was worse when Kawasaki was out and Honma/Honda played SS/2B. Describing DPs was hard
13:55| westbaystars:
13:56| westbaystars: Like the Inaba, Ibata, Inada debuckle last year?
13:56| Deanna: whoops. Saitoh takes a grounder off his leg and Benny scores, Imae reaching first safely.
13:56| westbaystars: Was that off the pitcher. I missed that part.
13:56| Deanna: Yes, well, if you'd been putting up with Inada/Inaba all year you'd be used to it too
13:57| Deanna: Yeah, it was off his leg, then ... Kawasaki fielded it, I think
13:57| westbaystars: And Tsuyoshi beats out a sacrifice bunt up the third base side.
13:58| westbaystars: Good dive by Matsunaka to keep the ball from going into right field.
13:58| Deanna: wheeeee!
13:58| westbaystars: Bases loaded.
13:58| Deanna: yeah, Matsunaka's a better first baseman than he gets credit for, I think
13:58| westbaystars: Batter (Ohmura?) batting .334 with the bases loaded.
13:59| Deanna: Hayakawa I thought
13:59| Deanna: he's pretty good
14:01| westbaystars: Yes, that was Hayakawa.
14:01| westbaystars: ... striking out swinging at a pitch way outside.
14:02| Deanna: ...so of course Hayakawa strikes out once I say that
14:02| westbaystars: Otis up now. I've only seen him a couple of times, but he's come through in the clutch each time.
14:03| westbaystars: Whoops. Now did I curse him?
14:04| westbaystars: I think I see why Yamazaki was sent down, he's wasn't batting much better than Matoba.
14:04| Deanna: You mean Ortiz, not OTis
14:04| Deanna: The last time the Hawks had a catcher who could actually hit a baseball with a bat, his name was Johjima
14:04| westbaystars: Tanoue has a better bat, but is still learning to lead, I think.
14:05| Deanna: yeah, that's the thing. Matoba's a fantastic catcher, so sometimes it's worth having him despite the bat
14:05| Deanna: and Saitoh in particular loves working with him
14:07| westbaystars: I've noticed that some veteran catchers stick around a little longer because a particular pitcher prefers him.
14:08| Deanna: well, and in this case, Saitoh's team captain, so I think that has a little more influence
14:08| westbaystars: 三振。From nobody out bases loaded to two outs bases loaded.
14:09| westbaystars: Saitoh is team captain this year? But he's only been with the top team about 30 days in all.
14:10| Deanna: back when I was really young, the only reason Tim McCarver stuck around with the Phillies is because of Steve Carlton.
14:10| Deanna: and... yeah, I'm pretty sure Saitoh was named team captain before the season started
14:11| westbaystars: The Marines get the base hit they needed! Saburoooooooooo.
14:11| westbaystars: And we have a tied ball game, 3-3.
14:11| Deanna: hehe, Saburo
14:13| Deanna: I can see all of the raindrops on the camera lens
14:16| westbaystars: Satozaki draws a base on balls to load the bases again.
14:17| Deanna: heh, I was about to say, this at-bat must be even longer than I think it is
14:17| westbaystars: Give up 3, take back ___?
14:17| Deanna: see, and Satozaki is team captain for the Marines, right?
14:18| westbaystars: Looks like the answer is 3. The next batter grounds out to second.
14:18| Deanna: that would be Ohmatsu
14:19| westbaystars: I'm not sure who the captain is this year. I expected Fukuura to step up to that responsibility.
14:19| westbaystars: The announcers give Benny's hustle the credit for getting that inning going for the Marines.
14:20| Deanna: I'm pretty sure Bobby said in his blog that he made Satozaki captain
14:21| Deanna: and Shibahara singles to... center, was it?
14:21| westbaystars: I'll accept that then.
14:22| Deanna: I really like Satozaki so I remember thinking that was pretty cool
14:22| westbaystars: I'd have said left-center. It was between the two, over the shortstop.
14:22| Deanna: and here's Ohmura, not to be confused with Ohmatsu or Ohmichi or...
14:23| Deanna: ...who bunts over Shibahara successfully.
14:26| Deanna: aaaaand Tamura walks.
14:27| Deanna: Okay, here's is HonMA, up with one out and runners at first and second
14:29| Deanna: oof, he just fouled a ball off Satozaki's mask
14:29| Deanna: that's gotta be annoying (Sato's trying to readjust his mask now)
14:30| Deanna: ...and the next pitch he strikes out called. Two out.
14:30| westbaystars: Hayakawa's throw home looked like Satozaki got him to me.
14:30| Deanna: fourth strikeout for Watanabe, if anyone's counting.
14:31| Deanna: huh
14:31| Deanna: Matoba (?!!?!) singles to right and Hayakawa throws it in and I really need to see that replay
14:31| Deanna: dang
14:31| westbaystars: Matsunaka's single up the middle.
14:31| Deanna: I think you might be right
14:31| westbaystars: The throw to the plate.
14:31| westbaystars: Looks like you're two batters behind.
14:32| Deanna: uhh... Matsunaka? that was Matoba
14:32| Deanna: no, the batter after Honma is Matoba
14:32| Deanna: now HonDA is up to bat
14:33| westbaystars: It was? It looked like Matsunaka.
14:33| Deanna: shibahara singled, ohmura bunted, honma struck out, matoba singled, honda just made an out somehow
14:33| Deanna: uhh, matsunaka does not bat right handed.;
14:33| westbaystars: Nonetheless, the Hawks take a 4-3 lead in the 4th.
14:33| westbaystars: It was Matoba. Just recited on TV.
14:34| Deanna: the ?!?!! was for the idea of Matoba actually hitting a single, not for "who is it?"
14:35| westbaystars: My bad. I'm trying to do some work, too.
14:36| Deanna: Benny hits a fly ball out to right-center and Tamura catches it just short of the warning line.
14:37| westbaystars: Left-center.
14:38| Deanna: it looked like right from the camera angle on this broadcast, but whatever, it's not a big deal, Tamura made the catch
14:39| Deanna: Fukuura walks, anyway
14:39| westbaystars: Saitoh seems to be giving up an unusually large number of walks today.
14:40| Deanna: ...that's his second one
14:41| westbaystars: ... and third. When your buffer catches up.
14:42| westbaystars: I thought he averaged about 1-2 per game.
14:42| Deanna: ah, yes, Imae walked too. And I tried reloading the game, but I guess it's still behind.
14:43| Deanna: yes, this year he averaged 2 walks and 6 strikeouts per game
14:43| westbaystars: Tsuyoshi rips the ball up the middle, scoring Fukuura from second.
14:44| westbaystars: We're tied up again, 4-4.
14:44| Deanna: ah, on my broadcast Nishioka just fouled a ball off himself and Matoba
14:44| Deanna: and there's the single
14:44| westbaystars: The Internet can't be faster than terrestrial broadcasts, no matter how small you set the buffer.
14:47| westbaystars: Fly ball to right. Touch up and the runner scores.
14:47| westbaystars: But what's Tsuyoshi up to?
14:48| westbaystars: Getting thrown out at second base!
14:48| Deanna: "No," says Saitoh, "I don't really feel like coming out of the game, thanks."
14:48| westbaystars: Well, the run game across first.
14:48| westbaystars: Lotte up 5-4.
14:49| westbaystars: What was that about? I glanced up and Oh-kantoku was signaling "stop" to Saitoh?
14:49| westbaystars: Then Kokubo went over for a word.
14:49| Deanna: Imae advanced to third on Nishioka's double, tagged up on Hayakawa's sac fly, and then... whoops, yeah
14:50| Deanna: yeah, I don't know what that was all about
14:50| Deanna: top of the 5th! here comes Kawasaki to the plate!
14:51| Deanna: ...and he grounds out to second.
14:51| Deanna: Guess who's up to bat now? It's Matsunaka. No, really, it actually IS Matsunaka
14:52| westbaystars: Thanks. I verified with the big 3 on his back this time.
14:52| westbaystars: Rather than just relying on what he looks like.
14:53| Deanna: I love watching the replays of Shunsuke's pitches when they show the trajectory from the side
14:54| Deanna: it makes you realize how cool submariners are
14:54| Deanna: whoops, the umpire just took a foul ball off the mask too
14:54| westbaystars: Like that strike out pitch where Shunsuke is just centemeters off the ground.
14:55| Deanna: yeah, well, you look at his right leg and you can tell how far he is off the ground. all that dirt
14:55| Deanna: Matsunaka strikes out swinging.
14:56| Deanna: Kokubo hits a fly out to right and hey, Saburo makes a nice play on it
14:57| Deanna: and that's three outs. Bottom of the 5th!
14:58| Deanna: new pitcher? Yanase?
15:00| Deanna: yup, Akihiro Yanase pitching for the Hawks, and Jose Ortiz up to bat
15:03| westbaystars: Ortiz hits one that there's no doubt about to left.
15:03| westbaystars: Marines up 6-4.
15:03| westbaystars: That Chiba Marine wind had no chance against that line drive.
15:03| Deanna: hey, I just realized something. why isn't Zuleta playing today?
15:04| Deanna: oh
15:04| Deanna: he got injured?
15:04| Deanna: oh, yeah, there goes Ortiz's home run, that was huge
15:06| westbaystars: Yea. Zuleta was hurt just a week or two ago.
15:06| Deanna: hey, the game in Yokohama is actually starting, I take it that means the rain stopped?
15:06| westbaystars: Bobby is hoping he'll be back for Stage 2.
15:06| westbaystars: But something I read recently suggested that he might not be.
15:07| Deanna: oh, I failed to notice Saburo hitting a pop fly out to somewhere, whoops. here's Satozaki
15:07| westbaystars: It hasn't been raining for a while here. But even 10 km south of the stadium can have different weather.
15:07| Deanna: I just didn't feel like coming to Yokohama two days in a row, even for free tickets
15:08| Deanna: ...and I figured it'd rain out today
15:08| Deanna: but it'll be interesting to see whether Guiel or Murata come out on top of the HR race
15:08| westbaystars: Rain has been off and on. But never that heavy.
15:09| westbaystars: Kind of a light mist most of the time.
15:09| westbaystars: Yea, Guiel hit that running home run yesterday - one of two to pull within 1 of Murata.
15:10| Deanna: heh, "inside-the-park home run"
15:10| Deanna: I dunno, Tyrone said he didn't think the Yokohama pitchers would give him anything to hit yesterday. he was mostly right
15:11| Deanna: oh, Satozaki and Ohmatsu both struck out. Three outs. Top of the 6th!
15:11| westbaystars: Got to go for a second. Be right back.
15:16| Deanna: Shibahara hits a pop fly to shallow right, Jose Ortiz making the catch.
15:17| Deanna: Over in Yokohama, Guiel walked for his first at-bat.
15:19| Deanna: Ohmura grounded out and Tamura struck out and that was one quick inning. Bottom of the 6th!
15:20| westbaystars: Woods got several good pitches. And he walked on a pitch that Katoh thought was strike three.
15:21| westbaystars: It was wishful thinking, though. The ball was outside.
15:22| westbaystars: Kinjyoh drives in a run in Yokohama. BayStars batting in the bottom of the 1st. Tied 1-1.
15:22| westbaystars: Murata at the plate.
15:22| westbaystars: Where did Guiel come from. I hadn't really heard anything about him all year.
15:22| westbaystars: Most of the focus had been on Ramirez.
15:23| Deanna: Guiel's just got a lower average. he's been around all year. I saw him play a bit in the majors and nobody noticed him
15:23| Deanna: then either. must be because he's Canadian
15:24| Deanna: just kidding.
15:24| westbaystars: And Furuta "daida ore" Kantoku.
15:24| westbaystars: Murata walks.
15:25| Deanna: and in Chiba, Benny hit a pop fly out and Fukuura walked
15:26| Deanna: so in reality, if Yakult and Yokohama walk each other's HR guys, then Murata wins
15:27| westbaystars: That's right. And that's how the seasons have ended a number of times.
15:27| westbaystars: And not just against gaijin. Giants' Matsui and Chunichi's Yamazaki had a similar walk-fest.
15:28| westbaystars: At Yokohama, Yoshimura reaches out and hits the ball over the right field fense!
15:28| westbaystars: BayStars take a 4-1 lead.
15:30| Deanna: ahh, back when Takeshi was younger
15:30| Deanna: Yoshimura's pretty awesome
15:30| Deanna: Imae's still at bat in Chiba
15:31| Deanna: seriously, Yokohama had a pretty kickass draft so far, and with the young players they already have...
15:31| westbaystars: That's a long at bat.
15:31| Deanna: yeah, full-count
15:31| Deanna: ....and he walks on a pitch in the dirt
15:32| westbaystars: Ohya-kantoku brought around a bunch of young players back in the mid-1990s.
15:32| westbaystars: Time to do it again.
15:32| westbaystars: He started off the season with veterans. But finished up with a young squad.
15:33| westbaystars: I've especially like Nonaka.
15:33| westbaystars: Miura is pitching for the BayStars today.
15:34| Deanna: It was strange seeing the Fujita-Nonaka middle infield yesterday
15:34| Deanna: but kind of cool. I mean, Toshihisa and Takuro are both 37 or so
15:34| Deanna: though the best part of yesterday was that I got Tyrone's autograph
15:35| westbaystars: Really? Hang out on the Dragons' side?
15:36| westbaystars: In your Morino uniform?
15:37| Deanna: and Nishioka hits a double off the back wall, scoring Fukuura. 7-4
15:37| Deanna: yeah, I hung out on the dragon's side and took about 500 pictures.
15:37| Deanna: and a whole bunch of people swarmed Tyrone for his autograph, so I used my secret powers to get him to sign for me too
15:37| Deanna: ...I spoke to him in English
15:38| westbaystars: That's a pretty underhanded method!
15:39| Deanna: Over in Chiba, pitching change -- Yoshiaki Fujioka replaces Yanase. Daisuke Hayakawa is at bat
15:40| Deanna: Yeah, underhanded, but whatever. I talked to him a bit, and asked about the HR race, and he said he didn't think that
15:40| Deanna: Yokohama would pitch to him, so.
15:41| Deanna: Hayakawa hits a grounder to shortstop, and Kawasaki throws out Imae at the plate. Two outs
15:43| westbaystars: Maybe that's why he grounded out to third and struck out his first two at bats?
15:43| Deanna: Ortiz hits an easy fly out to left field and that's three outs. Top of the 7th!
15:43| westbaystars: He didn't think he'd get anything better to swing at?
15:43| westbaystars: Wow. This game is really sailing right along.
15:44| Deanna: yeah, well, that's what he thought BEFORE the game, due to Murata and the race
15:44| Deanna: so yeah, he was wrong. but still
15:45| Deanna: of course, whatever, the Dragons made FOUR ERRORS yesterday
15:45| Deanna: I thought it was funny how I finally saw the Baystars win another game. It just took showing up in another uniform
15:46| westbaystars: That's the secret! Burn that Murata uniform!
15:46| westbaystars: Oh, yea. The errors. And even Ibata was throwing the ball away.
15:46| Deanna: which isn't really true. I guess they were 2-3 in games I attended in Yokohama this year
15:46| westbaystars: That was very out of form for them.
15:46| Deanna: yeah, Ibata making an error was awful. though Tanishige chucking the ball into center wasn't much better
15:47| Deanna: I'm surprised any of the runs were earned
15:47| Deanna: Oh, back in Chiba, HonMA hit a pop fly out, and Adam Hyzdu just pinch-hit for Matoba... and struck out swinging./
15:48| westbaystars: Got to go now. Be back in a half hour or so.
15:48| Deanna: ok
15:49| Deanna: HonDA grounds out to the pitcher and that's one quick inning. Bottom of the 7th ahoy!
15:52| Deanna: Tanoue's in as catcher for Softbank, Fujioka is still pitching, and Saburo is leading off the batting.
15:53| Deanna: ...heh, Saburo pops out to left, although Ohmura misjudges the ball before making the catch.
15:57| Deanna: Satozaki grounds out and Ohmatsu walks
15:57| Deanna: ...and Ohtsuka comes in as a pinch-runner for Ohmatsu.
15:58| Deanna: Benny hits a pop fly out to second -- three outs. Top of the 8th! Over in Yokohama. Guiel struck out.
16:01| Deanna: Ohtsuka stays in to play left field for the 8th...
16:01| Deanna: ...and is immediately tested by a long pop fly that goes foul in left field, which he runs out to catch.
16:01| Deanna: so Kawasaki's down and HERE'S MATSUNAKA!
16:04| Deanna: Haha, Matsunaka grounds out to short and the announcer says "three outs, change!"
16:04| Deanna: "wait, no, it's only two outs. dummy!"
16:08| Deanna: Kokubo hits a pop fly out and it's really the end of the inning. Bottom of the 8th...
16:10| Deanna: New pitcher for the Hawks - Takayuki Shinohara. Fukuura is leading off.
16:17| Deanna: Fukuura hits a fly out, Imae walks, Tsuyoshi is up, I'm beginning to lose attention span.
16:20| Deanna: Nishioka strikes out swinging.
16:23| Deanna: Hayakawa hits the ball, it goes off the pitcher, then off the shortstop, then both outfielders in left-center drop it
16:24| Deanna: thus Imae scores and Hayakawa ends up with a single
16:24| Deanna: 8-4 Lotte
16:26| Deanna: Hayakawa gets himself caught stealing and that's three outs. Top of the 9th! Is Shunsuke still pitching? Looks like i
16:28| westbaystars: Just got back.
16:28| westbaystars: My son's team lost today.
16:28| westbaystars: I heard the 8th run on the radio.
16:29| westbaystars: And it looks like Yokohama's lead has been cut to 4-2.
16:29| westbaystars: So, 3 outs to go?
16:29| westbaystars: Yes, Nabe is still on the mound.
16:29| Deanna: Oops
16:29| Deanna: Yeah, 2 outs to go
16:29| Deanna: Shibahara fly out to Ortiz
16:31| Deanna: Ohmura grounds out to shortstop
16:31| Deanna: and... one more one more
16:31| westbaystars: 1-1 pitch grounded to third.
16:31| westbaystars: The throw to first is in time.
16:32| westbaystars: And the Marines go up 1-0 in Stage 1.
16:32| Deanna: yup
16:33| Deanna: man, now I wish I'd gotten up earlier on Thursday to try to get a ticket to this
16:33| Deanna: ok, not really, I kind of have a cold, and sitting out in the rain wouldn't help
16:33| Deanna: hahaha, Benny has whiskers painted on his face or something?
16:33| westbaystars: Riggs hits a sacrifice fly at Yokohama. One run ballgame.
16:34| Deanna: it's interesting having the rami-guiel-riggs in the middle of the yakult order
16:35| westbaystars: That does sound like a potent lineup. Why hasn't Yakult managed to win a few more?
16:35| westbaystars: Without Furuta leading their pitchers are ineffective?
16:35| Deanna: I dunno
16:36| Deanna: I get the feeling that their defense isn't that great
16:36| Deanna: how are their numbers on things like turning DPs and whatnot?
16:36| Deanna: I mean, I also intuitively think that Arakibata is the best middle infield in Japan, but that's just from watching.
16:37| Deanna: ok, the game hero is... Shunsuke Watanabe! Is that surprising? No.
16:37| Deanna: oh, also Nishioka
16:38| Deanna: best part is, thanks to Nishioka's long hair, you can really see the wind blowing, his hair is in his face
16:39| westbaystars: Good question about their team DPs. Unfortunately, I'm going through and fixing my data at the moment,
16:39| westbaystars: so it's not very usable.
16:40| westbaystars: I agree about Arakibata. He's still amazing to watch.
16:41| Deanna: Err
16:41| Deanna: That's two people
16:41| Deanna: Araki and Ibata
16:42| westbaystars: Arakibata is a single person with two instances. What are you talking about.
16:42| westbaystars: He plays the middle infield as one.
16:43| westbaystars: Murata up at Yokohama.
16:44| westbaystars: Fouls off the first pitch. The second over a good portion of the outter part of the plate.
16:45| westbaystars: Third pitch grounded out to short. No insurance.
16:45| Deanna: Well, but sometimes the infield is Ibataraki.
16:45| Deanna: And I think Ibata has more of the brains.
16:55| westbaystars: Well, I'm done for the day.
16:55| westbaystars: You've done such a great job keeping the game log, I think I'll post it.
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(aka westbaystars)
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