Monday, November 10, 2008

Yamato, Kanagawa, Japan – The Yamato Battleships overcame a 3-1 series deficit and near elimination in game 5 to take the 2008 League of the Rising Sun Neo-Tokyo Cup.  Displaying the grit and determination of a true champion, Yamato fought to stay alive in the series, and then brought home the Cup with surprisingly easy victories in games 6 and 7.

Series Recap

Game 1: The series would open in Yamato, but the Edo Battousai were not polite guests.  Behind the excellent pitching of Edo starter Keitaro Kodo, Edo would cruise to an easy 4-1 victory.  Kodo would pitch 8 innings, scatter 7 hits and 2 walks while punching out 8.  Yamato's Jesus “Evil Ways” Luna – he of the nearly $15 million a year contract – would not fare as well, allowing 4 runs in 7.1 innings and picking up the loss.  Shiro Shimizu would pitch a perfect 9^th for Edo.  The Edo offense would be led by leadoff hitter and centerfielder Kansuke Murata, who had two hits, 3 stolen bases, and 2 runs scored.  The lone Yamato run would come on a Takashi Agano solo home run in the 4th inning.
Edo 4, Yamato 1.  Edo leads series 1-0.

Game 2: Edo would again play the part of impolite guest, this time riding the masterful pitching performance of Takao Sakurai to an easy 6-0 victory.  Sakurai would pitch a complete game, allowing just 3 harmless singles, not walking a single batter and striking out 8.  The offense would again be led by Kansuke Murata, whose 3-run home run in the 7^th inning (his 3^rd of the postseason) would put the game well out of Yamato's reach.
Edo 6, Yamato 0.  Edo leads series 2-0.

Game 3: With the series moving to Edo and the Battousai having stolen the home field advantage away from Yamato, the Battleships needed to strike quick to get back into the series.  Tabito Matsushima would get things started for Yamato with a 3-run home run in the 2^nd inning.  Takashi Agano would follow with a 2-run blast in the 3^rd inning.  Eduardo Carbajal would add a 3-run shot in the 9^th and Yamato would cruise to an easy 9-3 victory.  Akihisa Yamamoto would pitch 7 innings, allowing just 2 runs – both coming on solo home runs – to pick up the victory.  Randall Kreiger, who won the LRS-JPN Bright Blade Group Pitcher of the Month Award for September, took the loss for Edo.
Yamato 9, Edo 3.  Edo leads series 2-1.

Game 4: Yamato would strike in the top of the third for a single run, but Edo's Morihiro Nakamura would hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the frame to give Edo a 2-1 lead.  Yamato would tie the game in the top of the 6^th on António López's RBI single.  But again the lead would not last long, with Edo regaining it in the bottom of the 6^th on Carlos Gómez's RBI single.  And that's where the score would remain, as the Edo bullpen shut down the Battleships over the final frames and Edo took a commanding 3-1 series lead with a 3-2 victory in game 4.  Chet Parker picked up his second win of the postseason, allowing just 2 runs over 7 innings.  Shiro Shimizu notched his second save of the series and third of the postseason with a perfect 9^th inning.  Yamato's Yoshisada Rin would take the loss despite striking 10 batters in 7.1 innings.
Edo 3, Yamato 2.  Edo leads series 3 -1.

Game 5: Yamato comes into the game facing elimination.  Sending their ace Jesús Luna to the mound, the Battleships were hoping for a much different result than game 1.  It looked good for Yamato early, as Luna cruised rather easily through the first 5 innings.  Yamato would get a solo home run from Naohiro Kumatani in the 2^nd inning for an early 1-0 lead.  In the third inning Yamato would strike for 4 more runs, this time on a 3-run home run by Eduardo Carbajal, which was immediately followed by a solo shot from Tabito Matsushima.  But the wheels would come off for Luna in the bottom of the 6^th, as Edo would put together a 6-run inning despite just having one extra base hit (a double).  Yamato would strike back to tie the game in the top of the 7^th when Isao Kono would double in a run.  The bullpens would take over the game and the game would drag on with neither team able to score again until the 15^th inning, when Yamato's Masamichi Yokota would double in the eventual game winning run.  Reliever Hidehira Ine would pick up the win with 5 masterful innings of relief, scattering just 2 hits while striking out 2.  Ine's performance makes him the unsung hero of the series for Yamato.
Yamato 7, Edo 6 (15 innings).  Edo leads series 3-2.

Game 6: Having survived near elimination, the Battleships return home filled with confidence.  Edo would strike for a first inning run off Yamato starter Jotaro Tanaka, but unfortunately it would be the only run they would score this day.  Yamato would strike for a run to tie the game in the 3^rd and then blow the game open with 2 in the 6^th, 4 in the 7^th  and 2 in the 8^th.  Eduardo Carbajal's 3-run home run in the 7^th was probably the key blow.  Tanaka would allow just the one run in 8 innings to pick up the win, while Edo starter Takao Sakurai would be done in by his own wildness, allowing 7 runs on 6 hits and 6 walks in 6.2 while striking out 5.
Yamato 9, Edo 1.  Series tied at 3 games each.

Game 7: It all comes down to one game and the momentum is clearly with the home town Battleships while Edo, having let a chance to win in game 5 get away, now look like a deer in the headlights.  Edo would jump out to a 3-0 lead after 3 innings, but Yamato would overpower the Battousai with a 6-run 4^th inning.  The air was clearly gone from Edo's sails at this point and the Battleships would tack on a single run in the 7^th, and then cap the barrage with a 3-run home run from Eduardo Carbajal in the 8^th for the final margin of victory.  Akihisa Yamamoto would pick up his second win of the series, allowing just 3 runs in 7.2 innings, allowing 7 hits, 0 walks and striking out 9.  Randall Kreiger would pick up his second loss of a disappointing series for him, allowing 7 runs in 6.2 innings despite striking out 12 batters and walking just one.
Yamato 10, Edo 3.  Yamato wins the 2008 League of the Rising Sun Neo-Tokyo Cup.