Sakurakoku 210 411 102 - 12 16 1
Ruadha 100 113 200 - 8 18 2
W - Okazaki (2-0)
L - O'Gallagher (2-3)
Scoring SummaryTop 1st: Taguchi singles to left. Shiraishi flies out to right. Taguchi steals second. Maebara doubles to right-center, Taguchi scores. Kaneda strikes out. Furukawa singles to left, Maebara to third. Yamagishi singles to center, Maebara scores, Furukawa to second. Takeda walks, Furukawa to third, Yamagishi to second. Uehara pops out to second.
Sakurakoku 2-0.Bottom 1st: MacLysaght singles to left. Balfour strikes out. MacLysaght steals second. Elder doubles to right, MacLysaght scores. Rose grounds out to first, Elder to third. Redmond pops out to second.
Sakurakoku 2-1.Top 2nd: Sawada grounds out to first. Taguchi singles to left. Shiraishi grounds into fielder's choice, shortstop Balfour to second baseman Hatton to first baseman Redmond, Taguchi out at second, Shiraishi safe at first, Shiraishi awarded second on throwing error by second baseman Hatton. Maebara doubles to center, Shiraishi scores. Kaneda flies out to left. Furukawa grounds out to second.
Sakurakoku 3-1.Top 4th: Sawada strikes out. Taguchi walks. Shiraishi doubles to left, Taguchi to third. Maebara pops out to second. Kaneda hit by pitch. Furukawa walks, Taguchi scores, Shiraishi to third, Kaneda to second. Yamagishi doubles to left-center, Shiraishi scores, Kaneda scores, Furukawa scores. Takeda grounds out to shortstop.
Sakurakoku 7-1.Bottom 4th: O'Tierney flies out to left. Hatton singles to right. MacCostello doubles to left, Hatton to third. O'Boylan singles to left, Hatton scores, MacCostello to third. MacLysaght grounds into double play, shortstop Takeda to second baseman Furukawa to first baseman Sawada, O'Boylan out at second.
Sakurakoku 7-2.Top 5th: Uehara grounds out to pitcher. Sawada singles to left. Taguchi singles to right, Sawada to third. Shiraishi sacrifice flies out to center, Sawada scores. Maebara singles to left, Taguchi to second. Kaneda strikes out.
Sakurakoku 8-2.Bottom 5th: Balfour singles to left. On wild pitch, Balfour to second. Elder doubles to left, Balfour scores. Rose strikes out. Redmond walks. O'Tierney pops out to third. Hatton singles to left, Elder to third, Redmond to second. MacCostello strikes out. O'Boylan grounds out to second.
Sakurakoku 8-3.Top 6th: Furukawa flies out to left. Yamagishi homers to center on 3-0 count. Takeda lines out to third. Uehara strikes out.
Sakurakoku 9-3.Bottom 6th: MacLysaght flies out to center. Balfour doubles to left. Elder walks. Rose pops out to third. Redmond walks, Balfour to third, Elder to second. O'Tierney triples to right, Balfour scores, Elder scores, Redmond scores. Hatton hit by pitch. Miyanohara pitching. MacCostello safe on fielding error by pitcher Miyanohara, Hatton to second. O'Boylan grounds out to first.
Sakurakoku 9-6.Top 7th: Sawada strikes out. Taguchi singles to left. Taguchi steals second, reaches third on throwing error by catcher MacCostello. Shiraishi walks. Maebara grounds into fielder's choice, second baseman Hatton to shortstop Balfour to first baseman Redmond, Shiraishi out at second, Maebara safe at first, Taguchi scores. Kaneda walks. Furukawa strikes out.
Sakurakoku 10-6.Bottom 7th: MacLysaght singles to left. Balfour doubles to left, MacLysaght to third. Elder singles to center, MacLysagth scores, Balfour out at home. Rose singles to right, Elder to third. Redmond sacrifice flies out to center, Elder scores. O'Tierney singles to left, Rose to second. Hatton strikes out.
Sakurakoku 10-8.Top 9th: Taguchi singles to left. Shiraishi flies out to right. Maebara homers to left on 3-1 count, Taguchi scores. Kaneda grounds out to shortstop. Furukawa singles to left. Yamagishi strikes out.
Sakurakoku 12-8.
Soundbites
In the Metal Wolves dugout, top of the 6th inning, Yamagishi at batKei Maebara: "Come on, Mio, take a pitch. Make her earn an out."
Satoshi Takeda: "Bet you a thousand zeni she swings if it's close."
Maebara: "You're on."
(
Yamagishi hits a home run to center)
Takeda: "Pay up."
Maebara: "Remind me after the game." (
sighs) "Whatever happened to being patient, Mio?"
At a postgame press conferenceQ: "Is there any thought of starting Kunimoto for tomorrow's game and saving Izumi?"
Wolves manager Hayato Kojima: "Saving him for what?"
Q: "For Game 3 or even for the next round against-"
Kojima: "Whoa, whoa. 'Next round'? That's a bit presumptuous, isn't it? Until we take that second game, we haven't earned anything yet. It's not a fluke that these Redheads made it to the playoffs in their first try. Don't try to get me to say something that'll piss them off - the last thing we need is a motivated opponent."
Q: "Will Izumi start tomorrow?"
Kojima: "If he can throw the ball, he's going."