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Another losing streak put the Swallows a season worse eight games under .500.

Last Week’s Games (1W 3L, 15-23-1 Overall, 6th in CL)

Tuesday May 15 vs. Yomiuri Giants at Kagoshima 2-1 Win

With a little luck and some help from the defense David Huff turned in a solid 8 inning pitching performance in which he gave up a single run on a solo home run. He gave up four total hits and gave up three walks. Huff gave up hard contact but the ball often found its way into an outfielder’s glove. The gave was tied 1-1 going into the bottom of the eighth. Norichika Aoki who had hit a warning track fly out his previous at bats finally got his first homer in since his return to NPB. The solo shot gave the Swallows the lead which Ishiyama saved in the ninth. At Coco’s suggestion Aoki was given the silent treatment as he returned to the bench before the team erupted in celebration. Yuhei went 3-for-3. Meanwhile Sakaguchi went 0-for-4 ending his streak of games reaching base.

Wednesday May 16 vs. Yomiuri Giants at Kagoshima 4-12 Loss Juri Hara gave up a solo homer to Hayato Sakamoto in the third but Yamada responded with a solo shot of his own. Just as Swallows fans thought they might have gotten the momentum, Hara completely lost control. Hara kept missing his spot and his balls ended up in the middle of the strikezone. He ultimately gave up six hits and a wild pitch for six runs. Ren Kazahari took over and put another run on Hara’s line when he uncorked a wild pitch. The Giants tagged Matsuoka for four more runs in the seventh. The Swallows got three runs in the ninth when Nishiura hit a three run homer off of Giants mopup pitcher Kota Nakagawa.

Friday May 18 vs. Hiroshima Carp at Mazda Stadium Cancelled Rain cancelled this game and pushed David Buchanan’s start back one day.

Saturday May 19 vs. Hiroshima Carp at Mazda Stadium 2-5 Loss The Swallows got single runs in the first and third to take an early 2-0 lead over the Carp. In the bottom of the third, Buchanan got two outs but then loaded the bases with a single and back-to-back walks. Takayoshi Noma got his second career home run, a grand slam no less, to ruin Buchanan’s streak of quality starts. Buchanan gave up another run in the sixth after a one out triple came home on a throwing error by Ryota Fujii. The Swallows actually outhit the Carp 9-5 but couldn’t string together multiple hits in an inning after they lost their early lead.

Sunday May 20 vs. Hiroshima Carp at Mazda Stadium 0-1 Loss Ryan Ogawa’s second start was much better than his first. He gave up a single run in the second. However, he threw a lot of pitches and was taken out of the game after the fourth having thrown 89 pitches. Ogawa ended up giving up 3 hits and 3 walks. He also got 6 strikeouts. The Swallows bullpen relay of Nakao (2 IP), Kazahari (1 IP), and Kondo (1 IP) kept the Carp off the board the rest of the way. The Swallows bats got just six singles the entire game and couldn’t get a run on the board. The Swallows loaded the bases with one out in the ninth but Araki and Kawabata couldn’t get a run across the plate and the game was lost.



Roster Moves

Juri Hara was removed from the active roster on Thursday.

Ryota Fujii was added to the active roster on Friday.

Shingo Kawabata and Taishi Hirooka were both removed from the active roster today.

Masahiro Ishikawa is the announced starter for tomorrow’s game so he will be added to the active roster tomorrow.

Ryota Yachi is the other player likely to be activated.

Upcoming Games

The Swallows will play a three game series against the now fifth place Tigers on the road. Game one will be played at Kurashiki, the next two games will be played at Koshien. A sweep would move the Swallows out of the cellar. The Swallows will return to Tokyo to face the Baystars at Jingu for three games starting Friday.

Miscellaneous

The results of the Hottest Swallow Election that we discussed in the latest podcast were announced. The results: Tetsuto Yamada Tomotaka Sakaguchi Takahiro Araki Taishi Hirooka Shingo Kawabata Juri Hara Nobuyuki Okumura Shotaro Tashiro Hajime Omura Norichika Aoki

Swallows Twitter has noted that you could field a plausible line up with a DH with the above personnel.

The Swallows have also started another election for the next generation Mr. Swallow among the pitchers and the fielders. All Swallows under 25 who have played at least one top team game are eligible. The winner in each category will be made into a bobblehead.