Ramirez Contributions - March 30, 2013

Remember that I mentioned that Tony Blanco's game winning single on Opening Day, yesterday, was hit the opposite way? The announcer in this afternoon's game brought up that the hit to right field was a product of Alex Ramirez's influence. Blanco has relaxed his desire to try to pull everything and just went with the ball.

And it turns out that Yokohama made it two in a row this afternoon thanks to the bat of Ramirez.

Chunichi starter, Yudai Ohno, started off the game allowing a walk, giving Takehiro Ishikawa a free pass on seven pitches. Ishikawa was doubled up an out later, allowing Ohno to only face 6 batters through the first two innings. But walks hurt him in the third.

Speedster Sho Aranami and 19 year old catcher Shuto Takajyoh drew back to back walks (Aranami swiping second two pitches before the second) before starting pitcher Daisuke Miura sacrificed them to second and third. Ishikawa grounded the ball to a drawn in Masahiro Araki at second base. Araki's throw home was too late to get the speedy Aranami, everyone's safe!

Number two batter, Kensuke Uchimura, follows with a line drive single to left to plate Takajyoh and the BayStars take a 2-0 lead.

Nyjer Morgan then bounces the ball in front of home plate and rips up the first base line. This is in direct contrast to Kazuhiro Wada who, just an inning or two earlier, stood in the batter's box to be tagged out by an alert Takajyoh who played a ball hit straight up off the plate in fair territory. While Morgan was thrown out by catcher Motonobu Tanishige, he made the former BayStar back stop hustle the throw while the other two base runners advanced. Morgan has been impressive with his all out effort in these two games despite going 1 for 7 (hitless today).

Blanco wanted to decide the game, swinging away on 0-3, fouling off two in a row, before drawing a walk to load the bases for Ramirez.

And Ramirez came through with a line drive up the middle on a high fastball by Ohno. Both Ishikawa and Uchimura scored, giving the BayStars a 4-0 lead.

The four runs came on just two hits. Bases on balls kill.

On the pitching end, Miura was nearly perfect through the first three, allowing a one-out walk to Araki in the first, but doubling him off on a hit end run line drive double play off the bat of Hector Luna. He managed 7 innings of three-hit ball before starting to struggle in the 8th inning. Two hits with a walk in between to start off the 8th allowed the first Chunichi run. Veteran pinch hitter Noriharu Yamasaki welcomed former Dragon team mate Enyelbert Soto to the mound by grounding into a 5-4-3 double play, the runner at third cutting the BayStars' lead in half, 4-2. And that ended the threat.

The score held, Yokohama taking game 2 of the series and season by the score of 4-2. Miura was the hero of the game.