Hanshin's victory didn't seem obvious. Hiroshima took the lead two times, in the 4th inning (4-3) and in the 6th inning (7-5). But the Tigers took the bull by the horns (or the carps by the fins) and won with a big difference in the extra innings. Hanshin had to win since its direct opponents, the Giants and the Dragons, also won today.
We almost forgot about the starters when the games are so long and so poignant like today's one.
| Starters |  |  |
| W - L - S | 1 - 0 - 0 | 4 - 4 - 0 |
| Innings | 5 | 5 |
| ER | 5 | 2 |
| Throws | 105 | 83 |
| Batters | 26 | 22 |
| Hits | 8 (2 HR) | 6 (1 HR) |
| K | 4 | 3 |
| BB | 2 | 1 |
When Shimoyanagi and Ohtake left the mound, the score was 4 - 5 for the Tigers. Hanshin's relief pitcher, Ryo Watanabe, was completely defeated and has to leave the mound without having eliminated a single batteur. Nishimura replaced Watanabe but Higashide batted a hit from him. The ball passed through Nishimura's feet and under Toritani's nose (the run was charged to Watanabe). Nishimura and Kubota pitched two innings without allowing their opponents to score. Tomoyuki Kubota came back to the first team on June 18th.
 | N° 30 Relief Right-handed ERA 6.12 3 Wins 1 Lose 0 Saves |
Kentaro Sekimoto replaced Hirano as pinch hitter and tied by scoring two runs in the 8th inning. Yamato was the next 2nd Baseman and also batted a hit. There is nothing to complain about, but it was quite odd to replace Hirano, whose fielding was as perfect as always and has also batted a hit.
 | N°3 Infielder Throws R Bats R AVG .205 RBI 3 9 H - 2 HR |  | N°66 Infielder Throws R Bats L AVG .286 RBI 1 8 H - 0 HR |  | N°5 2nd Baseman Throws R Bats L AVG .333 RBI 5 65 H - 0 HR |
Hanshin a réussi fulled all the bases in the 10th inning. But there were two outs and the next batter was... Arai (it wouldn't be funny otherwise). Guess what. Strike out.
Then, Kyuji Fujikawa entered the game. It was awesome to send the closer when the game was tied and they probably have to play another inning in defense. But thanks to that Fujikawa has one more win. Pas de save mais une victoire. A win is worth a save.
 | N°22 Closer Right-handed ERA 1.20 4 Wins 1 Lose 13 Saves |
Pinch hitter Hiyama scored two runs in the 11th inning and Hanshin took the lead. Then, Hiroshima's pitcher walked captain Toritani intentionally, and Saka was hit by pitch. So the Tigers were again in all the bases. This time the batter was nit Arai, but Murton. Guess what. Full base homerun.
 | N° 24 Outfileder Throws R Bats L AVG .290 RBI 5 9 H - 0 HR |  | N°9 Outfileder Throws R Bats R AVG .342 RBI 36 91 H - 9 HR |
Hanshin's last pitcher was our live wire Keiji Uezono. He pitched well. And Sakurai's fielding was good to. We are always criticizing his defense, so when he plays well we must also notify it.
 | N°41 Relief Right-handed ERA 3.77 3 Wins 3 Loses 0 Saves |
Today's highlights:
The announced starters for tomorrow are Eric Stults for Hiroshima and Jason Standridge for Hanshin.
 | Left-handed ERA 4.50 3 Wins 3 Loses 0 Saves |  | Right-handed ERA 5.86 2 Wins 1 Lose 0 Saves |
Standridge is capable of the best and the worst. Note that his ERA is 12.27 against Hiroshima.
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