Game RECAP April 6 / 2025 vs Giants
RECAP
TORA-NEKO’s 2nd Ballpark Game of the Season — A One-Run Battle, and a Historic Sweep in Tokyo Dome!
It was TORA-NEKO’s second in-person game of the year — the final showdown of a three-game series against the Giants at Tokyo Dome. Hanshin was held to just two hits all night, making for a tense and grinding battle. But in the top of the 4th, they managed to scrape together a run off Giants starter Ishikawa — thanks to three walks, an infield hit, and finally a bases-loaded walk drawn by Maegawa.
That lone run turned out to be all Hanshin needed.
The win was anchored by a phenomenal performance from Mombetsu, a 20-year-old third-year pitcher straight out of high school, who threw 5.2 scoreless innings. After that, the bullpen took over: rookie Kudo, followed by Ishii (pitching for the third straight day!), 2023’s top reliever Kirishiki, and closer Iwazaki — all slammed the door shut, giving Hanshin a 1-0 shutout victory with no room for Giants to mount any comeback.
As Manager Fujikawa said after the game,
“You don’t usually win a game just by drawing a walk with the bases loaded.”
TORA-NEKO, who attends more than a dozen games a year, could only echo the sentiment:
“I can’t believe we actually won that…”
It was truly a game of survival — defending that one precious run for inning after inning.
This wasn’t just any series win. It was Hanshin’s first three-game sweep over the Giants to open a season since 2004 — 21 years ago. Even just winning a series at Tokyo Dome hadn’t happened since 2022. That alone shows just how massive and rare this sweep really is.
Beyond the stellar bullpen, Hanshin committed zero errors across the three games, and even unrecorded defensive miscues were nearly nonexistent. The team is starting to show the shape of what it truly is this year: a squad that wins with elite defense, airtight pitching, and sharp fundamentals.
As for today’s TORAMARU? Of course, he’s living his best life — grinning ear to ear, beer in hand! 🍻
With a three-game winning streak following a three-game losing streak, Hanshin now (somehow) finds itself atop the standings. Yes, it’s still early in the season, but spirits are high as the Tigers finally prepare to return home to Koshien for next week’s home opener.
Facing the Swallows and Dragons — both still struggling to find their rhythm — the Tigers will need to play clean, solid baseball and make sure they don’t let those teams get hot.
But for now… cheers to today’s win, and let’s raise a glass with TORAMARU! 🐯🍺💛
Box
| Order | Pos | # | Name | AB | R | H | RBI | SB | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (CF) | 5 | Chikamoto | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | G1 | – | – | F7 | L6 | – | – | 1B8 | – |
| 2 | (2B) | 51 | Nakano | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | F7 | – | – | BB | – | F7 | – | L8 | – |
| 3 | (3B) | 8 | Sato | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | K | – | – | F8 | – | K | – | – | G3 |
| 4 | (RF) | 1 | Morishita | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | G6 | – | BB | – | K | – | – | L6 |
| 5 | (1B) | 3 | Ohyama | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | G4 | – | 1B6 | – | – | G4 | – | F9 |
| 6 | (LF) | 58 | Maegawa | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | G5 | – | BB① | – | – | F7 | – | – |
| LF | 52 | Shimada | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 7 | (SS) | 51 | Kinami | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | K | K | – | – | G3 | – | – |
| 8 | (C) | 2 | Umeno | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | G6 | – | F8 | – | – | – | – |
| PH | 33 | Itohara | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | G6 | – | |
| P | 47 | Kirishiki | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| P | 13 | Iwasaki | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 9 | (P) | 30 | Mombetsu | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | K | – | G4 | – | – | – | – |
| P | 24 | Kudo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| P | 54 | Ishii | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| PH-C | 12 | Sakamoto | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | F7 | – | |
| TEAM | 29 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| # | Name | NP | BF | IP | H | HR | BB | HBP | K | WP | BK | R | ER | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WP | 30 | Mombetsu | 83 | 22 | 5.2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| HP | 24 | Kudo | 5 | 1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| HP | 54 | Ishii | 14 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| HP | 47 | Kirishiki | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SV | 13 | Iwasaki | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM | 119 | 33 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||