2007 SEASON IN THE CENTRAL LEAGUE

Climax Series
1st stage: Giants vs Dragon
1st game
Surpisingly, the Dragons starting pitcher was lefty Takashi Ogasawara. And that seems to have put off the Giants. The Giants starter was the young Tetsuya Utsumi. He lost 2 runs to Motonobu Tanishige. Then he lost a 2 run homer to Tyrone Woods. The Giants lost 2 to 5.
2nd game
The Giants Tomohiro Nioka hit in a run in the first inning. The Dragons equalized in the 2nd. It added more runs in the 4th. The Giants Damon Hollins slammed a 3 run home run. But the Giants lost 4 to 7.
3rd game
The Giants Tomohiro Nioka hit a kicked off run in this game too. It's a home run. However, in the 4th inning the Dragons Tyron Woods blasted a 3 run home run. In the end, the Dragons won 4 to 2. With this 3rd win, the Dragons clinched the ticket to the Japan Series.

1st stage: Dragons vs Tigers
It's the first time ever playoffs take place in the Central League. Starting for the Tigers on Oct 13, Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi. For the Dragons, Kenshin Kawakami. The Dragons immediately took the lead. Tyrone Woods also contributed with a home run Masahiko Morino blasted a 3 run homer. The Dragons won 7 to 0. On Oct 14, Norihiro Nakamura's hit has led to more hits and the Dragons beat the Tigers 5 to 3. With this 2nd win, the Dragons advances to the 2nd stage.

October
After a 5 day rest, the Giants played the Swallows on Oct 2. Starting the game was Tetsuya Utsumi. Alex Ramirez homered off a 3 run. But the Giants equalized with Lee Seung Yeop's home run. It was behind again. Then a miracle. In the 9th inning, with bases loaded and with 2 outs Takayuki Shimizu grounded the ball. The Swallows missed the throw to first, and the Giants clinched the game 5 to 4. It also secured the league title, for the first time in 5 years.

September
The Giants lost the game on Sept 1, but won the next day with Damon Hollins hit in the 10th inning. The Carp's Tomonori Maeda marked his career total 2000th hit on Sept 1 hitting home runners, and his team beat the Dragons. The next day too Maeda contributed for his team's win. The Tigers beat the Swallows in 2 games from Sept 1.

The Giants faced the Dragons from Sept 4. The Giants lot the first game, but won the next two, including in a competitive 12 inning game. The Tigers won all 3 games against the BayStars from Sept 4, and rose to 2nd place. The Swallows beat the Carp in 2 games.

The Tigers played against the Giants from Sept 7, won all 3 games and clinched first place. The Dragons followed suit, defeating the Swallows in all 3 games. The Carp won the first 2 games against the BayStars, but lost on Sept 9.

The Tigers on Sept 11 ended its winning streak at 10 by losing against the Carp.It lost the next game too, but won on Sept 13. The Dragons streak stopped too in its game against the BayStars on Sept 11 and lost the next day. But defeated the BayStars on Sept 13. The Giants beat the Swallows on Sept 11, but lost the next 2 games.

From Sept 14, the Giants beat the Carp in all 3 games, and on Sept 16, surged to first place. The Tigers faced the Dragons from Sept 14. The Dragons won the first game on great performance by Tyrone Woods. The Tigers won the next, the Dragons won on Sept 16.

On Sept 17, the team ranking changed again. The Tigers beat the Giants and rose to first place. The Dragons was 2nd, while the Giants fell to 3rd. They played 2 more games against the same teams, but the order didn't change. By the way on Sept 19, the Swallows Atsuya Furuta announced he's retiring as player and manager after this season.

On Sept 21, the Dragons rose to first place, beating the Carp, while the Giants stayed closely behind with young catcher Ken Kato's 3 run home run in the game against the BayStars. The Tigers fell to 3rd with a loss to the Swallows. The league standing didn't change the next day, but on Sept 23, the Giants won on Lee Seung Yeop's 3 RBI hit, replacing the Dragons for first place,as the Dragons lost to the Carp, and the Tigers to the Swallows.

From Sept 24, the Giants faced the Dragons. The Giants lost the first game, but managed to win the next 2, to clinch first place. The Tigers marked its 7th loss in a row on Sept 26.

Meanwhile the countdown towards the Giants annual league title largely depended on how the Dragon did. The Dragon lost to the Tigers on Sept 28, but beat the Carp on Sept 30.

League standing as of September 30
1. Yomiuri Giants
2. Chunichi Dragons
3. Hanshin Tigers
4. Yokohama Bay Stars
5. Tokyo Yakult Swallows
6. Hiroshima Toyo Carp

August
The Giants beat the BayStars on homeruns by Tomohiro Nioka and Michihiro Ogasawara on Aug 1 and because the Dragons lost to the Carp that day, the Giants rose to first place. The Giants won the next day too while the Dragons game was rained out. The Tigers, on Aug 1 lost to the Swallows, but managed to win the next day.

The Giants won 2 games against the Swallows from Aug 3. The Dragons Kenshin Kawakami clinched his 100th career win on Aug 3. Its from the BayStars. But the Dragons lost the next day. The Tigers beat the Carp in 2 games in a row from Aug 3.

The Giants Ken Kadokura pitched well against the Tigers on Aug 7, and won his first game since he was traded from the BayStars. The next day the Tigers clobbered the Giants 15 to 2.On Aug 9, the game was a draw. The Dragons beat the Carp won on Aug 7, while it was the other way around the next day. On Aug 9, Kenta Asakura made a comeback pitch for the Dragons. The BayStars defeated the Swallows on Aug 7, lost the next day, and wn the following.

The Giants Tetsuya Utsumi was taken off the mound quickly, but the Giants in the end managed to beat the Dragons 6 to 5 on Aug 10. However the Giants lost the next 2 games. The Tigers beat the BayStars on Aug 10, lost the next day, and won on Aug 12. The Carp too defeated the Swallows on Aug 10, lost on Aug 11, and won on Aug 12.

The Giants lost all 3 games against the Carp from Aug 14. The Dragons lost the first against the Tigers, but won the next 2, and replaced the Giants for first place. The Swallows Alex Ramirez blasted with 2 homers on Aug 14 to help his team defeat the BayStars. The Swallows won the next day too with 15 runs.

On Aug 17, the Dragons Tanishige was hit by the ball with bases loaded, and with that run beat the BayStars. The Dragons lost the next day but on Aug 19 won. The Giants Tetsuya Utsumi won his 11th game in a 2 to 1 game against the Swallows on Aug 17. The Giants lost the next day. On Aug 19, it won on Shinnosuke Abe's grand slam. The Tigers beat the Carp in 2 straight games, but lost on Aug 19.

The top 2 teams faced eachother from Aug 21. The Dragons won the first, but the Giants won on Aug 22 on Damon Hollins' home run, and the next day too on 2 homers by Yoshinobu Takahashi and returned to first place. On Aug 21, the BayStars Shuichi Murata's 3 run home run helped his team beat the Carp. It lost the next game but won on Aug 23. The Tigers won the first 2 games against the Swallows, but the Swallows won on Aug 23 on Yuichi Matsumoto's grand slam.

The Giants fell to 2nd place on Aug 23, losing in the end to the Carp 7 to 8. The Dragons rose to first place by defeating the Tigers. The next day, the Giants clinched a competitive game, while the Dragons lost. The 2 teams replaced eachother's post. The next day both teams won. The BayStars lost all 3 games from Aug 23 to the Swallows.

The Giants defeated the Carp in 2 games from Aug 25. The Dragons lost the first but won the 2nd game against the Tigers. The Swallows beat the BayStars 2 games in a row.

From Aug 28, the Giants played 2 games against the Swallows and won both. The Dragons Kazuhiro Tatsunami's grand slam gave his team a win over the BayStars on Aug 28. After a rained out game, the Dragons lost on Aug 30. The Tigers and the Carp finished a draw on Aug 28. The Carps Tomonori Maeda homered the next day for his team's win. The Tigers Kyuji Fujikawa earned his 34th save pitching against the Carp on Aug 30.

On Aug 31, the Giants lost to the BayStars, the Dragons beat the Carp, and the BayStars defeated the Swallows.

League standing as of August 31
1. Yomiuri Giants
2. Chunichi Dragons
3. Hanshin Tigers
4. Yokohama Bay Stars
5. Tokyo Yakult Swallows
6. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
July
On July 1, it wasn't an easy win for the Giants, as Takahiro Arai of the Carp homered twice. But in the end won 9 to 6. For the Carp, with this loss it fell to 6th place. The Swallows replaced the Carp for 5th place on Alex Ramirez's 3 run home run. The Tigers Tomoaki Kanemoto homered to help his team win 5 to 1 over the BayStars.

On Jul 3, the BayStars beat the Giants, but the next day it was the other way around. The Tigers on Jul 3 clinched the game from the Swallows in the 11th inning, but on Jul 4 and Jul 5 the Swallows won on Alex Ramirez's RBIs. The Dragons Kosuke Fukudome blasted a 2 run home run on Jul 3 for his team's win over the Carp. On Jul 5, the Dragons managed to win again.

From Jul 6, the Giants lost all 3 games to the Swallows. The Tigers won the 1st and 3rd games against the Dragons. The BayStars beat the Carp on both Jul 7 and 8.

The Giants lost its first 2 games of 9 series starting on Jul 10 against the Tigers. It managed to win on Jul 12. The Swallows Alex Ramirez slammed a 3 run home run to defeat the Carp on Jul 10. And he made an enormous contribution the next day in a game where there were 12 home runs. He doubled twice to give his team a 12 to 10 win. The Carp won the next day. The Dragons beat the BayStars in the first 2 games, but lost on Jul 12.

The Giants beat the Carp on Jul 13, but lost the next 2 games. And because the Dragons won in a game against the Tigers on Jul 15, the Giants fell to 2nd place. The BayStars beat the Swallows on Jul 13.

The Dragons lost to the Swallows on Jul 16, and the Giants beat the Tigers, thus the Giants regained first place. But it was the other way around on Jul 17. The Giants lost again on Jul 18, while the Dragons won. The BayStars beat the Carp on Jul 16, lost the next day and won on Jul 18.

Back to regular season after the all star break, on Jul 24, the Giants homered a lot, but lost to the BayStars Tatsuhiko Kinjo's 3 run home run. The next 2 days, the Giants won and also Yoshinobu Takahashi broke the lead off homer record. The Dragons lost all 3 games against the Tigers from Jul 24. The Swallows also faced defeated in all 3 games against the Carp.

On Jul 27, the Giants Tetsuya Utsumi shut out the Carp for his 9th win. The next day, the Giants pitcher Jeremy Powell in a comeback starting game was gone in the first inning, and the Carp won. It was a big home run day for the Giants on Jul 29, beating the Carp 9 to 0. The Dragons on Jul 27 lost its 4th game in a row. It's against the Swallows. It won the next game but lost the day after. The Tigers won on Jul 27 against the BayStars, lost the following day, but won on Jul 29.

On Jul 31, the Dragons won a 10 inning game on Ryota Arai's RBI hit over the Carp. The Giants lost against the BayStars to fall to 2nd place. The Tigers beat the Swallows.

League standing as of July 31
1. Chunichi Dragons
2. Yomiuri Giants
3. Yokohama Bay Stars
4. Hanshin Tigers
5. Tokyo Yakult Swallows
6. Hiroshima Toyo Carp

June
Interleague was over and the teams were back playing within its league on June 29. The Giants managed to beat the Carp on Shinnosuke Abe's 2 run home run. The next day the Giants lost. After a rain out day, on June 30 the Tigers beat the BayStars, while the Swallows defeated the Dragons.

League standing as of June 30
1. Yomiuri Giants
2. Chunichi Dragons
3. Yokohama Bay Stars
4. Hanshin Tigers
5. Tokyo Yakult Swallows
6. Hiroshima Toyo Carp

May
The Giants faced the Dragons from May 1. The Giants won the first 2 games closed safely by Koji Uehara who's back, but lost the 3rd. The BayStars beat the Tigers on both May 2 and 3 and rose to first place. The Swallows won the game on May 1 but lost the next 2 games.

On May 4, the Giants beat the Swallows to regain first place. The Giants won on May 5 but lost in a close game the following day. The BayStars on May 4 lost to the Dragons on Tyrone Woods 3 run home run. It lost again the next day, and on May 6, won. The Carp won 2 games in a row against the Tigers from May 4.

The Giants Lee Seung Yeop homered a 2 run on May 8, and defeated the Tigers 7 to 1. With this loss, the Tigers fell to 6th place. The next day the Tigers losing streak extended to 9. But stopped it on May 10. The Dragons beat the Carp 2 games in a row from May 8 with homers by Tyrone Woods. On May 10 the Carp clinched the game in the final inning. The Swallows won 2 games in a row against the BayStars from May 8 but lost on May 10 to Hayato Terahara's pitches.

The Giants Michihiro Ogasawara homered twice in a game his team won 8 to 1 against the Dragons on May 11. The Giants, however lost the next 2 games. The BayStars Shuichi Murata homered on both May 11 and 12, to help his team beat the Carp. But on May 13, the BayStars lost. The Tigers beat the Swallows in all 3 games from May 11.

The Giants faced the BayStars from May 15. As the BayStars lost all 3 games, it gave up 2nd place to the Dragons, which beat the Swallows in all 3 games. The Carp beat the Tigers in all 3 games.

As the Dragons defeated the Giants in 2 straight games from May 18, the Dragons replaced the Giants for first place. The Tigers beat the BayStars in both games from May 18. The Swallows losing streak ended at 7 on May 19 by beating the Carp.

League standing as of May 20
1. Yomiuri Giants
2. Chunichi Dragons
3. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
4. Yokohama Bay Stars
5. Hanshin Tigers
6. Tokyo Yakult Swallows
April
On Apr 1, the Dragons clinched its 3rd win in a row against the Swallows. 43 year old Kimiyasu Kudo pitched for the first time for the BayStars against his previous team the Giants. He lost 7 run in 4 innings, and the BayStars lost 1 to 10. The Tiger beat the Carp 4 to 2.

The Giants beat the Dragons on Apr 3, with homers by Michihiro Ogasawara and Tomohiro Nioka. The Dragons won the next day with homers by Tyrone Woods and Masahiko Morino. Woods exploded with 3 homers on Apr 5 to beat the Giants 5 to 3. On Apr 3 the Tigers Tomoaki Kanemoto blasted a grand slam for his team's 5 to 3 win over the Swallows. The next day, the Swallows won its first game of the season 4 to 1. On Apr 3, the BayStars beat the Carp, but was the other way around the next day.

On Apr 6, the Dragons, on Hirokazu Ibata's 3-run home run beat the BayStars 6 to 3. The Dragons winning streak halted the next day, but it won again on Apr 8. On Apr 6, the Giants Lee Seung Yeop blasted a 3 run home run and Tetsuya Utsumi hurled over the distance for the team's 6 to 1 win over the Tigers. The Tigers won the next day, and the Giants the following day with a shut out victory by Hisanori Takahashi in a 2 to 0 game. The Swallows won it's 2nd game of the season on Apr 6, 2 to 0 over the Carp. The Swallows lost the next day, but on Apr 8, defeated the Carp 15 to 5.

In a competitive game on Apr 10, the Tigers beat the Dragons 5 to 2. They finished a draw in the next game. on Apr 12, Ryan Vogelsong pitched, homered a 2 run to take the Tigers to a 3 to 1 victory. Marty Brown was expelled from the game on Apr 10 for his slur against the umpire, but the Carp still won 5 to 4 against the Giants. The Giants young pitcher Kento Kaneto won for the first time in a 2 to 1 game on Apr 11. The next day, another Giants pitcher Hiroshi Kisanuki won for this first time in more than 2 years. On Apr 10 the BayStars beat the Swallows on Shuichi Murata's 3 run home run. After a rain out game, the Swallows won on Apr 12.

The Giants Tetsuya Utsumi clinched his 3rd win in a 4 to 2 game against the Swallows on Apr 13. However, the Giants lost the next day. On Apr 15, Lee Seung Yeop slammed a 2 run home run. So did Abe, and newcomer Damon Hollins in the same inning. The Giants won 9 to 0. The BayStars on Apr 13 defeated the Tigers, and also the next day. The team clobbered the BayStars starter Kimiyasu Kudo on Apr 15.

On Apr 17, the Dragons 41 year-old pitcher Masa Yamamoto shut out the Tigers in a 5 to 0 game. The next day the Tigers Tomoaki Kanemoto hit a 3 run homer for his team's 9 to 1 win. On Apr 19, the Dragons caught up and defeated the Tigers. On Apr 17, the Carp beat the Giants. The Giants won the nex day with Damon Hollins RBI. On Apr 18, the Giants overwhelmed the Carp in a 8 to 1 game.

On Apr 20, the Swallows Seth Greisinger who before this season played in the Korean leagues, shut out the Dragons. The next day the Dragons clobbered the Swallows 16 to 7, including Kosuke Fukudome's 3 run homer. On Apr 22, the Dragons won. The Tigers beat the Giants in the 12th inning on Apr 20.The Giants won the next day with 4 RBIs by Damon Hollins. On Apr 22 the Giants overwhelmed the Tigers 10 to 3. The Carp defeated the BayStars on Apr 20. The next 2 days the BayStars clinched both competitive games.

On Apr 24, the Dragons clinched a see-saw game in the 12th inning against the Carp. It won the next day with 2 homers by Kosuke Fukudome. But it lost on Apr 26, thus giving up first place to the Giants which won 2 games in a row over the BayStars. The Tigers, from Apr 24, beat the Swallows 3 games in a row.

On Apr 28, the Giants Shinnosuke Abe and Yoshinobu Takahashi homered but their team lost to the Swallows. The Swallows won again the next day. On Apr 30 Yoshinobu's 2 run homer helped his team win this time. The BayStars won all 3 games against the Dragons from Apr 28. The Carp also defeated the Tigers in all 3 games.

League standing as of April 30
1. Yomiuri Giants
2. Yokohama Bay Stars
3. Chunichi Dragons
4. Hanshin Tigers
5. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
6. Tokyo Yakult Swallows

March
The league season opened on Mar 30. The Dragons was in trouble when the Swallows Adam Riggs slammed a 2 run home run. But Norihiro Nakamura who was given an appropriate contract just before the start of the season doubled to equalize.Kazuhiro Tatsunami hit in a game winning run for the Dragons 7 to 3 win. The next day, the Dragons won again. 37-year old Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi started the Tigers opening game for the first time. But the Tigers lost to the Carp 1 to 4. The next day the Tigers won 3 to 2 on Tomoaki Kanemoto's run homer. The Giants Yoshinobu Takahashi homered the first pitch of the game hurled by the BayStars Daisuke Miura on Mar 30. The Giants starter was Tetsuya Utsumi who lost runs thereafter. But Lee Seung Yeop homered and so did newcomer Luis Gonzalez, a former Devil Ray. The Giants won 3 to 2. The next day the BayStars won 2 to 0.


LAST SEASON CHAMPION: CHUNICHI DRAGONS

Final league standing in 2006
1. Chunichi Dragons
2. Hanshin Tigers
3. Tokyo Yakult Swallows
4. Yomiuri Giants
5. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
6. Yokohama Bay Stars



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