2012 SEASON IN THE CENTRAL LEAGUE

Climax Series
2nd stage: Yomiuri Giants vs Chunichi Dragons
Whoever wins on Oct 22 get to advance to the Japan Series. In this game, the Giants had hits after hits in the 2nd inning with the first RBI by Takayuki Terauchi. Then it was Hisayoshi Chono. In the 5th inning,Shuichi Murata slammed a home run. In the end, the Giants won 4 to 2. With this, it's won a place to the Japan Series for the first time in 3 years, or for its 33rd time.

The Giants hit in 2 runs first on Oct 21. Then in the 5th inning, the Dragons equalized on Tony Blanco's 2 run home run. The Giants had runners on base, but could not bring them back home. But in the 9th inning, with bases full, pinch hitter, Yoshito Ishii singled and finished the game 3 to 2.

The Giants had to win the game on Oct 20 in order to stay in the Climax Series. The starter of this important game, Hirokazu Sawamura. Rusty hitters Hayato Sakamoto and Shinnosuke Abe hit in runs. In the 8th inning, Abe hit in another run. The Giants at last defeated the Dragon. It's 3 to 1.

On Oct 19, the Giants appeared to be in better shape. Yoshinobu Takahashi homered a 2 run to equalize. However in the 10th inning, the Dragons Takehiro Donoue hit in a run, and with that the Dragons won 5 to 4.

On Oct 18, D.J.Holton started for the Giants. For the Dragons 21 year old Junki Ito, another young pitcher. Ito also hit in a run. Yohei Oshima homered. The Dragons won again 5 to 2.

The Giants had a one game advantage over the Dragons as league season's champion. Starting in its first game on Oct 17 was leading pitcher of the season, Tetsuya Utsumi. For the Dragons, 22 year old Yudai Ono started and kept Shinnosuke Abe from slamming the ball. Ryosuke Hirata of the Dragons hit in a run to help his team win 3 to 1.

1st stage: Yakult Swallows vs Chunichi Dragons
The Dragons Tony Blanco grand slammed on Oct 15. With this, the Dragons defeated the Swallows 4 to 1 and advanced to the 2nd stage.

On Oct 14, the Swallows Wladimir Balentien homered in the 4th inning. With this, the Swallows defeated the Dragons 1 to 0.

Starting for the Dragons Kenichi Nakata, and for the Swallows Masanori Ishikawa on Oct 13. The Dragons lead the game with Kazuhiro Wada's 2 run home run. The Dragons won 6 to 1.

October
The final Central League game of the regular season was played on Oct 9 between the Tigers and the BayStars. It was a teary final game fo the Tigers Tomoaki Kanemoto, who wrapped up his baseball career with a single and steal. The Tigers won.

From Oct 5 the Giants played against the BayStars. In the first game Tetsuya Utsumi earned his 15th win to lead among pitchers in the league. The next day Hirokazu Sawamura won his 10th game. The Giants won the final game of the season. The Carp beat the Dragons in the first 2 games. The Swallows beat the Tigers on Oct 5. The Swallows and the Carp played eachother on Oct 7 and Carp won. On Oct 8, the Carp played its final game against the BayStars in which former BayStars Takuro Ishii wrapped up his baseball career.

The Swallows beat the BayStars on Oct 2 but lost the following game. On Oct 2, the Dragons beat the Tigers.

What's important now is from teams other then the Giants to be able to advance to the climax series. The Dragons on Oct 1 defeated the BayStars. The Swallows beat the Giants on Oct 1.

September
Does the Giants care to win at all? It tied with the BayStars on Sept 28. Lost the next day. The Swallows defeated the Tigers with Wladimir Balentien's 2 run home run on Sept 28. The Swallows played against the Dragons on Sept 29 and lost. On that day the Tigers beat the Carp and also the next day. The Dragons clobbered the BayStars on Setp 30.

How the Giants do is not so important unless they fight against teams aiming for the climax series. From Sept 25, the team played against the Carp, and lost all 3. The Swallows shut out the Tigers on Sept 25, but lost against the BayStars the next day. The BayStars is doing pretty well, winning game in a row on Sept 27 defeating the Dragons.

The Giants returned to the Tokyo Dome on Sept 21. It only needed to win this game for the league victory. Shinnosuke Abe homered. The Swallows took the lead. But the Giants in the end won, and for the first time in 3 years clinched the pennant race. After spending a long night of celebrations, the Giants perhaps exhausted from the partying lost on Sept 22. It won the next day on Taishi Ota's first home run since turning pro. The Dragons won the first 2 games against the Tigers.It lost the 3rd. The BayStars won 2 games against the Carp.

From Sept 17 the Giants faced the Dragons. Its lost the first game but won the next with a grand slam by Hayato Sakamoto and on Sept 19 on a 3 run home run by Shinnosuke Abe. The Carp lost all 3 games to the Swallows. The Tigers and the BayStars tied in the first game.And on Sept 19 the Tigers won on a walk with bases filled.

The Giants continue to be strong from Sept 14 against the Tigers. It won the first game on Hayato Sakamoto's homer. The next day it lost and ended its consecutive win at 6, but won again on Sept 16. The Carp won the first game it played against the Dragons but lost the next too. The Swallows won all games against the BayStars.

The Giants beat the Carp in all 3 games from Sept 11. The Swallows rose to 3rd place after defeating the Tigers in 2 games although it lost the 3rd. The Dragons Yoshimi won his 13th game on Sept 11. The BayStars won the next and tied in the 3rd.

The Giants from Sept 7 defeated the Swallows in the first 2 games and tied in the 3rd. The Dragon won the first game against the Tigers but lost the next 2. The BayStars and Carp won a game each and tied in the last.

From Sept 4 the Giants played against the Tigers and one the first game on Shinnosuke Abe's 2 run home run. The next day the Tigers Randy Messenger shut out the Giants. On Sept 6 the teams tied. The Dragons Tony Blanco grandslammed on Sept 4 to defeat the Carp. The Carp won the next game, but on Sept 6, Blanco homered again to take his team to a victory. The BayStars Daisuke Miura won the first game against the Swallows, but his team lost the next 2 games.

The Giants marked it's 4th win in a row on Sept 2 against the BayStars. The Swallows Lastings Milledge on Sept 1 smashed a 3 run home run to defeat the Dragons. The Swallows clinched the next game too. On Sept 1, the Carp won, and on Sept 2, the Tigers won.

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

August
On Aug 31, the Giants beat the BayStars. The Dragons and Swallows tied. The Tiger beat the Carp

Playing in Tohoku from Aug 28, the Giants lost the first 2 games to the Dragons but won on Aug 30 with a 2 run home run by Shinnosuke Abe. On Aug 28 the Carp's Kenta Maeda won his 12th win in the game against the Swallows. The Swallows won the next game but tied in the 3rd game. The BayStars won on Alex Ramirez's 2 run homer on Aug 28, lost the next but won the 3rd game.

The Giants continue to do well defeating the BayStars on Aug 24 but lost the next day. The Dragons and the Swallows won a game each. The Carp and the Tigers tied. The Tigers beat the Carp on Aug 25.

The Giants tied against the Swallows in the first game from Aug 21 but defeated the Swallows the next 2 games. The Dragons beat the Tigers in the first 2 games, and lost to the Tigers Motonobu Tanishige's 2 run homer. The BayStars defeated the Carp in the first game, the lost the next 2.

On Aug 17, the Giants Yoshinobu Takahashi slammed a 2 run homer and Tetsuya Utsumi shut out the Carp for his 11th win. The Giants won the next 2 games too. The Dragon won its 4th game in a row on Aug 18 but lost the following day. The Tigers Takahiro Arai had 2 run homers twice to beat the Swallows on Aug 17. The Swallows won the next game and the Tigers won on Aug 19.

The Giants played against the Dragons from Aug 14. The Giants won the first, but lost the next 2 including an extra inning game. The Swallows won the first game against the Carp but lost the next to a home run by Yoshihiro Maru and the game on Aug 16 too. The Tigers won the first game against the BayStars, lost the next and tied in the 3rd.

The Giants defeated the Swallows in the first 2 games from Aug 10, but not the last. The Tigers ended its losing streak on Aug 12 at 8 in the game against the Carp. The BayStars beat the Dragons in 2 games.

The Giants played against the Tigers from Aug 7, tied in the first and won the next 2 games. The Dragons defeated the Carp on all 3 games. The Swallows won all 3 games against the BayStars.

The Giants had a draw in the game against the Dragons on Aug 1, and lost the next. The Tigers won its 3rd straight game defeat the Swallows on Aug 1, but lost the next. The Carp wne the first game against the BayStars with Kenta Maeda winning his 11th game. The Next day, the BayStars won.

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

July
On Jul 31 the Giants winning streak of 6 was ended by the Dragons. The Carp and the BayStars tied. The Tiger won on a an RBI by Tomoaki Kanemoto.

The Giants played against the Carp from Jul 27. In the first game started Toshiya Sugiuchi shut out the Carp for his 10th win. In the next game the Giants won again. On Jul 29 it was a draw. The Swallows defeated the Dragons on Jul 27 on Wladimir Balentien's 2 homer, tied the next day and the Dragons won the final game. The Tigers ended its losing streak at 7 when defeating the BayStars on Jul 29 with 2 homers each by the Arai brothers.

Following the all star break, regular games were play from Jul 25. The Giants beat the BayStars in the first with Hayato Sakamoto's 2 run home run. The Giants won the following game too. The Dragon Kazuki Yoshimi shut out the Tigers on Jul 25 and won the next day. The Swallows and the Carp tied in the first game. The next game was with many runs in which the Carp's Jun Hirose grand slammed, and Takahiro Iwamoto blasted a 2 run home run to win.

On Jul 16, the Giants Edgar Gonzalez slammed a 2 run homer against the Tigers. The next day, Hayato Sakamoto did, defeating the Tigers in both games. The Carp contined to do well defeating the Dragons in 2 games from Jul 16. The BayStars defeated the Swallows in 2 games. In the later game, Norihiro Nakamura and Alex Ramirez homered to help 38 year old starter Daisuke Miura hurl over the distance.

The Giants faced the Dragons from Jul 13. The teams tied in the first, then the Giants won on Jul 14 with a 2 RBI hit by Shinnosuke Abe, but lost the last to Takeshi Yamasaki's RBI. The Carps Yoshiyuki Ishihara with a grand slam helped his team beat the BayStars on Jul 13. The Carp won the next 2 games too. The Tigers beat the Swallows in the 10th inning on Jul 14 but lost the next game.

On Jul 10, Edgar Gonzalez helped the Giants win with his RBI beating the Carp. The next game the Giants lost to Kenta Maeda but won on Jul 12 on 2 homers by Hisayoshi Chono. The Tigers ended its consecutive loss on Jul 10 in the game against the Dragons. The next day, the Tigers lost but managed to win on Jul 12. The BayStars beat the BayStars on Jul 10 on Hichori Morimoto's 3 run home run. The next day the Swallows Kazuhiro Hatakeyama grandslammed to help his team win. On Jul 12, they finished with a draw.

From Jul 6, the Giants played against the Tigers and defeated the Tigers in all 3 games. The Dragons too beat the BayStars in all 3 games. The Carp defeated the Swallows in 2 games following a rain out game on Jul 6.

On Jul 3, the Carp defeated the Tigers in the only game played in the league and won the next day too. The Giants on Jul 4 was unable to beat the BayStars whose pitcher Daisuke Miura won his career 150th win. The next day the Giants won on a home run by Yoshinobu Takahashi. The Swallows Wladimir Balentien exploded slamming 2 home run to defeat the Dragons on Jul 4 while the next day the Swallows won again on 2 homers by Latings Milledge.

The Giants gave up runs after runs later in the innings but managed to defeat the Dragons again on Jul 1 and also rose to first place while the Dragons fell to 2nd place in the league. The Swallows beat the Tigers, and the Carp's veteran player Tomonori Maeda's RBI helped defeat the BayStars.

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

June
The Giants Shinnosuke Abe slammed a 2 run home run and defeated the Dragons on Jun 29. The next day the Giants won, tying with the Dragons. The Tigers consecutive loss was ended on Jun 30 against the Swallows. The BayStars consecutive loss stopped too in the game against the Carp

The Dragons Takehiro Donoue blasted a 3 run home run on Jun 26 against the Tigers. The Dragons won the next 2 days. The Giants lost the first game against the Carp, but won the 2nd on Hisayoshi Chono's home run and on Jun 28 on homers by Shinnosuke Abe and Shuichi Murata. The Swallows defeated the BayStars in 2 games.

From June 22, games were back in their respective leagues. For the Giants, league games resumed on a scandal involving popular skipper Tatsunori Hara. Its reported he was threatened to pay 100 million yen to destroy the diary of a woman he had an affair with in 1988. The Giants lost the first game to the Swallows on Wladimir Balentien's 2 homers. It won the next despite another homer by Balentien, and tied in the 3rd. The BayStars won the first game against the Tigers with Alex Ramirez coming home, but lost the next too. The Dragons played 2 games against the Carp and each won a game.

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

May
From May 11, the Dragons and Carp faced eachother and each one a game and tied in one. The Tigers clinched the first game from the BayStars. But in the next game BayStars veteran pitcher Daisuke Miura pitched well for his 4th win. The Tigers won the 3rd game with RBIs by Craig Brazell and Matt Burton. The Giants won one game and tied in one against the Swallows.

Former teammate skippers faced eachother from May 8, that's the Giants Tatsunori Hara and the BayStars Kiyoshi Nakahata. They tied in the first and 3rd games and the Giants won the 2nd one with RBI by Yoshinobu Takahashi and a homer by Yoshitomo Tani. The Dragons won the first 2 games. The 2nd game victory was a big welcome to fans in Gifu, the home of Kazuhiro Wada who homered a 2 run. The Swallows won the 3rd. The Tigers Takashi Toritani blased a 2 run homer on May 8 to help beat the Carp. The Tigers won the next game too.

The Dragon and the BayStars tied on May 4. The next game the Baystars won with 2 homers by Yuki Yoshimura and on May 6 with Yoshitomo Tsutsugo's 2 homers to defeat the Dragons. The Swallows beat the Carp in the first 2 games with 2 homers in the first game by Wladimir Balentien and veteran Shinya Miyamoto's career 2000 base hit. The Giants overwhelmed the Tigers on May 4 on Toshiya Sugiuchi's shut out victory and Shuichi Murata's homer. The next day the Giants lost, but on May 6 it won with good pitching by Hirokazu Sawamura.

From May 1, the Dragon won 2 games from the Tigers and tied in one. The Giants won the first game as 20 year old starter Ryosuke Miyaguni shut out the Carp. It lost the next but on May 3, with home runs by Yoshinobu Takahashi and Yoshiyuki Kamei won. The Swallows Wladimir Balentien 2 run home run on May 1 defeated the BayStars. The BayStars won on Mar 3 against the Swallows.

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

April
On Apr 28, Blanco homered and help his team defeat the BayStars.The Dragons won the next 2 games including started Masa Yamamoto's contribution on Apr 30. The Giants Toshiya Sugiuchi won his 3rd game against the Tigers on Apr 28. Tetsuya Utsumi who won the next day, celebrated his birthday with this victory. The teams finished a draw on Apr 30. The Swallows clinched its 6th win in a row with Wladimir Balentien's 3 run homer. The Dragons Tony Blanco homered on Apr 28 in the game against the Tokyo Swallows.

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

The Swallows continue to play well from Apr 28, defeating the Dragons in 2 games. In the first, game Wladimir Balentien blasted a 2 run home run. The Carp won on Shota Dobayashi's home run against the Tigers on Apr 24.The Tigers won the next 2 games. The Giants only played on Apr 26 against the BayStars and clobbered them with homers by Shinnosuke Abe and RBIs by Hayato Sakamoto and Shuichi Murata.

From Apr 20, the Dragons defeated the Carp in all 3 games. The Giants lost all 3 to the Swallows, succumbing to its 5th loss in a row on Apr 22. The BayStars Norihiro Nakamura homers in the first game against the Tigers. It won the next game too but lost Apr 22.

The Giants Toshiya Sugiuchi earned his 2nd win against the Dragons on Apr 17. The next day the Dragons won on Kazuhiro Wada's 3 run homer to win then the next next day on Ryoshuke Hirata's home run. On Apr 17 the Tigers Craig Brazell slammed a 2 run home run and defeated the Swallows. The next day the Swallows won but the Tigers won on Apr 19. The Carp defeated the BayStars in all 3 games.

On Apr 13, the Giants defeated the BayStars with 2 homers by Shinnosuke Abe, and Hirokazu Samamura earned his first win. The Tigers played against the Dragons 3 days in which the Tiger won the first and the Dragons won the next 2. On Apr 15, the Fighter beat the Golden Eagles.

On Apr 10, the Dragons and the Giants ended the game a tie. The next day the Giants Shuichi Murata homered a 2 run, his first homer of the season and with the Giants, and won the game. The Giants won on Apr 12 too. The Tigers defeated the Carp in the first 2 game and eid on Apr 12. The BayStars faced its 6th loss in a row in a 10th inning defeat against the Swallows on Apr 10. It luckily clinched a game which was played only for 6 inning due to heavy rain the following day. Then on Apr 12, Daisuke Miura not only shut out the Swallows but also hit in a run himself.

From Apr 6 the Dragons faced the Swallows. Already Kazuki Yoshimi won his 2nd game. However the Dragons lost the next 2 games. The Giants on Apr 7 marked its 5th straight loss even though pitchers Hirokazu Sawamura and Toshiya Sugiuchi pitched well against the Tigers. On Apr 8, 19 year old Ryosuke Miyaguni who started for the first time prevented the Giants from extending its losing streak with the support of his teammates with the bat. The BayStars lost all 3 games against the Carp.

The only game for the league played on Apr 3 was between the Carp and the Giants. The Giants struggled to reach Hiroshima in the storm and lost the game. In fact it lost all 3 games against the Carp. The BayStars played home for the first time this season from Apr 4 but lost 2 games to the Dragons. On Apr 4 the Swallows and the Tigers tied. The next day the Tigers won on Craig Brazell's 2 homers.

On Apr 1 the Dragons tied against the Carp. The Giants at last won in the game the starting pitcher was Toshiya Sugiuchi who it acquired the from the Hawks. The BayStars won its first game since being sold to DeNA, and under new manager Kiyoshi Nakahata.

March
Kazuyuki Yoshimi started for the Dragons while Ken Maeda started for the Carp on opening day Mar 30. Yoshimi pitched well and helped his team win. In the next game Kenshi Kawakami who rejoined the Dragons from MLB started. He won in Japan for the first time in 4 years. For the Giants, Tetsuya Utsumi started on opening day. As his teammates could not bat in any runs, the Swallows clinched the game. The Giants could not back Kazuyoshi Sawamura the next day either. The Tigers and the BayStars played a seesaw game which ended a draw on opening day. The Tigers won the next game.

Final league standing in 2011
1. Chunichi Dragons
2. Yakult Swallows
3. Yomiuri Giants
4. Hanshin Tigers
5. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
6. Yokohama Bay Stars




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