Chunichi Dragons Face DeNA at Vantelin Dome
Listen to the story
The Chunichi Dragons faced the DeNA BayStars on August 13 in a regular season baseball game.
The match took place at Vantelin Dome, the Dragons' home stadium in Nagoya.
Chunichi's starting lineup for the game included some notable choices.
Sano was placed in the fourth batting spot, a position usually given to a team's power hitter.
Kosuke Ukai returned to the lineup in the seventh spot after missing one game.
This marked his first appearance in the starting lineup in two games.
On the mound, Hideaki Wakui was named the starting pitcher for Chunichi.
Wakui's job was to pitch as many strong innings as possible against DeNA's hitters.
DeNA's starting pitcher for the game was a player named Ko.
Chunichi's batters were reportedly aiming to score early and often against Ko.
Breaking through a strong starting pitcher early in a game can give a team a big advantage.
Both teams entered the game hoping to secure an important win in the ongoing season.
Fans following the Dragons closely watched the lineup announcement before the first pitch.
The return of Ukai and the fourth-spot placement of Sano were seen as key storylines for the matchup.
Vocabulary8 words
- Dragons
- the name of a Japanese professional baseball team
- BayStars
- the name of a rival Japanese baseball team
- Vantelin Dome
- a large covered stadium used for baseball games
- starting lineup
- the list of players chosen to play at the start of a game
- fourth batting spot
- a position in the batting order often given to a powerful hitter
- starting pitcher
- the player chosen to pitch first in a game
- innings
- sections of a baseball game where each team bats and fields
- season
- the period of months when a sport's games are played
Quiz
Answer key
1. DeNA BayStars 2. He missed one game before returning to the lineup 3. Hideaki Wakui
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
The Chunichi Dragons faced the DeNA BayStars on August 13 in a regular season baseball _____.
The match took place at _____ Dome, the Dragons' home stadium in Nagoya.
Chunichi's starting _____ for the game included some notable choices.
Sano was placed in the fourth _____ spot, a position usually given to a team's power hitter.
Kosuke Ukai returned to the lineup in the _____ spot after missing one game.
This marked his first appearance in the starting lineup in two _____.
On the mound, Hideaki Wakui was named the starting _____ for Chunichi.
Wakui's job was to pitch as many strong innings as possible against DeNA's _____.
DeNA's starting pitcher for the game was a player named _____.
Chunichi's batters were reportedly aiming to score early against Ko's _____.
Discussion questions
- Why might a team place its most powerful hitter in the fourth batting spot?
- How could a player returning from missing games affect a team's performance?
- What advantages does a team gain by scoring runs early against the opposing starting pitcher?
- Why do you think fans are interested in lineup announcements before games?