The Tokyo Yakult Swallows fell back to Earth last week after an inexplicable winning streak left fans daring to dream of a late-season turnaround for the Central League’s last-place team.
Yakult won eight straight games before hitting the wall — and hitting it hard — with a 14-1 blowout loss against the DeNA BayStars on July 31 and two subsequent defeats against the Hanshin Tigers. The Swallows bounced back with an 8-1 win over the Tigers on Sunday.
If the winning streak set hearts racing, the ensuing three-game swoon likely left the Jingu Stadium faithful barely registering a pulse. The Swallows are 33-53-5 with 46 games left and dangerously close to only having pride to play for the rest of the way.
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