April 6th Fukuhara v Kisanuki - Giants crush the Tigers

Kanemoto now needs 1 hit for his 2,000 hits and 3 home runs for his 400th home run. Of less interest to Tigers fans but included as a point of note, Yoshinobu Takahashi recorded his 250th home run. The Giants needed this win desperately and got it on the back of a strong performance by their pitcher Kisanuki and some much improved batting. Still the Tigers took the series 2-1 and can head to Koshien smiling. Line scores are

       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  7 0
Giants 0 0 2 0 6 0 0 1 X 9 15 0

Starting line ups
1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Arai (First)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Imaoka (Third)
6. Toritani (Short)
7. Ford (Right)
8. Yano (Catcher)
9. Fukuhara (Pitcher)

Giants
1. Takahashi (Right)
2. Kamei (Centre)
3. Ogasawara (Third)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Lee (First)
6. Abe (Catcher)
7. Sakamoto (Short)
8. Wakiya (Second)
9. Kisanuki (Pitcher)

The first started well for Tigers, one out and Hirano walked. Kanemoto hit (1999) and we had runners on first and third with two outs. However, Imaoka flew out to end the innings. Fukuhara started by walking Takahashi but a Kamei double play extinguished the threat and Ogasawara grounded out to Hirano to end the innings. Tigers did nothing in the second and in the bottom of the same Ramirez had his first hit of the game but nothing came of this. So to the third and Kisanuki was now cruising along. Once again he dismissed the Tigers in order but Fukuhara would not be able to follow suit. He gave up a hit to Wakiya and then Kisanuki was out with three failed bunts. Wakiya then stole second anyway this showing that Yano is still not up to speed yet. Currently, he's a curates egg. Next up is Takashi who hammers a 0-2 ball high into the Giants Gaia 2-0 Giants. Fukuhara then gives up hits to Kamei and Ramirez and so in addition to the lead Giants have runners on first and third with two outs. However, Lee grounded out to end the innings. Lee had been very average of late and at the moment is not the force he was.

Arai had a hit in the fourth but nothing came of that either. Fukuhara who had obviously decided to revert to his weaker side then gave up consecutive hits to Abe and Sakamoto setting up runners on first and second with no outs. However, the good Fukuhara hadn't quite disappeared and he disposed of the next three batters. Top of the fifth and Ford had his first hit of the game but Yano struck out and then Fukuhara grounded into a pitcher double play to end the innings. Kisanuki showed great awareness of getting the runner going for second throughout his pitching stint. The Giants fifth was the innings that finished the Tigers challenge. Fukuhara was abysmal. Kamei hit, Ogasawara hit, Ramirez hit 3-0 Giants runners on first and third no outs. Lee was walked and bases loaded still with no outs. Abe hit and it was 4-0 Giants. Okada had had enough and Abe was summoned (or one could say dropped in it) and gave up a grand slam to Sakamoto 8-0 Giants. A lot is claimed for this young player but it is really too soon to say. His hit had an element of luck in it - he made contact in just the right way but could have easily missed it. A valuable lesson also for Abe who will mature. He pulled himself together and got the next three batters to end the innings including striking out Takahashi.

In the sixth Akahoshi hit and then Hirano grounded into a double play Arai struck out. Abe pitched the bottom of the sixth and gave up one hit to Furuki (replacement third) but retired the other three batters striking out Ramirez. The Tigers seventh was quiet as was the Giants. Abe was replaced by Tsutsui who did give up a hit to Wakiya but struck out the other three batters he faced. On to the eighth and Ford started with a two base hit. Next was Hiyama pinch hitting for Yano. He hit a 2-1 ball to Kisanuki who saw Ford was a long way off second base and threw to Sakamoto. Ford was tagged out trying to regain second and Hiyama was safe on first. Sekimoto (replacement third) flew out to right and then Katsuragi was up next. He hit a two base to right and Hiyama flew home 8-1 Giants. However, Katsuragi tried to go too far and was caught and tagged out between second and third end of innings. Kisanuki was disappointed though - he had been eyeing a complete game shut out.

Tsutusi continued for the Giants eighth and faced Takahashi. If Sakamoto's home run had an element of luck Takahashi's did not. A high forkball was despatched with precision into the Giants Gaia 9-1 Giants. The surprise for the Giants eighth was the appearance of Asai as catcher. He had converted to an outfielder but Okada probably thought the only way he would get any playing time was as catcher. Considering that there are three young catchers waiting this is a retrograde move. Why not give Kanoh, Komiyama or Shimizu more experience at the top level? They need it more especially as Asai is no longer considered a full time member of Tigers catching staff. If he is not going to get playing time as an outfielder then make him a full time catcher again or bring one of the young prospects up.

Hara sent Ochi to the mound for the final innings judging that Kisanuki had done enough - he had pitched 8 innings, giving up only one run. Ochi got Sakurai (replacement centre) to ground out and then gave up a two base hit to Arai. Arai reached third on a wild pitch and then Ochi faced Kanemoto. Would this be the moment Kanemoto got his 2,000th hit. Sadly it was not to be and he struck out. The final batter Fujimoto (pinch hitting) also struck out to end the game. Giants had beaten the Tigers convincingly but had lost the series. The next challenge for the Tigers is the Dragons - given their current form they have a good chance in that series as well and there is the prospect of Kanemoto's 2,000th hit to look forward to.

Well, awful game today, but still hard to complain. We are 7-2 and the Giants are 2-7. The main question from today's game is which Fukuhara we are going to see more of this year--the Fukuhara who shut out the BayStars last week or the Fukuhara of today. Granted the Giants are a much tougher team, but with Fukuhara's past inconsistency I was pretty surprised he even made the rotation this year.

Well there was talk of posting him but that never came about. It really is impossible to say what he will do next. Current indications are edging towards a poor year though.

Well, at least we have depth at pitching if he doesn't pan out. The performance of Iwata so far helps a lot. Vogelsong has potential when he gets called up again and hopefully we will see good things from Uezono as well.

On a side note, just wondering what you think of this year's line-up? Obviously you can't complain with the way we have been playing. The only change I would consider is swapping Imaoka and Ford's 5 and 7 slots. Ford started pretty low because of lefty-righty swaps in the line-up, but he is starting to hit better and it looks like Imaoka may never regain his form.

The lineup has started well and looks to have balance. Hirano is a definite plus and Toritani's move to sixth seems to have worked. Imaoka though - he just hit today so maybe it is wise to persevere a bit longer. Ford is sound defensively but maybe not yet able to bat five.