April 16th Shimoyanagi v Takahashi - Shimoyanagi goes all the way

As I mentioned earlier one of the big positives for Tigers has been Shimoyanagi's recent ability to go deep into games with a reduced amount of pitches. This was demonstrated pretty effectively last night when he pitched the entire match with only 97 pitches. His total for his three games currently stands at 279 in 23 innings. For yesterday's games both Imaoka and Ford were both benched their places being taken by Sekimoto and Katsuragi respectively. Kudos to Okada for acting so quickly and hopefully both can return to form quickly. Onto the line scores

       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Carp   1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  8 0
Tigers 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 X 5 12 0

Starting lineups

1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Arai (First)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Katsuragi (Right)
6. Toritani (Short)
7. Yano (Catcher)
8. Sekimoto (Third)
9. Shimoyanagi (Pitcher)

Carp
1. Amaya (Left)
2. Akamatsu (Centre)
3. Alex (Right)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. Seabol (Third)
6. Soyogi (Short)
7. Ishihara (Catcher)
8. Yamasaki (Second)
9. Takahashi (Pitcher)

Carp got off to a good start. Even though Amaya grounded out to Hirano and Akamatsu flew out to Sekimoto the third batter, Alex smote a ball into the left stand 1-0 Carp. Kurihara grounded out to Hirano to finish the innings. Tigers struck back immediatley. Akahoshi hit but then was thrown out trying to steal second. However, Arai hit and this brought up Kanemoto. I have written before about the Kanemoto/Arai pairing and once again it worked. Kanemoto hit a lovely two base shot which drove Arai home 1-1 scores level. Katsuragi though flew out to end the innings. Shimoyanagi retired the next three batters he faced as did Takahashi and the action moved onto the third. Yamasaki hit but nothing came of it. In the bottom of the third, though, Akahoshi walked and Hirano hit. This set up runners on first and third with one out. Next was Arai who promptly hit driving in Akahoshi 2-1 Tigers. Runners on first and second with one out. This time both Kanemoto and Katsuragi flew out to end the innings. In the Carp's fourth, Shimoyanagi got the first two batters he faced, Alex and Kurihara but gave up a hit to Seabol. Next was Soyogi who also hit setting up runners on first and third. Unfortunately for the Carp Ishihara flew out to Akahoshi to end the innings. The Tigers fourth was quiet and the batters fell in order.

The Carp were retired in order in the fifth but the Tigers version was a bit more eventful. Shimoyanagi hit and then Akahoshi was dead balled. Hirano though managed to hit into a double play which still left a runner on third with two outs. The next batter Arai grounded out to end the innings. Carp did nothing in the sixth and then came the innings which finished Takahashi. Kanemoto walked and this brought up Katsuragi. He hammered a double and so Tigers had runners on second and third with no outs - very promising. Toritani was deliberately walked (probably with memories of the night before) to load the bases and Yano was next. At this point Takahashi was replaced by Hayato Aoki. Yano lined out to second and the next batter was Sekimoto. He hit a two base 2 run shot 4-1 Tigers, runners on second and third. Aoki then faced Shimoyanagi who managed to make his second hit of the night this time driving in Toritani 5-1 Tigers. After this shock the Carp pulled themselves together to retire the next two batters and end the innings. Carp's seventh innings involved Seabol as leadoff hitting followed by Soyogi hitting. Ishihara flew out and then Yamasaki hit into a very significant double play to end the innings.

Tigers seventh was also lively, Katsuragi hit and this was followed by Toritani hitting. The runners advanced on a wild pitch to set up second and third two outs but Yano failed to convert this situation into runs. In the Carp eighth Amaya and Akamatsu hit to set up runners on first and second with one out. Alex flew out to centre which drove Amaya to third but Kurihara flew out to Kanemoto to end the innings. For the Tigers eighth Sekimoto hit but it was Shimoyanagi's turn to ground into a double play. This told you that Shimoyanagi would go all the way. So to the ninth and after the efforts of the previous two innings it was straight forward - everyone flew out and the match was over. Tigers victory.

A very fine pitching performance and good batting had been rewarded. Shimoyanagi is now 3-0 out of three starts. He struck out only three but had retained control of the match. As I mentioned above, Imaoka and Ford sat out the match on the bench as Okada made it clear that he would not tolerate under-performance. This is an encouraging sign. Tigers have now won their first six series and have done so in style. Next is Sugiyama against Kenta Maeda.

Any word on when Shimo's last complete game was? I was there last night and was shocked that Okada kept sending him out to bat. I always thought of him as just a 5/6 inning kind of guy, but I guess with the reduced pitch count you mentioned he can go deeper.

Imaoko is through, its been over two years now of sub-par hitting coupled with his atrocious fielding. 2005 was his last solid year. Ford I hope can improve but I am doubtful. Seems like we have another Andy on the staff. When Lin is back Ford will be pinch hitter material unless he gets his hitting on track.

Okada-san should automatically bench anyone hitting below Yano's average.

Shimoyanagi's last complete game was October 2005.

Seems like we have another Andy on the staff. A little unfair, as Andy hit for pretty good average until last year. I'd like to see Ford get more of a chance. He hasn't looked great at the plate, but hopefully he can adjust. He's been fine in the field. It will be a while before Lin gets back, so maybe a platoon of Ford and Katsuragi in right.

Well you got your way. Katsuragi and Ford platooned tonight in the game against the Swallows. Both did well but Imaoka who made an appearance as a pinch hitter was not so impressive.

What do you think happened with Imaoka? Did he just never fully recover from the injury? Or has it just become mental? I knew he would never duplicate that crazy 147 RBI season, but the way he has declined has been pretty shocking...

With Imaoka its mental. One isn't sure what he's thinking at any time - almost like a Martian. I, personally, suspect he feels he must hit every pitch for a run and he tries too hard.