September 15th Iwata v Ogasawara - Fun at the Dome

'It's a long time since we won like that. Everyone did what they were supposed to do' - Okada kantoku after Tigers victory. An important victory as it kept the games between Tigers and Giants at four. The Magic Number remains turned off and Tigers continue their domination of the Dragons. This isn't sufficient though - they need to think about how they are going to beat the Giants and the BayStars (who recently have owned them) if they want to win the pennant. Performances like those of recent days will only lose them the pennant and the fans are not going to be happy with a second place finish. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Hirano (Right)
3. Imaoka (Third)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Toritani (Short)
6. Takahashi (First)
7. Baldris (Second)
8. Noguchi (Catcher)
9. Iwata (Pitcher)

Dragons
1. Araki (Second)
2. Fujii (Centre)
3. Morino (Third)
4. Woods (First)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Lee (Right)
7. Delarosa (Short)
8. Tanishige (Catcher)
9. Ogasawara (Pitcher)

Ogasawara would survive the first innings - this is the kindest way to talk about a pitching performance which was poor. He started by giving up a hit to Akahoshi. He stole second and then Hirano attempted to drive him home but only flew out to centre. Imaoka struck out and then Kanemoto walked - runners on first and second. Toritani though snatched at a pitch and flew out to third - end of innings. Iwata's first innings was good, he struck out two batters as he retired the Dragons in order. With the start of the Tigers second Ogasawara's night began to unravel. Takashi led off and launched a solo home run into the back screen 1-0 Tigers. One out later Noguchi walked and was bunted to second by Iwata but Akahoshi struck out looking to end the innings. Iwata started the Dragons second by walking Woods. Wada flew out and then Lee was induced to hit into a double play and Tigers lead was intact. This would be extended in their third. Hirano led off with a hit. This was followed by an Imaoka hit - one he dug out and put over the infield and Tigers had runners on first and third with no outs. Kanemoto then hit to second. Araki was able to dive and stop the ball but the throw was late and Kanemoto was safe. Meanwhile Hirano was home 2-0 Tigers. Kanemoto needs to do more of this. The next three batters all fell easily. The Dragons third saw them strike back - Delarosa hit along the third baseline - a lucky hit which sailed out of the reach of Imaoka and landed just inside the third baseline. Anyway - a two base. Tanishige took a dead ball (it landed on his foot - totally innocuous but still a dead ball) and Dragons had runners on first and second with no outs. Ogasawara was next and he of course was going to bunt. One of his attempts though went astray and was grabbed by Noguchi who gunned it to Toritani standing between Delarosa and second. Delarosa tried to go for third but the throw beat him and he was tagged out. The bunt went through and Tanishige moved round to second but now with two outs. Next up Araki who doesn't hit well but this time placed a nice two base hit to left 2-1 Tigers and a runner on second but this is the closest the Dragons would get to the lead. Finally Fujii flew out and the innings was over.

Noguchi led off the Tigers fourth and hit to right. This landed well in front of the fielders but by some miscommunication neither centre or right actually took the ball and Noguchi used the error to reach third. Akahoshi was next and he deposited the first ball he faced into left field for a hit 3-1 Tigers. Hirano bunted him to second and almost made first but was out. This brought up Imaoka who received a high pitch in the zone and dispatched it into the left stand for a two run home run 5-1 Tigers. Kanemoto flew out but the Tigers had a substantial lead. Iwata then kept the Dragons off base in the bottom, retiring the batters in order. Tigers fifth saw Ogasawara's poor night continue. With one out Takahashi hit a two base to right. Baldris walked setting up runners on first and second. Then came Noguchi - who was having a very good night. He hit to left - a two base but both runners were home, Baldris showing very good speed 7-1 Tigers. Iwata flew out but Akahoshi hit and Tigers had runners on first and third. Katsuragi (replacement right) though flew out to centre to end the innings. Dragons fifth saw Lee lead off with a two base hit. Iwata was now beginning to tire. Delarosa hit to centre and as Lee rounded the third base he was restrained by the Dragons third base coach and stopped on third. This was interference and after a consultation the umpires gave Lee out - very slack by the Dragons. A wild pitch took Delarosa to second but Tanishige flew out and it looked like the Dragons wouldn't score. Ochiai turned to Koike who swung at his fourth pitch. This one just carried - landing over the wall but before the fence for a two run home run 7-3 Tigers. Araki grounded out and the innings was over. The ineffective Ogasawara was replaced by Nagamine who was able to stem the run flow and retire the Tigers in order in the sixth. Iwata returned for the Dragons sixth and very rapidly it was apparent that he had nothing left. The lightweight Fujii hit and then Morino hit to set up runners on first and third. Okada didn't hesitate and Atchison was summoned to the mound. He got Woods to hit into a double play - Fujii was home 7-4 Tigers but the threat was over. Atchison then got the third out and the innings finished.

Nagamine returned for the Tigers seventh and gave up a hit to Takahashi. He was extinguished in a Baldris double play and then Noguchi grounded out. This was fortuitous for the Tigers as it meant that Atchison could return for the Dragons seventh. Lee hit and then Delarosa struck out. Tanaka (replacement catcher) then tried to hit but Atchison was too quick and fired the ball to second to start the double play - end of innings. Tigers eighth was also quiet, once again Nagamine was effective. Williams took the Dragons eighth and was back to his old form. He retired the batters in order. The final Dragons pitcher of the night was Kobayashi who walked Toritani with two outs. Toritani tried to steal second and as has been the case most of the time this season was thrown out and the innings was over. Dragons ninth meant Fujikawa. He got Morino to strike out looking but then Woods hit. Wada though grounded out into a double play and the game was over - Tigers victory.

The hero interview went to Takahashi for his solo home run which kicked off the victory. Fujikawa picked up his 33rd save and is clearly the best closer in Japan at the moment. It is a pity, that recently, he hasn't had much opportunity to show this. Good batting had given Tigers the victory but they do need to keep this up.

You know it's a strange year when the Dragons are the cure for our hitting woes! It's unbelievable what we've done to them this year.
By the way, I was out of Japan for a few weeks and couldn't keep up so much. Is Ford completely relegated to ni-gun now? Haven't seen his name for a while.

Ford hasn't been in the first team for a long time - in fact so long that I can't recall the exact date he dropped down to the second team. I am afraid he is unlikely to be offered a new contract.

Too bad about Ford. Although he seems like a quality guy and I wanted him to succeed, I had a feeling he would have a similar fate to Shance Spencer. The problem is there is plenty of left-handed talent to play right, meaning a right-handed bat they bring is going to be relegated to platoon duty. Faced with the quality of Japanese pitching, it doesn't give foreign batters enough playing time to succeed.

It would have been OK if he had been hitting. Ford never really hit at all. With Hiyama hitting well as a pinch hitter there was no role for Ford and as you said other batters could be slotted into right field.

They have to think more deeply about how they spend on foreign players. I'm sure Ford didn't come cheaply, yet they brought him in to play a position where they already have plenty of talent. It seems like they just consider it a kind of gamble...hoping that one day the gamble will pay off and they will get the next Randy Bass.

Bass certainly but maybe also Arias who was a great success. Thank god for Atchison - at least they can still find relief pitchers.