September 27th Iwata v Utsumi - Giants draw level

The Tigers could not hold onto their one game lead and Giants won but the victory margin was close and with a bit more luck the Tigers could have taken the game as Utsumi was not at his best. There are questions though about the handling of this game and some inexplicable choices made. Firstly why was Iwata paired with Yano rather than Noguchi his normal catcher? He doesn't pitch well with Yano and one would have thought that it was imperative that your pitcher was comfortable in the biggest game of the season so far. In three games pitching to Yano, Iwata has lost two and had no result in the other one (it was a Tigers victory but to Watanabe). The second decision that was difficult to understand was the use of Watanabe as first relief in the fourth with bases loaded. Recently he has been very unreliable in these sort of situations and one would have thought that he should be kept away from them. Egusa would have been the better choice to get the final out (even though it would not have been guaranteed) as he is better in the clutch situations. Finally, why is Kanemoto still batting fourth? He isn't hitting with runners on and if he needs to stay in the side (consecutive innings record) then he should be batting eighth. Someone else should take the fourth position - someone who can drive in runs. On the plus side Arai returned and was immediatley on form - driving in a run. This is a wonderful development and with Imaoka hitting improves Tigers chances. However, there is talk of bringing Kanemura, Vogelsong and Sugiyama back into the first team lineup. This mustn't happen as it would be a disastrous move given the tightness of the contest. Line scores

       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Giants 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 6 14 0
Tigers 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 4  8 1

Starting lineups

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

Giants
1. Suzuki (Centre)
2. Kimura (Second)
3. Ogasawara (Third)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Lee (First)
6. Tani (Right)
7. Abe (Catcher)
8. Sakamoto (Short)
9. Utsumi (Pitcher)

Iwata started by dead balling Suzuki. Kimura (nice to see he's back playing with no ill effects) grounded out but Iwata went to second and threw Suzuki out. Kimura was safe on first and then tried to steal second only to be thrown out. Ogasawara struck out and the innings was over. The dead ball though was ominous - it wasn't a good way to start a game. Utsumi started well and retired the Tigers in order. Iwata looked even less secure in the Giants second. Ramirez led off with a hit and Lee walked - runners on first and second with no outs. This became second and third with a Tani bunt. Abe was next and he fell to a superb catch by Yano. Abe hit a foul fly and Yano climbed up the rubberized fence to take the ball before it hit the netting. Sakamoto was deliberately walked to get at Utsumi who struck out to end the innings. Tigers second started with a rare Kanemoto hit. With two outs Takahashi hit and Tigers had runners on first and second. Yano hit to left and Kanemoto was home 1-0 Tigers. Iwata struck out to end the innings and the runners on first and second were stranded.

So far honours to the Tigers but this would change. Once again Iwata didn't do well. He walked Suzuki who was bunted to second by Kimura. Ogasawara flew out but the third out would prove difficult to get. Ramirez hit to left and Suzuki flew home 1-1 scores level runner on first. Next was Lee who slammed a two run home run 3-1 Giants. Tani had a two base hit and Iwata was all over the place. Luckily, Abe - who had a quiet game with the bat - grounded out to Iwata and the innings was over. Utsumi immediatley ran into trouble in the Tigers third. He walked Akahoshi and then Hirano hit to set up runners on first and second with no outs. Imaoka hit to centre and Akahoshi was home 3-2 Giants with runners on first and third and no outs. Kanemoto was next and here a sacrifice fly would have been enough but Kanemoto lined out to first which also caught Imaoka off base and there were two outs. Hirano remained on third but truely awful batting. Toritani grounded out to centre and the innings was over with the Giants lead intact.

Given his troubles in the third it was surprising that Iwata returned for the Giants fourth. He got Sakamoto but then gave up a hit to Utsumi - he wasn't pitching well. Suzuki hit setting up runners on first and third and then Kimura struck out. Only one out needed but Iwata walked Ogasawara to load the bases. This was enough for Okada who summoned Watanabe to the mound. Watanabe seems to do better if he's asked to pitch entire innings and Egusa is more secure in this sort of situation. Iwata hadn't pitched well and teaming him with Yano had been a mistake. Watanabe faced Ramirez and walked him 4-2 Giants. Then Lee was next and Watanabe gave up a hit to centre which brought two runners home 6-2 Giants runners on first and third. Finally Tani grounded out to short and the innings was over. Even though the runs would appear on Iwata's record it was Watanabe's poor pitching that had done the damage - he needed to get the final out but had failed to respond. Tigers fourth saw Takahashi hit with one out but Yano hit into a double play.

The Giants fifth saw Kubota take the mound. With one out he gave up a hit to Sakamoto but then got Utsumi to mess up three bunts - two outs. Suzuki hit and set up runners on first and third but Kimura struck out looking and the innings was over. Tigers fifth was quiet with everyone flying out to centre. Kubota returned for the Giants sixth and was once again shakey. He gave up hits to Ramirez and then Lee in succession setting up runners on first and third with one out. Next was Kamei (replacment right) who struck out and then Abe who flew out. The good point of Kubota's pitching was that he had managed to get himself out of the jams he got himself into. Utsumi though would get himself into a bigger jam in the Tigers sixth. First he walked Imaoka and then Kanemoto. Toritani he dead balled to load the bases with no outs. Hara pulled him at this point and replaced him with Ochi. He got Hiyama (replacement right) to strike out and here maybe Okada should have left Sekimoto in. Arai (replacement first) was next. He had been summoned from his rehabilitation early but seems to have recovered from his injury. He hit to right driving in a run (and maybe it should have been two runs) 6-3 Giants. A nice return and bases still loaded. Yano walked 6-4 Giants with Katsuragi pinch hitting next. Hara switched to Yamaguchi who struck out Katsuragi and then Akahoshi to end the innings. This was really a wasted chance. Both Tigers batters should have done more and the Giants had been let off the hook.

Atchison pitched the Giants seventh and started with a hit to Sakamoto. Once again a Giants pitcher failed with three bunts (this time Yamaguchi). Suzuki grounded out to Atchison who took Sakamoto going for second with Suzuki safe on first. The Giants bunting wasn't up to standard. Suzuki tried to steal second and was thrown out to end the innings. Hirano led off the Tigers seventh with a hit but nothing came of this. Williams pitched the Giants eighth and started with a two base hit to Kimura. This seemed to galavanise him and suddenly it was the Williams of old - ferocious and utterly unplayable. He struck out Ogasawara swinging, Ramirez looking and Lee swinging in an utterly dominant display of pitching.

Yamaguchi returned for the Tigers eighth and got Hiyama to strike out. Then Hara replaced him with Toyoda. He got the next two batters to end the innings. Okada went with Fujikawa for the Giants ninth. Kamei hit but the next three batters fell. Tigers ninth was pitched by Kroon. He was in control and retired the batters in order Giants victory.

Tigers hadn't taken their chances whilst Giants had taken most of theirs. The main mistakes though were in the pitching and catching departments. Evidence was ignored and decisions made which played into the Giants hands. It is difficult to know why Iwata only responds to Noguchi but that is a reality and must be taken account of when he pitches.

I also thought letting Hiyama pinch hit was an odd decision. I know he was just doing it for the lefty-righty combination, but he should have given Sekimoto a chance. He is having the best year of his life at the plate and he also has two grand slams. I also thought letting Arai hit then was an odd choice, but fortunately he proved me wrong. Anyway, a frustrating game in that we couldn't take more advantage of Utsumi's form. We really needed that win, as we have only one more game at Koshien and the final game against the Giants is in Tokyo.

I was puzzled by the decision to bring Hiyama in at right but as you mentioned I also thought that Sekimoto should have stayed in. Actually there are two more games at Koshien. The Carp on the 29th and the Dragons on the 30th.

Giants lost to the Dragons today (28th). This means that not only do Tigers have two games more than the Giants left to play but also they now have a 0.5 game lead over their rivals. Not much I admit but it is a lead and Tigers now have another Magic Number which currently stands at 8.

[Edited by: Christopher on Sep 29, 2008 7:38 AM]

OK, didn't notice the Chunichi game because it wasn't on the schedule here. That's good to know, but we still finish with seven on the road. At least we have the lead back for now.