April 7th Kubo v Nishimura - Tigers first shutout

Players paused before the game to remember poor Takuya Kimura who died of a cerebal hemorrhage without ever regaining consciousness. His ex-teammates would wear black ribbons in his memory. This included Kanemoto and Arai who both played with him at Carp. This sad event had the effect of motivating the Giants to prevent the Tigers from scoring though Nishimura had the help of a traditional Giants strike zone (bigger than other teams) for this game. Still he pitched very well and deserved his win. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Giants  0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 10 0
Tigers  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  5 1

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

Tigers
1. Murton (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Arai (Third)
6. Johjima (Catcher)
7. Brazell (First)
8. Sakurai (Right)
9. Kubo (Pitcher)

Both pitchers would start nicely - getting the batters out easily and in order but the first would be the only innings where the Giants didn't have a runner on base. The Giants second saw the first with Abe getting a two out single which came to nothing. Tigers second saw Johjima manage a two out hit but once again the runner did not advance beyond first. Tigers trouble would start in the third. Wakiya (who would do well against Kubo) led off with a two base hit. Nishimura bunted him to third and a score seemed inevitable. Tigers batters have struggled with the bunt so far but the Giants executed a number of them this game and they were all perfect. If you are going to bunt you should at least get it right some of the time. Next batter was Sakamoto who took a swing and got a lucky hit. The ball squirted away between third and short for a single 1-0 Giants, runner on first. Matsumoto grounded out which brought up Ogasawara. He got a nice fat pitch in the zone and deposited in the Tigers Gaia for a two run home run 3-0 Giants. The final batter was Ramirez who grounded out to second. Nishimura then set about holding the lead but needed a piece of masterly fielding from Matsumoto to do so. With two out Murton hit. Hirano then hit nicely to centre - a little deep maybe but between centre and left. Matsumoto sprinted round and dived taking the ball in the tip of his glove and holding it as he landed. A very fine catch which ended the Tigers scoring chance.

Giants fourth saw Abe hit a two base with one out. Actually it was a three base but Abe is not the fastest of runners and so it only became two bases. Chono grounded out and then Kubo and Johjima deliberately walked Wakiya to get at Nishimura (there would be a lot of deliberate walks this game). NIshimura proceeded to strike out swinging to end the innings. Tigers fourth was quiet as the clean up failed to do anything and Nishimura gradually created a stranglehold on the game. In Giants fifth Ogasawara hit but nothing came of this. The Tigers fifth was like the fourth with no one getting on base in the face of some fine pitching. Kubo got Takahashi as his first victim in the Giants sixth but then dead balled Abe. Chono struck out but Wakiya who was brimming with confidence by now hit his first pitch into the sweet spot. Abe got up to full waddling speed but could only make it to third with Wakiya on second. Fortunately the next batter was Nishimura who struck out to end the threat. Tigers sixth was quiet with no one getting on base.

Kubo was replaced for the Giants seventh by Tsutsui. He hadn't pitched that well and had given up three runs without being particularly bad. With two out Ogasawara hit to right but once again Ramirez did nothing - he has been anonymous in this series. Toritani led off Tigers seventh with a hit. Kanemoto's ground out took him to second and the Tigers faithful began to hope for something good. Arai grounded out to Nishimura who almost fluffed it up and then Johjima hit a huge blow to left. This died and Ramirez was able to lumber under it to take a comfortable catch to end the innings. Egusa started the Giants eighth and can only be described as dismal. Tani (pinch hitter) led off with a centre hit. Next was Abe who laid down a perfect bunt (are the Tigers players watching?). Arai came in to take and messed up the pick up. His throw was poor and Hirano who was covering first couldn't take it. Giants had runners on first and third with no outs. Chono hit to Toritani who in a magnificent piece of fielding locked Tani on third then fired the ball to Hirano at second. Hirano then put it into the glove of Brazell for the double play. At this point Mayumi changed pitchers and brought on Messenger. Wakiya was deliberately walked - he must have thought it was his birthday - to set up runners on first and third. Wakiya then stole second to add insult to injury - the throw from Johjima being powerful but lacking accuracy. Messenger was still in walk mode and he added Lee (pinch hitter) to the bases to load them. Finally, he dropped one nicely for Sakamoto to fly out to and end the innings. A wasted chance for the Giants. Tigers eighth was just as interesting. The pitcher was Kaneto who started with a left hit to Brazell - it was quite high but Ramirez was never going to get to it so it was quite safe. Sakurai struck out but Yano (pinch hitter), who got quite a cheer when he stepped up to the plate, hit to centre. Runners on first and second. Hara switched pitchers and Toyoda took the mound. He got Murton to fly out and Katsuragi (replacement first) to ground out to end the innings. For Giants ninth we saw the Tigers Nishimura (the Giants one is a pachimon). With one out he gave up a hit to Ogasawara who hit to short and then outran the throw to make first safely. However, Ramirez hit into a double play which once again saw some great fielding by Toritani. Everything was down to the final innings with Tigers cleanup lined up. Ochi pitched the innings and with Toritani out walked Kanemoto. He then walked Arai and things looked interesting. Johjima grounded out but Kanemoto moved to third. The final batter was Hiyama (pinch hitter) but he struck out to end the game. Giants victory.

Giants hadn't really let Tigers develop anything and both sides had stranded runners. Both cleanups (with the exception of Ogasawara) had been unexceptional and rather anonymous. Tigers do need to do better if they are to be a challenger - at the moment they are not getting runners on base and when they do they are not performing. Fielding also is not of the required standard and even though it pains me to say so - the Giants are in a different league here and it shows. It's still early season so the Tigers do have plenty of time to tighten up but they do need to do so.

I thought the Tigers would be able to score more runs this year, but their bats have been fairly cold. I think a shake up to the line-up is already in order. Murton seems to be the only one who has hit fairly consistently since the season started. Johjima started on fire, but hasn't done much since.

I suppose it's a case of a good pitching can shut good batting down. The quality of pitching possessed by the Dragons and the Giants is pretty good with the latter also having the incentive of it being the 'auld enemy'.

Though the night before Arai and Kanemoto both hit crucial homers. Murton is hitting the ball really well. If he continues like he does it would be wise of Mayumi to move him to the heart of the line up.
This years Giants is looking strong. It is a very well balanced team with depth that only other teams can dream of.

I like Murton leading off, as he has been hitting so well. The problem is the heart of the order is not producing, so some changes are needed. Brazelle is wasted in the 7 slot. I can't think of another capable leadoff hitter. I don't even think Hirano should be a starting player, so I don't want him leadoff. I seem to remember Toritani batting leadoff in the past, but that didn't last long. If the clean up can just get going, Murton's ability to get on base will be even more rewarding. I was at Koshien when Kanemoto and Arai homered. You would think that would be a far likelier occurrence, but unfortunately it's not. That combination never really got the dynamic punch I hoped for, as Kanemoto is declining and Arai has been a bit of a bust for Hanshin. Hopefully Kanemoto can prove he still has gas left in the tank and Arai can prove he's worthy of his contract this year.

A Japanese friend of mine was talking about switching Murton and Toritani. Murton is indeed wasted at No. 1. Arai is working hard but the trouble is Kanemoto and I will address certain issues with him in my next game report.

Very sad about Mr Kimura. Tragic.
I always felt that he had a steely pride every time he came up to bat.
He seemed to be the kind of opponent that you may not like but always respect.
Baseball scores seem irrelevant.

I do like the idea of Toritani leading off. He has the capability to hit for average, has decent speed, but also has some power. Maybe the reason he didn't stay #1 before is Akahoshi was unhappy about it. The only thing I worry about is I feel Toritani doesn't play well under heavy pressure, which the lead off position would have.