Tigers needed this win. If they messed up they would have lost all the games against Orix which would have been truely embarrassing given the quality differences between the sides. They got a very impressive performance from Nohmi - not cpmpletely dominating but still very good which was important as the game turned out to be a pitcher's duel. What is more Nohmi was able to avoid giving up runs and restrict Orix to just 1 hit. As I said very impressive. Scores
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tigers 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 7 1
Buffaloes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
Starting lineups
Tigers
1. Nishioka (DH)
2. Shibata (Right)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Murton (Left)
5. Takahiro Arai (First)
6. Saka (Second)
7. Ryota Arai (Third)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Yamato (Centre)
Starting pitcher was Nohmi
Buffaloes
1. Sakaguchi (Centre)
2. Adachi (Short)
3. Baldris (Third)
4. Lee (First)
5. Itoi (Right)
6. Takahashi (DH)
7. Rottino (Left)
8. Gotoh (Second)
9. Itoh (Catcher)
Starting pitcher was Kaneko
Batting Imanari ahead of Ryota was bad enough but batting Saka ahead of him takes the biscuit. Who is more likely to drive in runs? Certainly not Saka. Tigers started quietly though Toritani did single with one out. Nothing came of this as Kaneko also controlled his side of things and got Murton to fly out to centre. Buffaloes first was quiet - they were overwhelmed and fell in order. Tigers second saw Saka double with one out. He stayed on second though and the next two batters were out quickly. Buffaloes second was also much the same though Takahashi did get on first due to a Ryota error at third. This was with two out and the next batter Rottino flew out to centre to end the innings. At least this time no one panicked. Yamato who hasn't been batting well of late led Tigers third off with a double. He made third on Nishioka's fly to right - touching up nicely. However, Shibata grounded out to second and Toritani grounded out to first so no score there. Buffaloes solitary hit came as a lead off single to left for Gotoh. He was bunted to second by Itoh and made third on Sakaguchi's ground out. This left it all down to Adachi who couldn't deliver and flew out to centre to end the innings.
Tigers fourth saw Murton hit a grounder to short which was messed up by Adachi and allowed Murton to reach base. He didn't stay long as Arai hit into a double play; Adachi not making the same mistake twice. Saka then flew out to centre. Buffaloes last base runner came in the fourth. With two out Itoi surprisingly walked. Takahashi struck out swinging and that was the end of the innings. Tigers fifth and with two out Yamato doubled again and once again to right. It was Nishioka's turn to fail and he did so by grounding out to short to end the innings. Buffaloes fifth was the start of a long procession of batters failing to get on base. They failed to trouble Nohmi. Tigers sixth and Shibata led off with a single. He stayed on first as Toritani flew out to centre and then fell to a Murton double play. Buffaloes sixth - quickly over and no one on base again.
Tigers seventh and here Kaneko wobbled. It was a significant wobble though. Arai doubled left and then Saka tried to bunt and it was fielded by Kaneko; or rather not fielded. It put runners on first and third but Ryota managed to mess up again grounding out to Kaneko who of course threw to home for the tag out of Arai - runners on first and second. Fujii went for his first hittable pitch and grounded out to first but significantly took the runners to second and third. Then Yamato who was hitting well doubled left this time to bring in both runners 2-0 Tigers, runner on second. Finally, Nishioka grounded out to short to end the innings. Tigers had a nice lead. Nohmi ensured that they kept it retiring the Buffaloes batters in order in a very cool headed display of pitching. Kaneko kept on going and pitched Tigers eighth. This time he retired the batters in order but the damage had already been done. Buffaloes eighth and apart from Shunsuke taking over from Murton at left nothing of note happened and the batters went down 1-2-3. Kaneko returned the compliment in Tigers ninth which left Buffaloes with one chance to get back into the game. Nohmi was going for a complete game shutout and successfully achieved it getting the last three batters with ease. Tigers victory.
A very valuable victory built on an impressive pitching performance. At 121 pitches the count was maybe a little high but to restrict the Buffaloes to just one hit and one walk was excellent work by any standards. This time Tigers had taken advantage of the situation and used it well. The victory took them to within 0.5 games of the Giants who are faltering at the moment.
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Starting lineups
Tigers
1. Nishioka (DH)
2. Shibata (Right)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Murton (Left)
5. Takahiro Arai (First)
6. Saka (Second)
7. Ryota Arai (Third)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Yamato (Centre)
Starting pitcher was Nohmi
Buffaloes
1. Sakaguchi (Centre)
2. Adachi (Short)
3. Baldris (Third)
4. Lee (First)
5. Itoi (Right)
6. Takahashi (DH)
7. Rottino (Left)
8. Gotoh (Second)
9. Itoh (Catcher)
Starting pitcher was Kaneko
Batting Imanari ahead of Ryota was bad enough but batting Saka ahead of him takes the biscuit. Who is more likely to drive in runs? Certainly not Saka. Tigers started quietly though Toritani did single with one out. Nothing came of this as Kaneko also controlled his side of things and got Murton to fly out to centre. Buffaloes first was quiet - they were overwhelmed and fell in order. Tigers second saw Saka double with one out. He stayed on second though and the next two batters were out quickly. Buffaloes second was also much the same though Takahashi did get on first due to a Ryota error at third. This was with two out and the next batter Rottino flew out to centre to end the innings. At least this time no one panicked. Yamato who hasn't been batting well of late led Tigers third off with a double. He made third on Nishioka's fly to right - touching up nicely. However, Shibata grounded out to second and Toritani grounded out to first so no score there. Buffaloes solitary hit came as a lead off single to left for Gotoh. He was bunted to second by Itoh and made third on Sakaguchi's ground out. This left it all down to Adachi who couldn't deliver and flew out to centre to end the innings.
Tigers fourth saw Murton hit a grounder to short which was messed up by Adachi and allowed Murton to reach base. He didn't stay long as Arai hit into a double play; Adachi not making the same mistake twice. Saka then flew out to centre. Buffaloes last base runner came in the fourth. With two out Itoi surprisingly walked. Takahashi struck out swinging and that was the end of the innings. Tigers fifth and with two out Yamato doubled again and once again to right. It was Nishioka's turn to fail and he did so by grounding out to short to end the innings. Buffaloes fifth was the start of a long procession of batters failing to get on base. They failed to trouble Nohmi. Tigers sixth and Shibata led off with a single. He stayed on first as Toritani flew out to centre and then fell to a Murton double play. Buffaloes sixth - quickly over and no one on base again.
Tigers seventh and here Kaneko wobbled. It was a significant wobble though. Arai doubled left and then Saka tried to bunt and it was fielded by Kaneko; or rather not fielded. It put runners on first and third but Ryota managed to mess up again grounding out to Kaneko who of course threw to home for the tag out of Arai - runners on first and second. Fujii went for his first hittable pitch and grounded out to first but significantly took the runners to second and third. Then Yamato who was hitting well doubled left this time to bring in both runners 2-0 Tigers, runner on second. Finally, Nishioka grounded out to short to end the innings. Tigers had a nice lead. Nohmi ensured that they kept it retiring the Buffaloes batters in order in a very cool headed display of pitching. Kaneko kept on going and pitched Tigers eighth. This time he retired the batters in order but the damage had already been done. Buffaloes eighth and apart from Shunsuke taking over from Murton at left nothing of note happened and the batters went down 1-2-3. Kaneko returned the compliment in Tigers ninth which left Buffaloes with one chance to get back into the game. Nohmi was going for a complete game shutout and successfully achieved it getting the last three batters with ease. Tigers victory.
A very valuable victory built on an impressive pitching performance. At 121 pitches the count was maybe a little high but to restrict the Buffaloes to just one hit and one walk was excellent work by any standards. This time Tigers had taken advantage of the situation and used it well. The victory took them to within 0.5 games of the Giants who are faltering at the moment.