May 7th Shimoyanagi v Kisanuki - A close run thing

Kanemoto now needs one more home run to reach 400. In the previous game the lack of long ball was mentioned. This game was long ball with a vengance. But for an umpires call there would have been five. Okada benched Imaoka for the game preferring Katsuragi at right and Sekimoto at third. Once again the result would prove him right. Line scores

       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 5 11 0
Giants 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 11 0

Starting linups

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)

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

Tigers first started with an Arai two base but the next batter Kanemoto flew out to left. Shimoyanagi didn't start well and in fact pitched rather poorly. The amazing thing is he was still able to keep his count down to 86 pitches over six innings. He gave up a leadoff hit to Kamei who was then bunted to second by Sakamoto. Ogasawara flew out and this brought up Ramirez. He launched a huge home run into the left stand 2-0 Giants. The final batter, Abe, flew out. One of the impressive things about this match was the ability of the Tigers batters to respond immediately. The leadoff batter Katsuragi hit to right. Then Toritani responded with his own home run 2-2 scores level. Next up Yano who hit his first home run of the season 3-2 Tigers. Both these landed in the right stand in pretty much similar locations. Two outs later Akahoshi walked and then tried to steal second. This time he was thrown out and the innings ended. Shimoyanagi's second innings started badly, he gave up a hit to Gonzalez, then one to Tani and then another one to Kimura - bases loaded no outs. The next batter Kisanuki flew out to left. Kamei fell swinging which stopped the chance of a sacrifice fly. The final batter Sakamoto flew out to left to end the innings and preserve the Tigers slim lead. The Tigers third proved to be eventful in a different way. Kisanuki got the first two batters and then faced Kanemoto. He then launched a wild high ball which Kanemoto tried to duck under but was hit on the back of the head and went down. Kisanuki looked genuinely shocked as I don't think he intended that to happen. Of course, under the Central League rules he was ejected for dangerous play and was replaced by Fujita. Kanemoto seemed OK and was able to take his place on first base. However, Katsuragi struck out to end the innings.

In the Giants third Shimoyanagi gave up a hit to Abe but the Giants weren't able to do anything with it. The Tigers fourth started with a double play Toritani and Yano. Sekimoto flew out. Shimoyanagi continued to prove he could get himself into trouble and then get out of it. Tani and then Kimura hit for the Giants. Runners on first and second with no outs. Next up Katoh (pinch hitting for Fujita) struck out and then Kamei grounded out though the runner on second did move up to third. However, Sakamoto flew out to end the innings. The fifth was quiet, Fujita was replaced by Kadokura but none of the Tigers batters did anything. Likewise the Giants fifth, the side was retired in order. So to the Tigers sixth. First batter Arai was out and this brought Kanemoto to the plate. Was he OK? The answer was an emphatic yes - he got hold of a forkball and slammed it into the right stand for his 399th home run 4-2 Tigers. Toritani walked but the Tigers didn't add to their score. The Giants sixth involved a Tani hit but with no result. In the seventh Sekimoto hit but was stranded on first as Imaoka (pinch hitter) struck out and then Akahoshi hit into a double play. For the Giants seventh Nohmi was summoned. He has been reliable and effective in relief but did not fit that description in this game.

He got Kamei to ground out and then Sakamoto hit. Next batter, Ogasawara, worked a walk to set up runners on first and second with one out. Ramirez stepped to the plate again. He lined up a high hit to left which hit just below the home run line and bounced back into the field or so it seemed. This was ruled a two base hit score 4-3 Tigers but Ramirez thought he had hit a home run. So did Hara who argued the point with the umpires. After a consultation they stuck to their original decision - later video replays would show that a Tigers fan had pushed the ball back into the field of play after the ball had crossed the home run line. However, the umpires could not have seen this and the call was an honest mistake. Nohmi worked the count full for Abe and then walked him loading the bases still with only one out. At this point Okada decided a switch was in order and Watanabe was summoned from the bullpen. He got the second out with a ground out but the runner on third reached home safely 4-4 scores level. The final batter was Tani who grounded out to end the innings. Tigers responded immediately. Arai hit, followed by Kanemoto - runners on first and third with one out. Next batter Katsuragi, he guided his hit past Gonzalez's despairing dive for a 5-4 Tigers lead. The next two batters fell easily and it was Giants eighth. They faced Egusa, who Okada had decided to use instead of Kubota. Egusa mowed his way through the Giants batters striking out all three he faced (and incidently picking up the win - his first of the season).

The final innings saw Hiyama (pinch hitter) hit and Saka (pinch running for Hiyama) be bunted to second by Akahoshi but nothing resulted. The Giants ninth was of course pitched by Fujikawa. He got Sakamoto to fly out, Ogasawara to ground out to Hirano and Ramirez to ground out to Toritani for the final out and his 12th save. Tigers victory. An ability to respond rapidly and score coupled with a piece of luck brought an interesting and exciting victory. Tigers maintained their lead over the Dragons of three games and had won the series against the Giants.