May 17th Iwata v Ishikawa - Swallows shut out, no runs today

A fine pitching performance by Iwata and good batting by Toritani saw Tigers home. Swallows didn't seem to have any answer beyond the first innings and despite fighting hard were not allowed to get anywhere. Okada continued to try and find a suitable No.5 batter and after trying Sakurai yesterday tried Ford today. Ford was better and may get the nod. Line scores

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

Starting lineups
1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Sekimoto (Second)
3. Arai (First)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Ford (Right)
6. Toritani (Short)
7. Noguchi (Catcher)
8. Baldris (Third)
9. Iwata (Pitcher)

Swallows
1. Kawashima (Third)
2. Fukuchi (Centre)
3. Tanaka (Second)
4. Guiel (Right)
5. Miyamoto (Short)
6. Hatakeyama (First)
7. Iihara (Left)
8. Kinugawa (Catcher)
9. Ishikawa (Pitcher)

Iwata's first innings was a bit shaky. He got the leadoff Kawashima but then both Fukuchi and Tanaka hit to left to set up runners on first and second. Guiel grounded out moving the runners round to second and third but the final batter, Miyamoto grounded out to Iwata to end the danger. If Iwata was shaky Ishikawa was abysmal. Firstly he walked Akahoshi (Akahoshi would own him the entire game). Sekimoto bunted him to second and then Ishikawa walked both Arai and Kanemoto to load the bases with one out. Next batter was Ford who tried to hit a sacrifice fly but only succeeded in hitting an infield fly. Then came Toritani - he filled the count before driving a slider back past Ishikawa and into centre field. Akahoshi and Arai were home 2-0 Tigers. Noguchi lined out to end the innings. In the Swallows second, Iwata was still shaky and walked Hatakeyama. However, the next batter grounded into a double play to Baldris. Incidently, Baldris' fielding at third was awesome. Next up was Kinugawa who hit but the final batter was Ishikawa who didn't do anything. The Tigers second saw Akahoshi hit a nicely placed shot to left but Sekimoto flew out and the innings ended. After his poor first Ishikawa actually settled down and did very creditably. He didn't walk anyone after that.

Swallows third was quiet with Iwata striking out two and showing that he had settled down. In Tigers version the Swallows got a piece of luck. Kanemoto hit a massive strike to right but the wind caught it and it just fell short of a home run into the glove of Guiel. Very close though. The Swallows fourth was quiet and saw a nice piece of fielding by Baldris at third. He does need to work a bit more on the accuracy of his throw though. Likewise the Tigers fourth - Ishikawa was pitching well and was in control. In the Swallows fifth Iwata walked Iihara. He stole second and got to third with the second out but the final batter Kawashima grounded out to end the threat. The Tigers fifth saw Akahoshi bunt and set off for first. This took Kawashima at third by surprise and his throw to first was too high. Akahoshi stopped at second. Next batter Sekimoto he hit towards second and one thought that he had scored Akahoshi but a fine jumping catch by Tanaka got him. Akahoshi of course set of for third and was unable to return to second - a double play, end of innings. Baldris was in action in the Swallows sixth, two stunning takes and throws saw the first two batters ground out. Guiel hit but Miyamoto flew out and the innings was over.

With the Tigers sixth Arai grounded out but Kanemoto drove a two base along the first base line. Ford hit and Tigers had runners on first and third with one out. Next batter Toritani who dropped a forkball nicely behind second for an RBI 3-0 Tigers. Ford sped round and made third. What would Noguchi do? In the previous innings with no runners on he had hit a deep left fly which would have been perfect in this situation but this time? He hit into a double play, end of innings. The Swallows seventh started with a Hatakeyama hit. Then Iihara slammed a hit to left only to see a stunning diving take by Baldris stop him dead. Kinugawa hit towards short straight into a double play and the Swallows seventh fizzled out like a damp squib. Ishikawa's seventh was very impressive - three strike outs interspersed with another Akahoshi hit. Sakurai was used as a pinch hitter and still doesn't seem to have recovered his form of last year.

Swallows eighth was pitched by Williams and by this stage you were pretty sure that the Swallows weren't going to score. Riggs (pinch hitter) grounded out but Kawashima hit. However, the next two batters did nothing and the innings ended. Tigers eighth saw Ford's second hit of the match but nothing came of it. His performance was very encouraging and I wouldn't be surprised to see him start again tomorrow. So to the ninth and Fujikawa. Guiel flew out and then Miyamoto lined out to Sekimoto. Hatakeyama walked but the final batter Iihara tried to put the ball over Sekimoto and failed. Tigers victory.

Nice pitching, very nice fielding and good batting from Toritani had been enough. Iwata always had a little bit extra for the crisis moments and despite a good Swallows challenge they never recovered from the poor first. Baldris impressed at third and looked to reach Kataoka quality. Fujikawa recorded his 16th save and Tigers won the series surprisingly easily as I had expected more of a challenge from the Swallows.