May 20th Shimoyanagi v Kondoh - Williams throws the victory away

This was a game that the Tigers should have won but a meltdown by the relief pitching doomed them to lose. Watanabe and Williams blew a three run lead against an undistinguished side in what Williams would claim was his worst pitching since he came to Japan. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Arai (First)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Hiyama (DH)
6. Toritani (Short)
7. Katsuragi (Right)
8. Yano (Catcher)
9. Sekimoto (Third)

Starting pitcher was Shimoyanagi

Buffaloes
1. Shimoyama (Centre)
2. Muramatsu (Left)
3. Kitagawa (First)
4. Rhodes (DH)
5. Hamanaka (Right)
6. Ikki (Third)
7. Gotoh (Second)
8. Ohbiki (Short)
9. Hidaka (Catcher)

Starting pitcher was Kondoh

Tigers started with an Akahoshi two base hit. Hirano bunted him to third but he had to wait for a Kanemoto hit to make home 1-0 Tigers. The innings ended with a Hiyama ground out. Shimoyanagi started with a (what now seems customary) dead ball, this time of the Buffaloes No. 2 Muramatsu. He gave up a hit to Rhodes to put runners on first and second but the next batter Hamanaka flew out and the score stayed the same. The Tigers second was quiet but in the Buffaloes version Ikki hit. He would have a good game in his first start of the season. However, Shimoyanagi kept the rest of the Buffaloes under control. Tigers third was a wasted chance. Sekimoto hit and then Hirano had a two base hit. Runners on second and third with one out. One would have thought that Arai could have hit a sacrifice fly but it was not to be. Likewise Kanemoto failed and the innings ended scoreless. In the bottom Muramatsu hit and he was followed by Rhodes setting up runners on first and third. Hamanaka was next but he once again failed. So Tigers took their slender lead into the fourth and started with a Hiyama hit. Nothing came of this. In the Buffaloes fourth Ohbiki got on base thanks to a Shimoyanagi error but this also went nowhere.

The Tigers fifth started with a Sekimoto ground out but Akahoshi hit. With one out, Hirano bunted him to second, two outs and next batter Arai. He hit to centre driving in Akahoshi 2-0 Tigers. Next batter Kanemoto hammered a two base and Arai sped round from first to home 3-0 Tigers. Hiyama grounded out to end the innings. Buffaloes response was a Muramatsu hit but they couldn't manage anything from this. In the sixth Kondoh walked Toritani and then Katsuragi to set up runners on first and second with no outs. However, Tigers batters blew the chance. Yano (who was not effective this game) grounded out to Hidaka and then Sekimoto lined out but crucially Toritani was caught off base and couldn't return to second, end of innings. The Buffaloes sixth was quiet with the side being retired in order. Tigers seventh was pitched by their ex-pitcher Yoshino. He was effective this innings and had no problem retiring his old colleagues in order.

The Buffaloes seventh started with an Ohbiki hit. Then Hidaka flew out. Shimoyama walked (Shimoyanagi's only walk) and the next batter Muramatsu flew out to Sekimoto at third. Runners on first and second with two outs. At this point Okada decided to replace Shimoyanagi. Maybe he should have left him in to get the final out as he had been in control but his pitch count was on the high side for him (110 pitches). Okada might also have had his over-pitching of Andoh in mind as well but maybe a bit of panic crept in? Anyway the next pitcher was Watanabe who immediatley gave up a hit 3-1 Tigers - runners on first and third. Watanabe was immediatley replaced in what was clearly a panic move. Step up Williams, he (as noted above) was terrible. He gave up an immediate hit to Rhodes 3-2 Tigers but the situation was not irretreivable. There were only runners on first and second with two outs. However, next Williams walked Hamanaka - bases loaded. He then gave up a two run hit to Ikki 4-3 Buffaloes, runners on first and third. The final batter, Gotoh, struck out but the damage was done. This was a poor innings in which poor pitchng had let a side out of the game back into it with a vengance

Yoshino got Kanemoto to ground out and then Collins switched to Yamaguchi. He gave up a two base hit to Ford (pinch hitter). Ford made third on a Toritani ground out but the final batter, Baldris flew out to end the challenge. Collins had used four pitchers in the innings. Egusa pitched the Buffaloes eighth and after two outs gave up a two base hit to Shimoyama. He then walked Muramatsu but got the final batter to end the innings. Tigers ninth was quiet with the side being retired in order and the game was over. Buffaloes victory.

A game which should never have been allowed to slip away like that. Shimoyanagi who is known for his sharp temper was furious. He had worked hard and had been let down. Buffaloes had taken their chance but they should never have had it in the first place. Okada was not happy either, particularly about the Hamanaka walk. Williams and Kubota have both proven to be shaky and need to up their games considerably.