May 24th Iwata v Sugiuchi - Tigers snatch victory

If yesterday had Hawks lucky innings then it would be fair to say today's game had Tigers. It was an example of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and also of Hoshino's old slogan 'Never, never, never surrender'. It also represented Okada's slogan 'Be the best for the fans'. Their support was massive and it was nice to see it rewarded. Furthermore Tigers are now 4.5 games ahead of the Dragons who lost. Okada fielded a very interesting side but it was the established players who came through. Ford's improvement continues and his contribution was very significant today. Interestingly as well Hawks wore retro Fukuoka Daiei Hawks uniforms which made for an interesting spectacle. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

1. Baldris (Third)
2. Sekimoto (Second)
3. Arai (First)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Right (Sakurai)
6. Toritani (Short)
7. Ford (Centre)
8. Asai (DH)
9. Noguchi (Catcher)

Starting pitcher was Iwata

Hawks
1. Honda (Second)
2. Kawasaki (Short)
3. Matsunaka (Left)
4. Kokubo (First)
5. Shibahara (Right)
6. Matsuda (Third)
7. Restovich (DH)
8. Hasegawa (Centre)
9. Matoyama (Catcher)

Starting pitcher was Sugiuchi

Both starting pitchers would start well. Both would pitch seven innings and exactly 118 pitches each. They would each give up only 5 hits but Sugiuchi would have the edge. He would give up only one walk and one run to Iwata's two walks, one dead ball and two runs. Basically for the first two innings the sides were retired in order. This continued for the Tigers third as well. Iwata, though, ran into trouble in the Hawk's third. He struck out Restovich (who would be totally ineffective) but then allowed a hit to Hasegawa (Hawk's first hit of the game). Matoyama bunted him to second which left one out to get. Honda was supposed to be the victim but this didn't go to plan and he hit to centre 1-0 Hawks. Next batter Kawasaki also hit to set up runners on first and second with two outs. Matsunaka grounded out to Toritani to end the threat and the Hawks had a slender lead.

This lead would last until the Tigers fourth. Baldris hit and was bunted to second by Sekimoto. Then up stepped Arai who drove a pitch into the right corner for a two base hit 1-1 scores level. Kanemoto worked the count full and took a walk. Runners on first and second with one out. After a wild pitch Arai was on third and a sacrifice fly beckoned. Not to be - Sugiuchi struck out the next two batters to end the threat. The Hawks fourth saw Iwata's dead ball. A sinker wandered and struck Matsuda on the foot. However, with two outs this was not such a problem as the next batter, Restovich struck out again to end the innings. In the Tigers fifth Asai hit and then got to second on a Noguchi bunt but Baldris failed to convert him. The Hawk's version started with Hasegawa striking out. Matoyama walked and then Honda hit a two base - runners on second and third with one out. Next batter Hasegawa immediatley hit towards Toritani who scooped the ball up and fired it to Noguchi. He had all the time in the world to tag out Matoyama who was charging for the home plate. Runners on first and third with two outs. Matsunaka launched a long high fly to centre which you knew would be caught as soon as he hit it and so it proved.

The Tigers sixth started with a bang with Sekimoto hitting a two base off Sugiuchi. Sugiuchi didn't let this affect him and struck out Arai, got Kanemoto to fly out in foul ground (a nice piece of fielding in which the Hawks third, Matsuda, had to lean into the crowd to take the ball) and Sakurai to strike out (he, like Restovich would also have a rotten game). In the bottom of the innings, Iwata got the first two outs and then faced Matsuda. He connected with a pitch left in the zone and drove a home run into the Tigers gaia 2-1 Hawks. Iwata was mortified but was able to get the last out. Sugiuchi gave up a hit to Asai in the seventh and the Tigers batter stole second. This time the Hawks pitcher had to battle Noguchi for quite a while before finally striking him out to end the innings. In the Hawks seventh Honda walked and then stole second but once again the next batter failed to convert him. Both pitchers retired at the end of their respective sevenths having kept the game very tight. Sugiuchi though had 10 strikeouts to Iwata's six.

For the Hawks things started to get dangerous in the eighth. Okada could always call on JFK but Oh had no such option. He started with Kume who got Hiyama (pinch hitter) but gave up a hit to Sekimoto (pinch run for by Akahoshi). Arai then hit towards Kume who fielded and threw to second to get Akahoshi but Arai was safe. Oh decided to go to Ogura he gave up a hit to Kanemoto, runners on first and second with two outs. Next batter Hirano (replacement centre then second) who hit the first pitch he saw for a foul fly - end of innings. Okada went with Jeff Williams who hadn't impressed recently but today was at his best. Matsunaka grounded out to Toritani then Kokubo swung at one and wondered how he had been lured into striking out. Shibahara struck out to end the innings and keep the score at 2-1.

So to the Tigers ninth. Hawks could sense victory, they only needed three more outs. The pitcher was Houlton, Tigers leadoff Toritani. He hit his second pitch to second. The fielder threw to first but parallel to the running track which pulled Kokubo off base and Toritani was safe on first. Next was Ford, he put his third pitch into the right corner for a two base, runners on second and third with no outs. A serious situation for the Hawks. Next batter was Katsuragi - he struck out. Then Noguchi - he also struck out and it begun to look like Houlton had got out of the bind. All he had to do was dismiss Fujimoto (replacement third) for the victory. Fujimoto occaisionally hits in these situations but not often. This time Fujimoto walked - Houlton's inside pitches let him down - bases loaded two outs next batter Akahoshi. He fouled his first two pitches and then proceeded to gradually work the count full. A walk in would tie the score but this is not what Akahoshi was looking for. The right pitch presented itself, it was steered nicely over third and past short for a left field hit. Toritani home, Ford home rounding Matoyama to safety 3-2 Tigers Fujimoto to third and Akahoshi to second, two outs. Next batter Arai and the first pitch he received was slammed back past Houlton for a centre hit, Fujimoto home, Akahoshi home 5-2 Tigers. Exit Houlton to be replaced by Nitkowski. He got Kanemoto to ground out to short to end the innings but the damage had been done. Considering who would be next it was now the Hawks who were staring defeat in the face. Fujikawa was at his devastating best. First batter, Matsuda struck out four pitches, second batter Kosai (pinch hitter) struck out three pitches ato hittori Kidokoro (replacement centre) struck out three pitches, end of game Tigers victory.

A fantastic turnaround and very important victory. Williams picked up the win and Fujikawa his 17th save. Good play by the Tigers batters who had never given up. Arai added three more RBIs to his tally and Akahoshi took the other two. Both Asai and Sekimoto had two hits apiece.