May 25th Uezono v Nishiguchi - Tigers seventh is lucky seventh

Uezono returned to the first team with perfect timing. Facing the Pacific League leaders he kept things bottled up and allowed Tigers to take advantage of the JFK trio. Everyone seems to be back on form and Seibu were overwhelmed. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Lions
1. Kataoka (Second)
2. Kuriyama (Left)
3. Nakajima (Short)
4. Brazell (First)
5. G. G. Satoh (Right)
6. Nakamura (Third)
7. Bocachica (Centre)
8. Hosokawa (Catcher)
9. Nishiguchi (Pitcher)

This was the battle between the two leaders of the leagues. Seibu with G. G. Satoh and Tigers with Arai and JFK. It would turn out to be a very good contest. Okada summoned Uezono for his first start and he did very well. He kept things tight and whilst he didn't pick up the win (that went to Kubota) he ensured that Tigers were in a position to attack and destroy. Uezono's first innings though was shaky. He got the first two batters to ground out then gave up a hit to Nakajima. This was followed by a Brazell hit and Uezono faced G. G. Satoh who he walked to load the bases. Next batter Nakamura was caught out on his second pitch and flew out to Noguchi. End of innings and a lucky escape. Nishiguchi's first was almost as shaky. Akahoshi hit and was bunted to second by Hirano in what has become a familiar pattern. Then Arai walked to set up runners on first and second with one out. Akahoshi advanced to third on Kanemoto's centre fly but Hiyama grounded out to end the innings. Uezono's second was devastating - three strike outs in a row. Likewise Nishiguchi but with three flyouts in a row. In the third Uezono gave up a hit to Kuriyama who advanced to second on a ground out and third on a wild pitch. Brazell flew out to extinguish the threat. In the Tigers third, Uezono hit but was thrown out trying to get to second on an Akahoshi pitcher ground out (Akahoshi was safe). He stole second and then made third on a Hirano hit - runners on first and third with one out. Next batter Arai who grounded into a double play to end the innings.

The Lions fourth saw Uezono walk Bocachica but nothing came of that as he struck out Hosokawa to end the innings. The Tigers fourth saw a Kanemoto walk and he advanced to second but then was caught off base by a liner. The Seibu fifth saw Nishiguchi walk but once again a batter being caught off base doomed the chance and the innings ended quietly. In the Tigers fifth Uezono was walked but once again with no result. The Lions sixth saw the first run. Nakajima hit - a two base. Then Brazell grounded out, next up G. G. Satoh. He hit along the third baseline for another two base 1-0 Lions. Nakamura struck out and then Bocachica walked - runners on first and second with two outs. The final batter was Hosokawa who flew out to leave Lions with a slender lead. For the Tigers sixth Arai hit but Kanemoto struck out leaving a runner on first with two outs. Watanabe decided it was time for a pitching change and Hoshino was summoned. He got the final out but one has to ask why on earth was this change made. Nishiguchi had got the two outs - he had only thrown 89 pitches.

With Lions only having a 1-0 lead Okada went to Kubota. He was on form and the Lions seventh was over in 12 pitches, ground out, strike out and short fly out. For the Tigers seventh Onodera was selected. Toritani hit and was bunted to second by Noguchi. Sekimoto flew out and there were two outs. Next batter Katsuragi (pinch hitting for Uezono). He put his third pitch into centre for a hit, Toritani motored home and the scores were level 1-1. Katsuragi was also able to advance to second and this brought up Akahoshi. He also hit to centre and Katsuragi was home 2-1 Tigers. Hirano walked and Watanabe decided a new pitcher was necessary to get the final out and limit the damage. Okamoto replaced Onodera but this didn't make any difference. Arai hit 3-1 Tigers, Kanemoto hit 4-1 Tigers. To compound the mess Okamoto unleashed a wild pitch and Hirano was home 5-1 Tigers. Finally he struck out Hiyama but Tigers had built a commanding lead.

The Lions eighth was desperate. They faced Jeff Williams and tried to hit him out of the ground with the consequence that all three batters flew out. In the Tigers eighth Sekimoto hit but nothing came of this and so to the Seibu ninth. This was pitched by Fujikawa - for the second time in a non-save situation but close. I think that Okada has got this policy right. Ensuring victories when necessary with his elite closing team but not over-pitching them. Nakamura hit off his first ball but the other three batters had no answer and fell in nine pitches - Tigers victory.

It is nice to see Uezono back and this was a good performance against a tough in form team. It also showed the value of an elite closing team - Seibu's relief hadn't been able to cope and had collapsed. Good batting by Tigers in the seventh - a five run innings is always useful and this was decisive.