June 17th Shimoyanagi v Domingo - Tigers snatch victory

This proved to be quite a tight match. Tigers were kept in check for most of the game and Rakuten proved to have a magical ability to hit back almost immediatley whenever the Tigers scored until the ninth. JFK recorded their 100th victory as a team and Sekimoto laid down four bunts! Line scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Golden Eagles
1. Watanabe (Short)
2. Takasu (Second)
3. Rick (Left)
4. Yamasaki (First)
5. Fernandez (Third)
6. Nakashima (Right)
7. Yamazaki (Centre)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Domingo (Pitcher)

Shimoyanagi started with a strikeout of Watanabe. The next batter Takasu hit but was thrown out trying to steal second. Rick then grounded out and the innings was over. In the Tigers first Akahoshi led off with his usual first base (this time a hit). He was bunted to second by Sekimoto but then went nowhere as Domingo retired Arai and Kanemoto. In Rakuten's second, Shimoyanagi ran into trouble. Yamasaki hit but then was out as Fernandez grounded out to Toritani. Fernandez, safe on first, stole second - not bad. Nakashima hit but Toritani kept Fernandez from advancing to third - runners on first and second with one out. Yamazaki grounded out which moved Fernandez to third and then Fujii walked. This left Shimoyanagi with only Domingo to get out which he duly did. Tigers second was also exciting - the first two outs fell easily then Yano hit. Fujimoto walked and then Shimoyanagi hit. Yano went for home but was thrown out and the innings ended. The Golden Eagles third was quiet and you thought that Shimoyanagi had settled down. Tigers third started with an Akahoshi walk. Sekimoto laid down his second bunt of the evening and then Akahoshi stole third. Arai hit towards Watanabe at short and he fumbled allowing Arai to first and Akahoshi to reach home 1-0 Tigers. Kanemoto and Katsuragi failed to move Arai from first and the innings ended.

Rakuten's response was immediate. Yamasaki led off with a hit. Fernandez hit and then Nakashima hit 1-1 scores level, runners on first and third with no outs. Next batter was Yamazaki who hit a sacrifice fly 2-1 Rakuten. Nakashima tried to steal second but was thrown out and the final batter, Fujii grounded out to end the innings. Tigers fourth saw the first two batters strike out and then Fujimoto hit. The next batter was Shimoyanagi who grounded out. Rakuten's fifth was also quiet. Akahoshi led off the Tigers fifth with another walk. The usual Sekimoto bunt took him to second (what can you say about these things - they are successful but not exciting to write about). Arai flew out and Akahoshi moved to third. Kanemoto walked but Katsuragi blew the chance and fouled out to third to end the innings. Rick hit to lead off the sixth but perished in a Yamasaki double play. Fernandez grounded out and the score stayed the same. Toritani led off the Tigers sixth with a hit and was bunted to second by Yano. Then Fujimoto flew out and Toritani was caught off base - no joy this innings. Shimoyanagi retired at the end of the Golden Eagles sixth. He had thrown 81 pitches with seven hits and one walk and given up 2 runs. A very economical and assured performance.

With the game this close Okada went to Kubota. He started with a hit to Yokogawa (pinch hitting for Domingo and replacement right). He was bunted to second by Yamazaki and made third on a wild pitch but by this time Kubota had also struck out Fujii and only needed one out to complete his collection. This duly fell into his hands in the form of Takano who flew out to Toritani. Domingo was also replaced in the seventh. He had thrown 104 pitches - more than Shimoyanagi and given up four walks and five hits. Crucially though he had only given up one run - another fine performance. He was replaced by Nagai who gave up a hit to Lin (pinch hitting for Kubota). Akahoshi walked again and Sekimoto bunted him and Shuta (pinch running for Lin) round to second and third respectively. At this point Nomura summoned Kawagishi who gave up a sacrifice fly to Arai 2-2 scores level. Kawagishi exited to be replaced by Arime who walked Kanemoto but then got Ford (replacement right) to strike out and end the innings.

Once again Rakuten demonstrated an ability to strike back immediatley. What was surprising was that it was against Williams. He walked the first batter he faced, Watanabe. Takasu bunted him to second and he advanced to third on a Rick ground out. Two outs - one more batter Yamasaki who last time he had faced Williams had looked very scared. This time was different. He took his fifth pitch past Williams into centre field for a hit 3-2 Rakuten. Not good by Williams. Yamasaki was pinch run for by Shiokawa (replacement third) who tried to steal second. The throw was good and he was out - end of innings but it looked difficult for the Tigers. Arime continued into the Tigers eighth and got Toritani to fly out - one out. Then Yano hit to centre.

Koyama was summoned and started by facing Hiyama (pinch hitter). He hit and Tigers had runners on first and second. Next batter Takahashi (pinch hitter) who took two sliders before slamming a two base hit over the head of left field. Yano was home but Hiyama also flew round the bases to make home 4-3 Tigers. Akahoshi hit and Tigers had runners on first and third - all with one out. Koyama unleashed a wild pitch and Takahashi hustled home 5-3 Tigers. Then Akahoshi stole second. For a change Sekimoto tried to hit but struck out and then Arai did the same to end the innings and strand Akahoshi on second. Tigers had turned the match around. The final innings was Fujikawa. He struck out Fernandez and then Yokogawa before getting Yamazaki to fly out to third and end the match. Tigers victory.

A very hard fought match in which the Tigers had looked to be beaten had turned around. Good use of pinch hitters by Okada had been the key. Fujikawa recorded his 24th save and the victory went to Williams.