July 1st Atchison v Nakata - Tigers triumphant

The news on the new Tigers pitcher is that it is likely to be Chris Lee from the Atlanta Braves AAA team. Comments on his ability are welcome but Miyazaki-General Counsel is flying out soon to finalize contract details. Okada got into a shouting match with Tigers fans telling them to shut up when they were calling for the replacement of Atchison in the fifth innings - a normal day at Koshien. Both pitchers were mediocre, Atchison couldn't get out of the fifth innings and once again Nakata had problems with his control. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Dragons
1. Araki (Second)
2. Koike (Centre)
3. Nakamura (Third)
4. Woods (First)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Lee (Right)
7. Delarosa (Short)
8. Tanishige (Catcher)
9. Nakata (Pitcher)

The match started with a strike out - that of Araki. Then the next two batters flew out and the Dragons first was over. First honours to Atchison. Nakata started as he meant to go on, unconvincingly even though he struck out Akahoshi looking. Arai hit but a Kanemoto flyout put an end to that threat. The Dragons first opportunity came in their second. After one out Wada walked. Lee flew out and then Atchison was judged to have balked (this was just the plate umpire wanting to show that he was important and represented the over officious umpiring that would plague the match). Wada advanced to third and then Delarosa slammed a pitch past Atchison for a centre hit. Wada charged round the bases and just beat Akahoshi's throw and Yano's tag to score 1-0 Dragons. Atchison walked Tanishige to get at Nakata who duly obliged by grounding out. Tigers second started with two hits - Lin and Toritani setting up runners on first and second with no outs. Yano was next and worked the count full but then swung feebly into a double play but moving Lin to third. Then final batter was Fujimoto who grounded out to first and the innings and chance was over.

Araki led of the Dragons third with a hit and was bunted to second by Koike but the next two batters went nowhere. Nakata's control by now was almost gone. With one out Akahoshi hit towards Delarosa who messed up the take but it was ruled a hit. Sekimoto flew out but then both Arai and Kanemoto walked to load the bases. Next batter Lin who hit towards Woods. He fumbled the chance and only a desperate dive by Araki stopped the ball going further - Akahoshi was home 1-1 scores level, bases loaded. Toritani hit a bounce ball but it came down in time for Nakata to throw him out and the innings was over. Dragons fourth saw the first two batters fall easily but then Delarosa had his second hit of the night. He was followed by Tanishige putting runners on first and second. This was not too bad as the final batter was once again Nakata who struck out looking. Tigers fourth saw Yano ground out but then Fujimoto walked. Atchison messed up three bunts and Akahoshi was next. Tanishige in taking one of Nakata's misplaced pitches touched Akahoshi's glove and it was judged to be interference giving Akahoshi the base. Then Sekimoto walked and the bases were loaded. Next batter Arai who, of late, has not done well in these situations. This time was different - he hit towards short. Delarosa dived but only stopped the ball. Fujimoto and Akahoshi were home 3-1 Tigers. Ochiai had had enough and Nakata was headed for the bench. His control had been poor and he had never looked like imposing his will on the match. His three and two third innings had taken 95 pitches giving and indication of how much he had struggled. The replacement pitcher was Kobayashi who got Kanemoto to ground out to end the innings.

Atchison returned for the Dragons fifth and why not. He had only thrown 65 pitches and had done reasonably well. Five innings is within his ability but this time was different. He was absolutely useless and never looked like threatening any of the batters. Araki walked then Koike hit. Nakumura was next and he hit to load the bases. Up came Woods and he hit a timely 2 run shot to right 3-3 scores level. At this point Okada decided to replace Atchison and had his argument with the Tigers fans. Watanabe was the replacement - Okada had hoped to delay his entry until the sixth but hadn't had the opportunity. Watanabe got Wada to fly out to Arai in foul ground. The crucial out though was the second one - Lee. He was struck out by a superb inside fastball which had him totally fooled. Then Watanabe's control deteriorated (partially due to Yano's liking of pointless outside pitches) and he walked Delarosa in four - bases loaded. The next batter was Tanishige who hit his fourth pitch to left where it was gratefully received by Kanemoto - end of innings. Tigers fifth saw Kobayashi continue with a leadoff hit to Lin. Next he walked Toritani and exited to be replaced by Asao. Yano bunted the runners to second and third and a sacrifice fly was on. Fujimoto was next and he slammed the ball to Araki who was standing inside the running lines and dived to snag the ball. He was up and threw to Tanishige but Lin had slid between Tanishige's legs before the tag and was safe 4-3 Tigers. The sacrifice fly was still on and the next batter was Katsuragi (pinch hitter). He duly obliged and Toritani was home 5-3 Tigers. The final batter was Akahoshi who hit his first pitch to third only to fall to an excellent catch by Nakamura - end of innings.

Dragons sixth saw Kubota who retired the batters in order. He still doesn't look secure and used too many pitches but flashes of his old brilliance were still there. Hirai was the next Dragons pitcher and he ran into trouble very quickly. Sekimoto hit and then Arai launched a huge hit to centre. This just evaded the jump of Koike but failed to clear the fence. Sekimoto rounded the bases - he isn't fast and had had to hesitate to tag up but still had enough to make home 6-3 Tigers. Arai was round to third and next was Kanemoto. He waited for a suitable forkball and then planted the ball along the third baseline into the right stand for a two run home run 8-3 Tigers - no outs. The innings then petered out and the next three batters went nowhere. Kubota returned for the Dragons seventh. Nakamura (leadoff) struck out but then Woods walked (Kubota's expression of frustration said it all - he hadn't meant to throw that pitch). Wada hit a bump ball which came down into Fujimoto's hands and he tagged out Woods but Wada was safe on first. Lee hit and Kubota had runners on first and second. Delarosa was next and Kubota in another showing of his old brilliance struck him out looking with a perfectly placed outside pitch. The Tigers seventh was quiet Takahashi (the Dragons pitcher) having no problems.

Williams took the Dragons eighth and didn't look too convincing at first. Tanishige hit but then Hirata (pinch hitter) hit into a double play. The final batter was Araki who grounded out to end the innings. The Tigers eighth saw Arai hit towards Araki. He messed up his throw to Woods and the ball hit Woods glove and bounced away (Dragons fielding this game was not that good with several errors). Arai was safe on first but was ruled out by the umpire. This decision was really strange - one cannot tell what the umpire was thinking (maybe interference by Arai?). Lin walked but nothing else happend in the innings. Okada decided to go with Fujikawa for the final innings - securing the victory was all important. Koike flew out but then Nakamura hit. The next batter was Woods and he has managed to deal with Fujikawa in the past. This time was different - Fujikawa got him swinging with a rising fastball. The final batter was Wada who hit towards left. Running to his right Kanemoto took a magnificent diving catch to dismiss Wada and end the match - Tigers victory.

An excellent win. Tigers batters had proved too strong on the night for Dragons relief which had been exposed too early. Nakata is not the force he was in previous years and again suffered from control problems. Tigers pitchers had just enough and JFK whilst not being dominating were strong enough to hold onto the victory. Watanabe's contribution in the fifth was vital - especially his strike out of Lee and he earned his first hero interview of his career (together with Arai).