July 5th Andoh v Nasuno - BayStars are crushed Part 2

Tigers winning streak continued. Once again Yokohama were completely outplayed - scoring some runs off the Tigers relief but being easily beaten. Yano in particular shone with four hits in the game, one of them being a home run. Line scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers   0 2 0 3 2 0 1 1 0 9 14 1
BayStars 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 4  7 1

Starting lineups

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

BayStars
1. Ozeki (Right)
2. Nishi (Second)
3. Uchikawa (First)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Bigbie (Left)
6. Kinjoh (Centre)
7. Aikawa (Catcher)
8. Ishikawa (Short)
9. Nasuno (Pitcher)

Both pitchers started well and the sides fell in order. Tigers second saw Nasuno run into trouble. His first two outs were straightforward enough (Kanemoto flyout and Lin ground out) but then Toritani hit. Next batter was Yano who in recent years has feasted on BayStars pitching. This game was no different and a two run home run followed 2-0 Tigers. The next batter Baldris walked and this brought up Andoh. He struck out and the Tigers had made a bright start. Next it was Andoh's turn to pitch and apart from a walk to Murata he had no problems retiring the side. Nasuno's trouble continued in Tigers third. Sekimoto hammered a two base and Kanemoto hit driving him to third with two outs. Lin though flew out and Nasuno escaped. In BayStars third Ishikawa managed their first hit of the game but an Ozeki double play prevented any progress. By Nasuno had completely disintergrated. He walked Toritani, Yano and Baldris in succession to load the bases with no outs. Ohya had had enough and Kuwahara was given the unenviable job of dealing with the situation. He actually started quite well, getting first Andoh and then Katsuragi (replacement centre) to strike out. Maybe the BayStars would escape. Sekimoto had other ideas and put a two base hit over Kinjoh for a bases clearing double 5-0 Tigers. Arai flew out and the innings was over.

BayStars did try and respond in the bottom of the fourth. Uchikawa had a two base hit and Murata collected his second walk - runners on first and second with one outs. Andoh kept his cool and the runners went nowhere as the other two outs fell. Tigers fifth continued the scoring feast. White was the unfortunate pitcher and he gave up a lead off hit to Kanemoto. Lin followed and Tigers had runners on first and second with no outs. Toritani flew out but then Yano hit and Kanemoto was home 6-0 Tigers. Lin moved up to third and Yano was able to make second. Next batter was Baldris and he hit a sacrifice fly to centre - Lin was home 7-0 Tigers. The final batter was Andoh who struck out to end the innings. BayStars fifth and another Ishikawa hit which produced no result. Yamakita managed to keep the Tigers quiet in the sixth, retiring them in order. Tigers pitcher for the BayStars sixth was Abe who did well in his first relief start with a lead and retired the BayStars in order.

As Yamakita had done well in the sixth he was rewarded by pitching the Tigers seventh and ran into trouble. Kanemoto grounded out but Lin hit and then made second on a base ball. Toritani struck out but Yano hit driving Lin to third with two outs. Baldris hit to centre and Lin was home 8-0 Tigers. The final batter was Abe and he of course was out. Abe returned to pitch the BayStars seventh and started with a lead off solo home run to Bigbie 8-1 Tigers. He then got the next two outs but gave up a two base hit to Ishikawa but was able to get Yoshimura (pinch hitter) to ground out for the final out. A good piece of pitching except for the run - Abe needs to tighten up a bit more.

Oyamada started the Tigers eighth for the BayStars and gave up a two base hit to Katsuragi. Whilst BayStars had their share of two base hits, they did not get the batting support they needed. Tigers did. Sekimoto hit and Katsuragi was round to third with Sekimoto on first and no outs. Arai then launched a deep fly to left and Katsuragi was home 9-1 Tigers. Kanemoto made first on an error and Tigers still had runners on first and second with one out. Unfortunately Lin hit into a double play and the innings was over. Okada decided to go with Taiyo for the final two BayStars innings. He did not do well. He walked the first batter he faced in the eighth, Ozeki and then gave up a hit to Nishi. The next two batters both flew out without the base runners moving and then Bigbie walked to load the bases. The next pitch to Kinjoh was first ground out which turned into an error and two BayStars were home 9-3 Tigers and a runner on third. Taiyo got the final batter to ground out but he hadn't done well in loading the bases. Tigers ninth saw a Yano hit but Sanada (the BayStars pitcher) prevented any further additions to the score. BayStars ninth was different. With two outs Taiyo gave up a solo home run to Ozeki 9-4 Tigers but the final out duly followed with a Nishi ground out - Tigers victory.

This was a good victory for the Tigers. BayStars pitching had not been up to the challenge and they had suffered at the hands of the Tigers batters. Of the Tigers pitchers Taiyo had not done well and is now part of the second team where he probably belongs. Andoh did well on his first outing after his injury and had pitched economically. Okada wisely had not tried to over pitch him and he had earned a deserved victory.