September 23rd Shimoyanagi v Kobayashi - A dull affair

The Tigers batting was poor. Against a side of indifferent pitchers they managed only three hits and should have gotten more. They also tied their first game since the Dragons in April. Giants also tied so the situation at the top remained unchanged. Luckily for the Tigers one of the hits was a vital tying run but they need to play better than this. Line scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E
BayStars 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  0  0  0 1 9 0
Tigers   0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  0  0  0 1 3 0

Starting lineups

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

BayStars
1. Ishikawa (Short)
2. Fujita (Second)
3. Uchikawa (First)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Yoshimura (Right)
6. Kinjoh (Centre)
7. Shimozono (Left)
8. Takeyama (Catcher)
9. Kobayashi (Pitcher)

Shimoyanagi started by dead balling Fujita with one out but nothing happened as the BayStars failed to take any advantage of this. Tigers first involved three walks which loaded the bases with two out. Sekimoto, though, failed to drive the runners in. BayStars second was quiet with the batters retiring in order and in the Tigers second Shimoyanagi hit. However, once again this rare event produced no progress. In the BayStars third for a bit of variety, Shimoyanagi dead balled Takeyama but then Kobayashi messed up three bunts and was out. The other two batters did nothing and the innings ended. You have to say that Shimoyanagi was pitching superbly - a pity he couldn't do it in the previous game against the Giants. Tigers third was a bit more lively Imaoka walked with one out. Then another out later Toritani hit to set up runners on first and second. Sekimoto walked to load the bases but it was Lin's turn to mess up the chance. Tigers do need to do better against such indifferent pitching but in fact they were to get worse. Both teams fourth and fifth innings were quiet with some nice strike outs by Shimoyanagi but nothing else to comment on. The BayStars sixth saw the first action. With one out Ishikawa had a lucky hit - a bump hit which sailed over short. He was bunted to second by Fujita and then Uchikawa hit - once again an element of luck was involved as the ball landed just short of Akahoshi coming in from centre. Ishikawa rounded the bases nicely and was home 1-0 BayStars. Finally, Murata flew out and the innings was over. Tigers response came from Toritani. Leading off he took a low ball into the right stand for a solo home run 1-1 scores level and the end of the scoring for the night. It was also Tigers last hit as the offense went to sleep after that. The next three batters did nothing and the innings ended quietly

Atchison pitched the BayStars seventh - Shimoyanagi retiring having thrown 88 pitches and done very well. He gave up a lucky two base hit to Yoshimura. The ball landing just inside the right foul line. Kinjoh then bunted him to third and Ohnishi grounded out to Hirano who made sure that Yoshimura was locked on third before throwing to first for the out. Atchison then struck out Suzuki looking to end the innings. Once again fine pitching by the Tigers relief. Yuya Ishii pitched the Tigers seventh and retired the side in order. This brought up Jeff Williams for the BayStars eighth and he was superb striking out all three batters he faced. Yuya Ishii continued in the Tigers eighth and was faced by more abject Tigers batting so he had rather an easy ride. Okada brought on Fujikawa for the BayStars ninth and he gave up a hit to Murata with one out. Yoshimura though grounded into a double play and that was the end of the innings.

Tigers ninth was pitched by Yamaguchi who walked Yano but once again with nothing happening as a result. So the game moved into extra innings and for the Tigers this meant Kubota. This was to prove pretty nervy as his pitching is variable. He started with a hit to Kinjoh - another lucky bump hit which bounced nicely for the BayStars. Kinjoh was bunted to second and then reached third on Takuro Ishii's (pinch hitter) ground out but the final batter Saitoh (replacement catcher) also grounded out. Tigers tenth saw Terahara and he retired the side in order. Kubota returned for the BayStars eleventh innings and with one out gave up a hit to Fujita. Uchikawa also hit and BayStars had runners on first and second. Murata was next and Hirano coming in from right (he had moved to right and Fujimoto had come in to cover second) took a superb diving catch in foul ground. This had the effect of moving Fujita to third but the final batter, Yoshimura flew out and that innings was over. Tigers eleventh saw Terahara strike out all the batters he faced meaning that there was another innings of Kubota to go. He started with a lead off hit to Kinjoh. Kinjoh was bunted to second by Ohnishi and then Saeki (pinch hitter) hit setting up runners on first and third with one out. A sacrifice fly would put BayStars in the lead. Kubota rose to the challenge and got Saitoh to fly out in foul ground and then struck out Ishikawa looking. Tigers twelth was pitched by Yokoyama who walked Katsuragi (pinch hitter) but got the other three outs - tied game.

Tigers had generated no hits from the sixth innings onwards and two of their three hits belonged to Toritani. All other batters failed miserably in a display of lazy batting which is difficult to believe. Yokohama were poor, they couldn't convert their runners and Kobayash's pitching was there for the taking. One would think that they could manage even one hit against an attack which wouldn't strike fear into any other team. Once again Kanemoto failed to justify his place in the team and really does need to perform better. If Tigers don't pick up the pace the post season is going to be very short.