September 29th Ishikawa v Takahiro Aoki - On a wet and cold night

Weather conditions for this game were terrible. It rained constantly throughout the whole contest and the pitcher's mound needed emergency repairs. With so much at stake it was a hard fought tight affair in which both teams had their lucky breaks. Tigers became the first team this season to reach 80 victories and now have a one game lead over the Giants with one game more left to play. The Magic Number is now 7. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Carp
1. Higashide (Second)
2. Amaya (Centre)
3. Alex (Right)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. Shima (Left)
6. Seabol (Third)
7. Ishihara (Catcher)
8. Kokubo (Short)
9. Aoki (Pitcher)

As mentioned the weather was terrible and this undoubtedly affected the pitchers who had to deal with awful conditions. The temperature was cold and the rain constant causing no end of problems for accuracy. Ishikawa would start badly. He gave up a lead off hit to Higashide. This was followed by a walk to Amaya and a hit to Alex which loaded the bases with no outs. Here he had Tigers first piece of luck - Kurihara was next and he drove the ball straight to Imaoka at third. The Tigers third had the presence of mind to step on the sack getting Amaya coming from second out and catching Higashide off base. He tried to dodge the fielders but was run down and tagged out by Ishikawa - two outs and no runs scored. Very good fielding. Carp still had runners on first and second with Shima next. He flew out to Kanemoto and the innings was over with a huge chance being wasted by the Carp. Tigers now have Arai back and he really makes a difference. His first hit of the night came with two outs but then Kanemoto snatched at the ball and flew out to third to end the innings. Carp's second saw Seabol lead off with a hit but then Ishihara hit into a double play and Kokubo flew out to end the innings.Imaoka produced the first run of the game - facing Aoki in the second innings he slammed a solo straight home run 1-0 Tigers. The next three batters did nothing but the Tigers had scored first. Ishikawa was much more comfortable in the Carp third retiring the batters in order. Likewise Aoki in the bottom. Kurihara hit to centre in the Carp's fourth and advanced to second on a pass ball but Shima struck out looking and Seabol lined out to Toritani and the innings was over.

By now the conditions had gotten to Aoki - his pitching in the fourth wasn't good. He started with a lead off hit to Arai. Kanemoto followed with another hit and Tigers had runners on first and second with no outs. Imaoka though grounded into a 1-5-3 double play but this left Kanemoto on second. Toritani sneaked one through to centre and Kanemoto raced home 2-0 Tigers. Then Sekimoto hit and there were runners on first and second again. Next was Yano who hit into right where the ball was dropped and fumbled by Alex. Toritani was home and the score was 3-0 Tiger runners on first and third. Unlike Resop's last game Okada didn't turn to a pinch hitter and Ishikawa faced Aoki. He grounded out but the Tigers had a more secure lead. Now it was up to Ishikawa to protect it. With one out he gave up a hit to Kokubo who just swung at it hoping to connect and did. Brown didn't stay with his pitcher Aoki was pinch hit for by Kida. Aoki had struggled but in the conditions this was not surprising. Kida hit his first pitch high and long to right where Hirano went back. He reached the fence and then timed his jump to perfection plucking the ball out of the air as it came down for the out. Superb fielding which brought a chant of 'Hirano, Hirano' from the fans. It was a vital catch. The final batter Higashide flew out to end the innings.

Tigers fifth saw Akahoshi lead off with a hit. He was bunted to second by Hirano but then Hiroike (Aoki's replacement) got both Arai and Kanemoto out. Ishikawa retired at the end of the fifth. He had done well and had shown considerable nerve in getting out of his bases loaded jam in the first. He was replaced by Atchison who really struggled in the conditions. Firstly, he started with hit to Amaya. He got Alex to fly out but then he walked Kurihara. Here he stopped and Kubo came out to have a word. This resulted in the the umpire being called and the Koshien ground staff being summoned to repair the mound. Atchison was having trouble with the footmarks. Even so this didn't help and Atchison walked Kurihara to load the bases. Seabol was next and hit to right which luckily landed just fair in the extreme corner - a two base hit 3-2 Tigers and runners on second and third with one out. Ishihara tried a squeeze play which didn't come off and then Atchison struck him out looking. He then did the same to Kokubo to end the innings and exit the innings with a one run lead. This is the second time that Atchison has given up runs in relief but given the conditions (the rain was especially bad during his innings) he had been unlucky. Hiroike walked Toritani in the Tigers sixth but nothing happened here and the innings was scoreless.

Carp's seventh was pitched by Williams - here you expected Kubota especially against the bottom of the order but Williams wasn't a bad choice and he has been pitching superbly of late. He started in the same vein striking out his first two batters. Then he faced Ogata (pinch hitter) and ran into problems finally walking him. This in itself wasn't a problem but Williams found he couldn't get the final out. He would get two quick strikes and then have difficulty with the crucial pitch. Alex was a case in point - two quick strikes and then a struggle with Alex finally getting a lucky swing and driving the ball into left field for a two base hit - runners on second and third. Next was Kurihara and he hit between third and short for a single 3-3 scores level - runners on first and third. Shima was next and he flew out to short to end the innings. One can't really say that Williams reverted and really like everyone else he suffered from the conditions.

Tigers seventh was pitched by Ueno. Lin (pinch hitter) was first and he hit his first pitch beautifully to right but the Koshien wind caught it and dropped it accomodatingly into Alex's glove. The surprise of Carp's eighth was the appearance of Fujikawa one innings early. Okada obviously wanted to make Tigers eighth innings the crucial one. Fujikawa struck out the first two batters and then Kokubo hit. Next was Akamatsu (replacement centre) was next and was also struck out to end the innings. Brown continued with Ueno who faced Arai who hit. Next batter was Kanemoto who hasn't been doing well. He battled Ueno for a while and then hoisted a slider high to the right. The fickle Koshien wind caught this one and deposited over the fence for a home run 5-3 Tigers and a crushing blow but a slightly lucky one. We can hope this galvanizes him though. Ueno walked Imaoka and the Carp were in trouble. Next was Toritani who hit and the ball cannoned luckily off Ueno's leg into the path of second for the out. Toritani was safe on first. Both Sekimoto and Yano failed to do anything and the innings was over. Fujikawa returned for the Carp ninth and was dominant retiring the batters in order. Tigers victory.

A vital win - both teams needed this game and the Tigers had proved the stronger team. Arai had made a big difference and for the first time in a long time Kanemoto had come through when needed. He needs to build on this as he was in his shell for too long. Ishikawa had been unfortunate not to pick up his second win, the win itself going to Fujikawa - his eighth. Imaoka continued to impress - since his return he has hit 5 home runs and driven in 13 runs. This is more like it. The hero interview went to both Kanemoto and Arai who were both very happy. They invited Katsuragi onto the podium (in a previous game he had been the hero and had let out a roar of victory) to give his roar.