April 16th Kubo v Asao - Toritani shines

A much tighter more controlled performance saw Tigers win a tight match. Kubo once again was very good and showed some fine pitching. Mayumi's management was much improved this game and one hopes that he has learned something valuable from his experience of the past few days. Kanoh was rested and Okazaki stood in behind the plate. He showed a fondness for calling straightballs which he was lucky not to be punished for. Box scores

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

Starting lineups

Dragons
1. Araki (Second)
2. Ibata (Short)
3. Morino (Third)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Nomoto (Right)
7. Fujii (Centre)
8. Oyama (Catcher)
9. Asao (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Arai (Third)
6. Sekimoto (First)
7. Mench (Right)
8. Okazaki (Catcher)
9. Kubo (Pitcher)

Kubo started nicely and would put in a quality performance. Once again he was unlucky not to pick up his first win. His first innings saw the Dragons batters fall in order. Asao's start was not so good. Akahoshi fell easily and he isn't really effective at the moment but Hirano hit. This brought up Toritani who crushed his third pitch into the stands for his first home run of the season 2-0 Tigers. Arai hit and Sekimoto walked but Mench, as is usual for him, flew out and the innings ended. Dragons second saw their only non scoring hit, a two out hit to centre by Nomoto. Nothing came of this as Kubo struck out Fujii to end the innings. Tigers second was quiet with the batters going down in order. Dragons third was the same and in the Tigers version Kanemoto hit but nothing came of this. Asao was much more assured after his first innings.

The fourth saw Ibata hit a lead off solo home run off his first pitch - a piece of luck for Dragons 2-1 Tigers. The rest of the batters meekly surrendered to Kubo and the lead was preserved. Tigers fourth was quiet but the Dragons fifth was a bit more exciting. Kubo's control wandered and with one out he walked first Fujii and then Oyama to set up runners on first and second. This became runners on second and third with Asao's ground out but the final batter of the innings Araki struck out to end the danger. Tigers fifth saw Hirano successfully engineer a bunt hit but Toritani failed to convert him. Kubo returned for Dragons sixth and with one out Kubo sent two straight balls at Morino in succession. The second was low but Morino dug it out nicely and deposted the ball in the centre stand for a home run, a very fine shot 2-2 scores tied. The next two batters surrendered tamely and the innings was over. Tigers sixth started with a lead off hit to Kanemoto. This was wiped out as the next batter, Arai, hit into a double play. However, Sekimoto hit and then surprisingly stole second. Mench flew out to end that threat.

Kubo didn't return for the seventh, Mayumi having remembered his first outing. He had pitched excellently, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks. I will say it agiain, how the Lotte front office could let such a good pitcher go in exchange for Hashimoto is beyond me. They must have sawdust for brains. Atchison took the Dragons seventh and was excellent, in control and striking out two. Asao returned for the Tigers seventh when perhaps Ochiai should have gone with his relief. He had been a bit shakey in the sixth and would be more so this innings. He started well striking out Okazaki but then walked Sakurai (replacement right). Akahoshi hit to put runners on first and second and then Sakurai advanced to third on a Hirano ground out. This brought up Toritani who turned the ball nicely into right field for a timely hit 3-2 Tigers, runners on first and third. Ochiai decided that Asao was finished and Payano took the mound. He battled Kanemoto, a battle which the Tigers left won, hitting a right over two base hit. Akahoshi was home 4-2 Tigers runners on second and third. Payano exited to be replaced by Saitoh who was able to induce Arai to ground out to short and end the innings but a useful lead for the Tigers. Atchison returned for the Dragons eighth and was once again dominant retiring the batters in order. Tigers eighth was pitched by Shimizu who dead balled Okazaki but apart from that had no problems. Of course, for Dragons ninth the pitcher was Fujikawa. He started well striking out Morino looking and Blanco swinging and then faced Wada. Wada got hold of a 150 kmh fastball and hammered it into the centre stand 4-3 Tigers. Fujikawa then struck out Nomoto to end the match. Tigers victory.

Atchison picked up the win and Fujikawa his second save. Tigers had stopped their losing streak at four games and had shown considerable improvement in performance. Kanemoto added another RBI and had three hits in the game and Toritani had done well. Dragons had shown remarkable production generating three runs from four hits. Tigers had not been so prolific needing ten hits for their four runs. More variation in pitching would have probably enabled Tigers to restrict Dragons scoring even further as all of the Dragons runs came off fast straightballs and all were solo home runs which was lucky for the Tigers. Kubo continued to improve and is a fine addition to the side.