May 2nd Nohmi v Greisinger - Sakamoto has a big day

The first contest of the season at Koshien for the biggest game in Japanese baseball. The ground was packed and for the first time in a long time the Giants had a sizeable contingent of fans. Hara chose Greisinger who has a very good record against the Tigers and Mayumi went with the revitalized Nohmi. Neither pitcher would do that well but the difference between the sides would turn out to be the Giants short, Sakamoto who had a very good game. Akahoshi started and played the entire game but didn't look entirely comfortable and seemed to be limping a bit. One hopes he is OK. Box scores

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

Starting lineups

Giants
1. Tani (Right)
2. Kimura (Second)
3. Ogasawara (Third)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Kamei (Centre)
6. Odajima (First)
7. Abe (Catcher)
8. Sakamoto (Short)
9. Greisinger (Pitcher)

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

Giants started the game with a hit by Tani. He was bunted to second and then made third on a ground out but Nohmi struck out Ogasawara and that was the end of the innings. Tigers also started with a hit but then followed that with a hit from Sekimoto. This put Akahoshi on third and Sekimoto on first with no outs. Toritani though went for the sacrifice fly 1-0 Tigers but one felt that more could have been made of the opportunity. Sekimoto didn't move round either and both Kanemoto and Arai fell easily. Giants second was quiet as Nohmi was at his best and in control. In Tigers second Kanoh hit with two out but the next batter was Nohmi with the almost inevitable result that he was out. Sakamoto (more of him later) led off the Giants third with a hit but Greisinger failed to bunt him and both Tani and Kimura couldn't do anything either. Akahoshi led off Tigers third with his second hit. This time Sekimoto bunted him to second and another out later Kanemoto drove the ball nicely to right for a run 2-0 Tigers runner on first. Arai grounded out but Tigers had established a nice lead. This wouldn't last much longer though.

Nohmi started the fourth well enough by striking out Ogasawara. Ramirez then had a two base hit and the next batter Kamei hit to right. Ramirez showed surprising speed to make home 2-1 Tigers runner on first. Kamei stole second and then Abe hit to first. An error by Sekimoto allowed him to reach base safely and Giants had runners on first and third with one out. Sakamoto was next and Nohmi left one too high. The Giants short latched onto it and turned it nicely into the left stand, depositing it in the cluster of Giants supporters (who were no doubt delighted to receive the ball) for a three run home run 4-2 Giants and the game turned round. Greisinger was the final out but he now had a nice lead to play with. He managed to walk Katsuragi but kept the other Tigers batters off base and so the Tigers fourth ended quietly. Giants fifth started with a bang. Once again a loose pitch from Nohmi was punished, this time by Tani who hit a solo home run 5-2 Giants. Ogasawara also managed a hit but advanced no further than second. In the bottom Sakamoto who had showed his best earlier showed his worst when an error by him allowed Sekimoto to reach first. Greisinger though kept his cool and made sure that Sekimoto didn't go any further. Nohmi walked Sakamoto in the Giants sixth no doubt to avoid any embarrassment and kept the Giants from exploiting this - it would be his only walk of the game. Tigers sixth was quiet as well as the batters fell in order.

Both coaches decided that their pitchers had another innings in them. Mayumi would be right and Hara wrong. Nohmi sailed through the Giants batters untroubled and had enough left in him to strike out Kimura looking. He retired after having thrown 115 pitches but giving up 5 runs on seven hits, two of them home runs. His control had wandered and possibly this was a sign of the effects of his complete game but we shall see. Greisinger who had been very economical could not complete the seventh at all. Kanoh led off the Tigers innings with a two base hit. Fujimoto (pinch hitter) slammed the ball into right field and Kanoh was home 5-3 Giants runner on first. Then Akahoshi was next and he had hit number three, runners on second and third. Sekimoto hit a sacrifice fly 5-4 Giants runner on third. At this point Hara pulled Greisinger. He had only thrown 90 pitches but had had similar problems of control to Nohmi. Though he hadn't given up any home runs he hadn't been able to dominate Tigers batters as he usually did. Yamaguchi replaced him and Toritani went for his second sacrifice fly of the game 5-5 scores tied. Kanemoto struck out to end the innings but Tigers were back in the game in a big way. Williams was summoned to replace Nohmi and gave up a two out hit to Lee (replacement first). However, this didn't result in anything as the final batter also fell. Arai led off Tigers eighth with a hit. Asai (pinch hitter) bunted him to second and it looked possible that Tigers might snatch victory. Imaoka (pinch hitter) hit weakly to short but Arai did advance to third. Kanoh couldn't convert him and struck out trying. Giants ninth was pitched by Fujikawa, a sure sign that Mayumi thought the win was very possible. Fujikawa though has been a bit lazy of late and not exhibited the same level of control he used to have. His first batter was Sakamoto and he let his third pitch drift a little inside. This was enough for Sakamoto who hit it nicely into the Giants support section again for his second home run of the game - this time a solo 6-5 Giants. Fujikawa looked mortified but he only had himself to blame - he does need to raise his pitching level a bit more. The next three batters fell easily but the damage was done and the Giants held a slender lead. Without Kroon (inflamed finger) Hara had to rely on a different pitcher to close and this was Ochi. He started well and in fact the Tigers ninth looked like it would be straightforward until he faced Sekimoto. Sekimoto hit to right and Kamei sliding in to try and stop the ball let it get under and behind him. Excellent running by Sekimoto turned this into a three base hit and Tigers were in with a chance. Toritani though swung weakly at his first pitch and even though it cleared Ochi, Sakamoto was on it to fire the ball safely to first for the final out. Giants victory.

A hard fought game in which neither pitcher had shone. Nohmi had suffered from the long ball and Greisinger from a lack of placement. Sekimoto had done well for the Tigers, hitting and being in all the action and Kanemoto had once again driven in a run. However, Fujikawa's mistake had been the deciding factor between the sides (which is not to take anything away from a fine swing by Sakamoto). Tigers had lifted their game and had fought back well but maybe overused the sacrifice fly especially in the first when perhaps a different approach would have been a better option.