June 28th Kubo v Mastny - History repeats itself

By an incredible coincidence this game followed almost exactly the same pattern as Mastny's previous outing against the Tigers (April 30th). He faced the same opponent, gave up no runs whilst his opponent gave up two but then watched as the Tigers won the game with a sayonara run. In a further parallel, the BayStars closer in the previous game Ishii had been successful the night before but blew the second night's save. This is exactly what Yamaguchi did as well. The game was a good result for the Tigers but one felt for the BayStars who had worked really hard for the victory only to have it snatched away. Akahoshi continued to demonstrate he couldn't bunt and really needs to work on this part of his game. Box scores

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

Starting lineups

BayStars
1. Yoshimura (Right)
2. Fujita (Second)
3. Uchikawa (Left)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Saeki (First)
6. Shimozono (Centre)
7. Niinuma (Catcher)
8. Ishikawa (Short)
9. Mastny (PItcher)

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

Kubo's start wouldn't be good though to be fair he suffered from some very poor umpiring particularly relating to the strike zone. He started by walking Yoshimura who was bunted to second by Fujita. He then walked Uchikawa to set up runners on first and second but then struck out Murata and Saeki to make sure that the innings was scoreless. Mastny would make a better start but tire towards the end of his stint. In Tigers first he gave up a hit to Sekimoto but nothing came of this with Kanemoto grounding out to first in what was another ineffective outing with the bat for him. BayStars second started with a bang, Shimozono hitting a loose pitch straight over the fence for a solo home run 1-0 BayStars. Niinuma struck out but then Ishikawa grounded out to third. Arai's throw to first was very poor and Brazell had to jump off the sack to take it meaning the runner was safe. Mastny bunted Ishikawa to second but the final batter Yoshimura grounded out to third, Arai getting it right this time. In Tigers second Lin hit and reached second on Toritani's ground out. Kanoh was next and hit past Mastny who showed good reactions to take the catch and end the innings. Whilst Mastny was pretty effective he did tend to give up hits and Kanoh was unlucky not to get one this time. In BayStars third Kubo was on form and retired the top of BayStars batting order easily. Mastny walked Sekimoto in Tigers third but once again nothing came of this.

BayStars fourth saw Kubo walk Niinuma. Ishikawa punched the ball to right and BayStars had runners on first and third but crucially with two out and with Mastny next. He hit straight to second and the innings was over. Tigers fourth started quietly but then came the first indication that Mastny might be tiring. Lin hit to right again and then Toritani hit to set up runners on first and second. Kanoh hit deep to right but as so often happens the ball was held up by the wind and Yoshimura was under it to take the catch and get out of the innings. In BayStars fifth Kubo got the first two outs and then Uchikawa hit along third baseline. This was ruled a hit but replays showed it bounced out and that the umpire had been over-precipitate with his call. Of couse Uchikawa had plenty of time to make second and set up a dangerous situation. Kubo was unable to respond effectively and Murata bisected short and third nicely driving in the run 2-0 BayStars runner on first. Saeki was next and he hit to centre, runners on first and second but Shimozono flew out to centre to end the innings. At this point Kubo was replaced and Fujimoto (pinch hitter) led off Tigers fifth. He didn't do much - just grounded out as did Akahoshi. Sekimoto hit which brought up Arai who looked really determined. Mastny then dead balled the Tigers third on the waist and it looked deliberate. This brought the BayStars pitching coach to the mound and he looked as if he was reading the riot act to Mastny. If this is so then it was very good by the BayStars. Mastny then faced Kanemoto with runners on first and second and he flew out ending the innings not with a bang but with a whimper. Watanabe pitched BayStars sixth and was effective retiring his three batters in order. Mastny too after the coach's visit was more focused in the Tigers sixth and got all three batters to ground out. Here Mayumi made what would prove a vital tactical change switching Katsuragi for LIn at right.

Atchison pitched BayStars seventh and he had a lucky escape with Yoshimura who hit deep to right. Once again the Koshien wind came into play and Katsuragi took the catch. Atchison looked suitably relieved and the next two batters were no trouble. Mastny returned for the Tigers seventh and here did run into trouble. He faced Kanoh who drove the ball past him, this time getting the width for a hit. Then Katsuragi hit and Tigers had runners on first and second with no outs. This brought the BayStars coach to the mound and Tashiro decided to replace Mastny, Kizuka being accorded the dubious honour. He faced Akahoshi shaping to bunt. His first looked OK but Akahoshi was called back as it was ruled foul. The replays confirmed that this was the case and it was a good call by the umpire. Akahoshi then messed up his second bunt and finally hit into a double play ruining a good chance. Kanoh was on third but here Tashiro left Kizuka on unlike the previous night and Kizuka repaid him by getting Sekimoto to ground out and end the innings. BayStars had escaped without damage. Atchison returned for BayStars eighth and with two outs walked Shimozono. The next batter was Niinuma and on the fourth pitch Kanoh called for one outside and low. This was the bait to tempt Shimozono to try a steal and this is exactly what happened. Kanoh's throw was perfect, in front of the base and Toritani had an easy tag for the final out. A fine piece of work. For Tigers eighth we once again saw Kosuke Katoh who did well retiring the batters in order and striking out both Kanemoto and Brazell. With the ninth coming up it began to look like BayStars would win. For BayStars ninth Mayumi picked Fujikawa in what was a puzzling decision and almost a fatal one. Maybe he thought that Fujikawa would motivate the team but to use your star closer in a non-save losing situation is certainly unexpected. Fujikawa wasn't good. He started with Niinuma flying out of the first pitch. Then he walked Ishikawa. Here the problem became apparent, he wasn't listening to Kanoh but deciding that he would direct things. Kanoh would call for a pitch and Fujikawa would refuse a couple of times before he got a pitch he liked. However, each time Fujikawa chose a pitch he liked he got it wrong. He needs to work with his catcher not with what he thinks is best. With Johnson (pinch hitter) at the mound Ishikawa stole second. The throw was good but Ishikawa was just too fast and was safe on second. Johnson then walked (he was pinch run for by Kajitani) once again on a wrong Fujikawa selection. Yoshimura flew out deep to centre which took Ishikawa to third and it looked dangerous. Fujita though grounded out easily to second and the innings was over. Fujikawa had escaped luckily and so had Mayumi who would have been heavily criticized if the decision had gone wrong. So for Tigers ninth the BayStars pitcher was Yamaguchi who faced Hirano (replacement second). He battled hard before grounding out , one down, two to go. Next was Toritani who seems to be hitting again. He hit to right and then Kanoh slammed his first pitch to left, runners on first and second. This brought up Katsuragi who hit a stinging drive to right which all Saeki could do was stop it. By the time he was up Katsuragi was safe and the bases were loaded. Hiyama (pinch hitter) was next but after a mound conference the Tashiro decided to leave Yamaguchi in. Possibly a pitching change here would have been a better option but lightning couldn't strike twice could it? Hiyama after some lame swings then connected and flew out to left, not deep but deep enough for Toritani to tag up and make home safely 2-1 BayStars runners on first and second. The tying run was on base and Sekimoto the last batter. He had had a good game but needed to produce something spectacular. He did. His fourth pitch, a slider was hit hard to left centre right into a Koshien sweet spot. Kanoh charged home 2-2 scores tied and Katsuragi followed sliding in for the winning run 3-2 sayonara victory.

This had been a good match to win and Tigers lower order had shown considerable spirit and application to win the game. Nice calling by Kanoh and good work with the bat by him, Toritani, Katsuragi and particularly Sekimoto had produced an unlikely repeat of the previous Kubo/Mastny contest. The win went to Fujikawa who hadn't done well but had learned a valuable lesson and by the end of his innings listend to Kanoh. One must also give Mayumi credit for the bold decision to use Fujikawa in a non-close situation. Almost certainly this gave the Tigers batters that extra bit of motivation though it very nearly backfired. One also has to mention the Tigers fans who generated an enormous amount of noise in the ninth. The roar as Sekimoto's hit went in had to be heard to be believed and it was nice to see their loyalty rewarded with this fine victory.