August 2nd Shimoyanagi v H. Takahashi - Tigers work around Shimoyanagi

Yano was back near his best form which was good as Shimoyanagi was not inspiring. He pitched 5 undistinguished innings before having to be pulled in the sixth. One good thing about Mayumi is that he does take out pitchers quickly. This was a fine victory and showed Tigers playing to their potential - they have now won five out of their last six games and are back in fourth place albeit just by half a game. One hopes the momentum will carry them through shi-no-rodo.

Akahoshi will be examined further today (3rd August) after his collision with Abe. He damaged his knee and was taken off the field on a stretcher. The examination will confirm whether he needs to miss the rest of the season but there will at the very least be a break of a week. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Tigers
1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Arai (Third)
6. Brazell (First)
7. Sakurai (Right)
8. Yano (Catcher)
9. Shimoyanagi (Pitcher)

Tigers fielding would be much improved whilst Giants deteriorated and Tigers were able to use this to their advantage. Shimoyanagi's start was poor to say the least. The Giants leadoff Sakamoto hit a high fly which bounced just in front of Akahoshi coming in from centre. Suzuki hit to left and Giants had runners on first and second with no outs. It wasn't looking good and looked even worse when Ogasawara dug a low pitch out and put it nicely into centre field for the first run 1-0 Giants, runners on first and third. Ramirez hit into a double play which brought home another run 2-0 Giants. Kamei hit to right and Tani slammed a two base and the Giants had runners on second and third. Abe though would have a terrible game with the bat and he grounded out to second to end the innings. Takahashi was just as poor as Shimoyanagi. He started with a left hit to Akahoshi who was looking for the steal. Hirano though was looking for the hit, not the bunt which he found punching the ball nicely into left. This should have been just a single but Ramirez coming in to take the ball let it roll under his glove and behind him. Akahoshi sliding into third saw this and was up and off for home as the transfer came in. Akahoshi slid again between Abe's legs to touch home as Abe took the ball and came down to tag. Unfortunately, he landed heavily on Akahoshi's knee and the Tigers centre was obviously in great pain. The run though was scored 2-1 Giants, runner on second. Akahoshi was stretchered off and replaced by Yamato who took over second base with Hirano going to centre. Kanemoto's ground out moved Hirano round to third and this brought up Arai. He hit a two base along the left baseline driving Hirano in 2-2 scores tied, runner on second. The next batter Brazell then hit Takahashi over second and into centre field for the go ahead run 3-2 Tigers, runner on first. Brazell has driven in RBIs in the past three games and is hitting well. His fielding was also spot on this game. Sakurai then hit a straightforward ground out to Sakamoto who unaccountably missed the ball (he would have a dreadful night) allowing Tigers to set up runners on first and third. Yano though flew out and the innings was over. Giants second started with another hit, this one to Kimura. He was nicely bunted to second by Takahashi but then Sakamoto flew out to second snatching at his shot. Suzuki grounded out and the innings was over. Tigers second was quiet finishing with Hirano almost managing an infield hit but just being out. Shimoyanagi's control was not the best and with two outs he unaccountably dead balled Kimura in the Giants third hitting him in the back. However, Tani grounded out and that chance went nowhere. Tigers third was another interesting innings. Toritani started it with a bang getting hold of Takahashi's slider and hammering it over the fence for a solo home run 4-2 Tigers. Kanemoto flew out and then Arai popped one up to short. Both Ogasawara and Sakamoto went for it bumping into each other. Sakamoto then found himself out of the position and missed the take (not his night). Arai used the error to reach second. Here Takahashi showed some of his best pitching striking out Brazell looking and then Sakurai swinging to end the innings.

Giants fourth was quiet as the batters fell in order. Likewise Tigers fourth - this went nowhere. Giants fifth started with Sakamoto once again snatching at a pitch, this time flying out to Yano. Suzuki struck out looking to a magnificent pitch from Shimoyanagi but then Ogasawara hit a nicely placed two base. Ramirez though flew out to right and the innings was over. Hirano led off Tigers fifth with a hit. He then stole second sliding nicley in. Here Takahashi rose to the challenge superbly. He struck out the next three batters, Tigers cleanup to strand Hirano. Giants were clawing their way back into the game which had looked comfortable for the Tigers. Shimoyanagi returned for the Giants sixth and was hopeless. He started with a two base hit to Kamei off his second pitch. Then Tani hit his second two base of the evening and Kamei was home 4-3 Tigers, runner on second with no outs. Mayumi immediately pulled Shimoyanagi and brought Egusa on. Abe grounded out moving Tani to third and here Yano called for a slider which was dispatched by Kimura into right field 4-4 scores tied, runner on first. Takahashi bunted Kimura to second and then Yano messed up the calls to Egusa which led him to get behind in the count and walk Sakamoto, runners on first and second with Suzuki next. Finally, Egusa ignored Yano's calling and struck Suzuki out with a fork ball to end the innings. This innings was Yano's only poor innings otherwise he did well. Brazell led off Tigers sixth by battling Takahashi before pushing the ball precisely past Ogasawara at third for a base hit. This brought up Sakurai who faced a series of sinkers, the third of which he latched onto and hit far and deep into the centre stand, a two run home run 6-4 Tigers and the lead restored. Yano lined out to Sakamoto but Hara decided to replace Takahashi and brought in Shota Kimura as relief. He gave up a hit to Tigers Mitsunobu Takahashi (pinch hitter - the real one). However, both Yamato and Hirano failed to convert the chance and the innings was over.

Atchison took the mound for the Giants seventh and kept them quiet getting the three batters out by fly or ground outs. For Tigers seventh Shota Kimura gave up a lead off hit to Toritani and then got the next two batters to fly out. Here Hara switched to Fukuta though why it was necessary is a bit of a mystery. Kimura was in control and just needed one more out. Anyway, Fukuta gave up a hit to Brazell setting up runners on first and third and that was that. Micheal took the mound and as he has done so frequently promptly gave up a hit. This was Sakurai again, a two base, driving in another run 7-4 Tigers runners on second and third. Yano though struck out to end the innings. Giants eighth was once again Atchison who once again retired the batters 1-2-3. Nakamura returned for the Tigers eighth and found this innings more to his liking than the last. He also retired the batters 1-2-3. Giants ninth was Fujikawa who pitched well and retired the mostly pinch hitters he faced 1-2-3 as well. Tigers victory.

A well worked victory which went to Egusa. Shimoyanagi hadn't been good but Tigers and Yano had managed to neutralise any damage he caused. Sakurai had done really well and picked up the hero interview. However, the rest of the batting had been good with only Kanemoto not contributing. Fielding was much better and Tigers can take heart from what was a fine victory. Fujikawa picked up his 13th save and one hopes that the Tigers can take this momentum into their away games and win some of these.