August 18th Andoh v Ishikawa - Too many nice pitches

Once again Brazell was significant driving in another two runs which ensured that Tigers enjoyed their second victory in a row. With Tigers Swallows games it is generally the team that scores first which wins the game and this time the Tigers were the first on the board. The Andoh Yano combination was still unimpressive but Swallows lacked the players to drive their runners in. Tigers also suffered from this problem but Swallows pitchers left enough nice fat hittable pitches for the Tigers batters to score regularly if not spectacularly. Kanemoto was once again anonymous with the bat but did manage to steal a base. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Iwata was replaced by Sakurai before the game started

Swallows
1. Keizoh Kawashima (Short)
2. Fukuchi (Left)
3. Aoki (Centre)
4. Hatakeyama (Third)
5. Guiel (Right)
6. Takeuchi (First)
7. Hiroyasu Tanaka (Second)
8. Aikawa (Catcher)
9. Ishikawa (Pitcher)

Tigers first was over quickly as Ishikawa smoothly cruised through the top of the Tigers order. Andoh started with a hit to Toritani whose throw to first was poor enabling Kawashima to get on base safely and reach second. Aoki's fly took him to third but then Hatakeyama also flew out to end the innings. Ishikawa rapidly disposed of Kanemoto in the second but then Arai hit comfortably to left for a solo home run 1-0 Tigers. Sakurai then hit to left but Yano grounded out to end the innings. The Andoh Yano combination then demonstrated a very inept level of play. Guiel walked to lead off the Swallows second. Takeuchi then bounced one to first which Brazell failed to take. This was unreasonably called an error - there was no way he could have taken that ball but Swallows had runners on first and third. Andoh then dead balled Tanaka first pitch to load the bases. Aikawa was next and he worked the count full before taking a walk - oshidashi 1-1 scores tied with bases loaded and no outs. Here Swallows lost the script. Firstly Ishikawa hit to Toritani who naturally threw out the runner going for home. Ishikawa was safe on first. Then Kawashima swung at his first pitch and flew out to right too close for a sacrifice. It's nice to see other teams make the same mistake. Finally, Fukuchi grounded out to short to end the innings and Tigers had escaped a serious situation very lightly. Tigers third saw Akahoshi walk but nothing came of this. Aoki led off Swallow's third with a hit and stayed on first as the next three batters tumbled easily.

Ishikawa who had really only made one mistake so far (Arai's home run) then proceeded to make several in Tigers fourth. He walked Kanemoto who stole second. He then dead balled Arai to set up runners on first and second. Brazell hit a two base into the left corner and Kanemoto was home 2-1 Tigers runners on second and third. Sakurai grounded out but Yano walked to load the bases. The next batter was Andoh who did try to engineer something but struck out. Finally Akahoshi hit his first pitch straight to third for the final out. In Swallows fourth Andoh unaccountably allowed a hit to Ishikawa but then retired Kawashima again to end the innings. Tigers fifth was quiet. Swallows fifth was another wasted opportunity for the Swallows. With one out Aoki had a two base hit. The next two batters then failed to convert him Brazell taking a catch off Hatakeyama in foul ground and Guiel flying out to Akahoshi to end the innings. With two out in Tigers sixth Sakurai hit Ishikawa powerfully to left for another home run 3-1 Tigers. Yano then tried to repeat the feat but flew out. Aikawa picked up his second walk of the night in Swallows sixth but nothing came of this and the innings was over.

Lee took over for Tigers seventh and initially had problems giving up a lead off hit to Asai (pinch hitter). Akahoshi then hit and Hirano bunted the runners to second and third. Toritani then struck out looking, completely fooled by Lee's pitch and Kanemoto as is his wont nowadays was out, flying out to second. Swallows seventh was pitched by Egusa who was also shakey. Kawashima led off with a hit. A wild pitch then took him to second. Fukuchi grounded out to Toritani who went for Kawashima. This allowed Fukuchi to reach first safely and another wild pitch took him to second. Aoki flew out to left and then Hatakeyama flew out to right and once again Tigers had escaped. Hagiwara took Tigers eighth and like Ishikawa he left a pitch in the zone. This was Brazell's first pitch - a 149 kmh straightball which was crushed into the right stand for a solo home run 4-1 Tigers. He then woke up and struck out Sakurai and Yano to end the innings but Tigers lead was now comfortable. Atchison followed Egusa for Tigers eighth and proceeded to motor through the Swallows line up in 12 pitches. The final pitcher for the Swallows was Oshimoto. He was successful retiring the batters in order as well. Of course, Mayumi brought on Fujikawa for the Swallows ninth. The first two batters fell to strike outs and then Kawashima grounded out to end the innings. Tigers victoy.

This was a nice victory for the Tigers. They hadn't really done well with runners on but had made enough of the Swallows weak pitches with the long ball. Once again Brazell shone but Tigers fielding wasn't so strong this game. However, Swallows weren't able to take advantage of this or of poor calling and pitching particularly in the bottom of the second. Fujikawa picked up his 15th save and looked a little more like his old form. However, he has lost velocity and needs to adapt to this. Andoh's nightmare run of losses ended but this was not his most dominating performance and in fact his six innings took 116 pitches - rather a lot and part of this must be laid on Yano who once again wasn't dominating. Still Tigers had held together and had done well.