October 8th Andoh v Tateyama - Andoh fails again

The questionable decision to field Andoh as the starting pitcher for this vital game did not yield good results. One would have thought that the management would have actually looked at his performance and judged him on that basis. A consistent inability to win should have excluded him from consideration and another pitcher chosen. However, one must be honest and say that the result would have probably been the same given how Tateyama pitched. He cast aside his recent poor form and was excellent on the night shutting out the Tigers. Swallows are now third by 0.5 games and Tigers need to win tonight to keep their Climax Series hopes alive. If they pull this off (and it's actually quite possible) then Swallows have to win their remaining two games to overhaul them. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Swallows
1. Fukuchi (Left)
2. Kajimoto (Second)
3. Miyamoto (Third)
4. Aoki (Centre)
5. Guiel (Right)
6. Yuichi (First)
7. Kawamoto (Catcher)
8. Onizaki (Short)
9. Tateyama (Pitcher)

Tigers first was quiet and was an indication of how the game would go for them. Andoh's first was also a fair indication of his deterioration though he wasn't helped by some poor fielding. Tigers fieldiing in this game wasn't up to standard and really attention needs to be paid to this aspect of the game in the close season. Under Mayumi it has got too slack and needs to be tightened. up. With one out Kajimoto grounded out to Brazell who messed up and the runner was safe. Miyamoto flew out but Kajimoto stole second anyway. Aoki hit to short which Toritani fielded and prevented the run. Guiel walked and then Yuichi grounded out to end the innings. Not an encouraging start by Andoh and even Kanoh would struggle to keep him on track. Tateyama dead balled Arai in Tigers second but then Brazell immediately hit into a double play to end the innings. Onizaki hit in Swallows second and was bunted to first by Tateyama but then Yuichi grounded out to end that innings. Tigers third saw Kanoh hit to centre and he was bunted to second by Andoh. Here Hirano failed and the innings was scoreless. Andoh's third was the killer for Tigers. In Tigers Swallow contests the team that scores first wins and Swallows would do so. With one out Miyamoto hit a two base to right. Then Aoki hit straight to Arai who messed up the throw. This allowed Miyamoto to score 1-0 Swallows, runner on third. Guiel grounded out ro first and Aoki tried for home only to be thrown out at the plate. Guiel was safe on first. Yuichi was next and he worked the count full before hitting to right. Guiel motored home 2-0 Swallows but Yuichi tried to go to far and was thrown out. Poor base running by the Swallows but the runs were on the board and Tigers were in trouble.

An immediate response was expected and it came with a Toritani two base hit. Toritani made third on Kanemoto's ground out but the Arai also grounded out and the innings was over. Andoh's fourth was surprisingly effective - he retired the batters in order. In Tigers fifth Sakurai hit to right and Mayumi made the decision to use a pinch hitter, Hiyama, in place of Andoh. The need for runs was vital and Andoh hadn't been pitching well. Hiyama struck out to end the innings and Mayumi later said he thought that the batters had tried to do too much at the plate and not relaxed. Kubo took Swallows fifth and retired the batters in order. Tigers sixth was also quiet with the batters going down in order. Kubo returned for the Swallows sixth and here they had a very fortunate piece of luck. Aoki led off the innings with a hit and Kubo then retired the next two batters, striking them out. Kawamoto was next and he took a swing at his first pitch and connected amazingly for a home run 4-0 Swallows. Like Onizaki's hit at Koshien this was a fluke and showed it just wasn't Tigers night. Interestingly, Onizaki was the next batter and he grounded out to end the innings.

Tigers seventh started with Kanemoto flying out in foul ground but Arai hit a two base to left. Brazell flew out to right and Arai sprinted to third. Sakurai struck out swinging to end the innings. Kanemura pitched Swallows seventh and after striking out Tateyama gave up a hit to Fukuchi. He stole second and made third on Kajimoto's infield bounce hit. Miyamoto took a swing at his first pitch and grounded out to short but this allowed Fukuchi to scramble home 5-0 Swallows, runner on second (remember Kajimoto?). This was slightly unlucky for the Tigers again but the Swallows were showing drive and aggression and reaping the rewards. Aoki was deliberately walked and then Guiel flew out to end the innings. Tateyama retired the Tigers batters in order in the eighth. Tsutsui pitched Swallows eighth and retired the batters in order but this was too little too late. The only question now was would Tateyama get his complete game shutout. He returned for the ninth and found it all very easy, he gave up a two out hit to Kanemoto but Arai grounded out. End of innings and Swallows victory.

A very big victory for the Swallows who will pitch Ishikawa in their final game against the Tigers. Tigers pitcher will be Iwata and one hopes he is on form. Tigers batting never mastered Tateyama who was at his best but the error count in such an important game was too much. Using Andoh was also a mistake and for this Mayumi needs to shoulder the blame. This would have been a good game for Uezono to pitch as he relishes the big challenges. Tigers are not out of it yet but must wn tonight to have any chance of making the Climax Series.