April 8th Kojima v Utsumi - Tigers crushed

Once again Tigers were outplayed over a series. This team is currently heading for a good fourth position and has problems with the lineup, batting, pitching, fielding, coaching and catching. Unfortunately Egusa is not performing - he faded towards the end of last season and hasn't started well. At the moment he's in the side just because he's a left hander not because he's pitching well. One has to hope that Kawasaki will start well. Kojima didn't start well which is a pity because in his last start (back in 2007 I believe) he pitched very well against the Giants (the game was lost in extra time). It is sad to see a potentially fine pitcher regress. Once again Mayumi panicked - withdrawing Kojima after two innings but there were other factors in that decision. One unfortunately has to say this - Giants were better in all aspects of the game and it was only the non-Japanese players who actually gave Tigers a measure of respectability. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Giants  4 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 8 11 0
Tigers  0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 1 5 10 0

Starting lineups

Giants
1. Sakamoto (Short)
2. Matsumoto (Centre)
3. Ogasawara (First)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Kamei (First)
6. Chono (Right)
7. Abe (Catcher)
8. Edgar (Second)
9. Utsumi (Pitcher)

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

The game would start disastrously for Kojima and get worse. Sakamoto led off with a three base hit. Matsumoto then turned his first pitch to left for a timely single 1-0 Giants, runner on first. Matsumoto stole second and whilst Johjima's throwing to second has been powerful it has been to the left of the base - not the right. This means that Toritani has too far to go for the tag. Kanoh always tried to throw to the right of the base and this is something Johjima needs to do. If he can manage this he will practically eliminate stealing. Ogasawara walked and Giants had runners on first and second. Next up was Ramirez who hasn't done much this series but proceeded to redress the balance. An undistinguished pitch from Kojima was hit high into the left stand for a three run home run 4-0 Giants. Finally Kojima woke up and began to pitch like he could. Kamei struck out looking and then Chono went swinging. Kojima dead balled Abe (his second in two games) but the final batter Edgar also struck out swinging to end the innings. A great start for the Giants and a terrible one for Tigers. By contrast Tigers first was subdued with the batters falling in order. Kojima was much better in Giants second and he retired the batters in order and he looked to have settled. Utsumi, however, got the jitters in Tigers second. He dead balled Kanemoto and then walked Arai. Johjima hit to right and Kanemoto should have made home but was held up on third - the problem of poor base running reared its head again. Still bases loaded with no outs - it was a good situation. Incredibly Tigers wasted it. Utsumi did lift his game but first Brazell, then Sakurai and then Asai (pinch hitter and replacement right) all struck out swinging. Tigers batting was dismal with batters swinging wildly at pitches nowhere near the bat and this would be a problem throughout the game. It's not that the pitches were necessarily good but that the batters were terrible. Asai pinch hitting for Kojima was an attempt to get runs but one would have thought that as the latter seemed to be settling down it would be a good idea to keep him in. It was almost certain that after the first two strike outs Utsumi would get the third out and it would have given the pitcher valuable experience. Giants third saw Watanabe who pitched well and retired the cleanup in order. Sekimoto hit in Tigers third but nothing came of this.

Watanabe returned for the Giants fourth and struggled. Chono hit to left and then stole second (once again the throw from Johjima was too far to the left). Abe then hit to centre bringing the runner home, 5-0 Giants, runner on first. The next three batters failed to do anything but Tigers were reeling and Giants were in command. Things would change in the bottom though. Utsumi was poor in this innings and gave up a two base hit to Arai. Johjima hit but this time Arai was held up on third by the coach - another poor decision. Brazell hit to right and Arai was home 5-1 Giants, runners on first and second. Shunsuke Fujikawa (pinch hitter) bunted the runners round to second and third. Asai struck out which brought up Murton. He got hold of an Utsumi slider and put it into the left gaia for a three run home run 5-4 Giants. Things were suddenly close. Sekimoto struck out swinging to end the innings. For Giants fifth, Mayumi chose Egusa who has been terrible so far. This innings would be the same. Matsumoto grounded out but Egusa walked Ogasawara. Kamei hit to centre to set up runners on first and third. A lot of the Giants hits are first pitch hits which shows a confident batting side. Egusa's first pitch to Chono was terrible and the rookie hammered it into the left field gaia for a three run home run 8-5 Giants and the margin was restored. Egusa had messed it up. Abe grounded out to end the innings but the damage was done. In the Tigers fifth the batters fell 1-2-3 to Utsumi. Surprisingly Egusa returned for Tigers sixth and started with a hit to Edgar. Two outs later a Matsumoto hit set up runners on first and third but Ogasawara flew out and Tigers had had a lucky escape. Utsumi didn't return for Tigers sixth which was pitched by Kubo. He gave up a hit to Brazell but nothing came of this.

Giants seventh was pitched by Nishimura who was solid, retiring the batters in order. Tigers seventh was quiet - the batters were subdued and were easily out. Nishimura was smooth in the Giants eighth as well. In Tigers eighth Arai hit again but Johjima hit into a double play. Currently he is struggling with both his catching and the bat. Messenger took the Giants ninth and gave up a hit to Wakiya (replacement third). Lee (replacement first) flew out though. Kobayashi pitched the Tigers ninth. Tigers did need something special to win this match and weren't going to get it even though they would fight hard. Hirano (pinch hitter) hit to centre with one out. He made second on Hiyama's (pinch hitter) ground out and then Murton hit to right to drive Hirano home. This time no one tried to stop the runner 8-5 Giants, runner on first. Sekimoto was next and he grounded out to end the match. Giants victory.

Tigers had been outplayed and out-thought. In all aspects of the game the Giants had been better. Murton had had four RBIs and his hitting streak is now four games. In fact he has hit in 10 out of 11 games he has played in. Brazell contributed the other run but he needs to be moved to one of the cleanup spots or to six bumping Johjima down. Egusa needs to go down to the second team - he is not coping at all. Tigers are already in trouble and do need to tighten up in so many areas. It's early season but the signs are already there.