April 11th Shimoyanagi v Muranaka - D'Antona's terrible day

Tigers needed to win this game to re-establish their credibility and their possible challenge. In front of a packed crowd they did just that despite a sub-standard performance from Shimoyanagi. He showed some good stuff but frequently lapsed into poor pitching. However, without some self-generated troubles for the Swallows the game would have been much closer. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Swallows
1. Iihara (Left)
2. Tanaka (Second)
3. Aoki (Centre)
4. D'Antona (First)
5. Guiel (Right)
6. Miyamoto (Third)
7. Fujimoto (Short)
8. Kinugawa (Catcher)
9. Muranaka (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. Shimoyanagi (Pitcher)

The Swallows first started with an Iihara lead off hit. Tanaka bunted him to second but that was as far as the former got, D'Antona striking out to end the innings. Murton then led off the Tigers first with a hit. Sekimoto bunted him to second but Toritani flew out deep to left. Kanemoto was next and put his third pitch along the third baseline where Iihara jumped but failed to make the catch. Murton was home but Kanemoto later said that looking at the Swallows players reactions he realised that he had hit a home run. However, it needed to be ruled and the umpire had given a two base hit. Kanemoto then signalled Mayumi to query the decision, no the umpire said a two base hit. Kanemoto didn't give up - try the video replay (he wanted that home run because it would take him past Nagashima). Mayumi went back to the umpire and asked about the video replay. He was reluctant to agree but did consult his colleagues. Mayumi asked again and the umpires said yes they would consult the video. Whilst this had been happening the TV had been showing the hit again and it had hit the netting of the foul pole - a home run. The video was consulted and the ruling was made - 2 run home run 2-0 Tigers. Kanemoto had done well and so had Mayumi - the umpires were reluctant but they had used the video and ruled correctly in the end, Kanemoto was delighted. Arai then hit a two base but Johjima failed to convert. Shimoyanagi then proceeded to throw away the lead. Firstly, he dead balled Guiel. Then Miyamoto who would have a fantastic game hit, runners on first and second. Fujimoto bunted them to second and third. This brought up Kinugawa who hit along the left baseline where, once again Arai was not covering his base and both runners were home 2-2 scores tied, runner on second. Some of Shimoyanagi's pitching was truely abysmal. Muranaka then bunted and Johjima threw to Arai who took the ball in foul ground allowing runners on first and third. It could have been a costly error especially as Shimoyanagi then dead balled Iihara to load the bases with only one out. Kubo approached the mound and spoke with Shimoyanagi - this is what we want. The pitch was perfect and the double play a formality and the Tigers had escaped. Tigers second was quiet with the batters falling in order. Swallows third was a bit more exciting. D'Antona swung too early and both Arai and Toritani came in to take the ball but it ended up falling into Shimoyanagi's glove. He then walked Guiel and gave up a hit to Miyamoto to set up runners on first and second. Fujimoto though hit straight to Brazell and that innings finished safely. Murton led off Tigers third with a hit. Sekimoto was supposed to bunt but was resistant to the instruction. He bunted then tried to hit and Mayumi had to remind him to try and bunt. Eventually he hit and brought out a great stop from Miyamoto who threw to second to get Murton out. Sekimoto beat the double play and was safe on first but then got nowhere as the next two batters failed to do anything.

Shimoyanagi continued to pitch poorly in Swallows fourth. With one out he gave up a hit to Muranaka. This was actually a nice swing and contact - nothing lucky about it at all. Then Iihara hit to left to set up runners on first and second. Tanaka also hit to left, putting the ball over Arai for an RBI 3-2 Swallows, runners on first and second. This seemed to wake Shimoyanagi up and he struck out Aoki with a superb pitch. D'Antona flew out to end the innings but Swallows had the lead. They needed to hold it and Muranaka faced Arai who is heating up. He hit to left - a single. Johjima did the same and Tigers had runners on first and second. What would Brazell do? He rapidly worked the strike count full and then for his sixth pitch got a slider in the right place. Brazell was on it in an instant and it was a home run the moment it left the bat 5-3 Tigers. Sakurai who was ineffective this game struck out and Shimoyanagi himself grounded out. Finally Murton flew out to end the innings but it had been a most productive innings for the Tigers. However, Shimoyanagi needed to hold the lead. He started well, striking out Guiel looking - a magnificent pitch shaving the inside of the zone. Miyamoto hit but Fujimoto flew out. Kinugawa walked and the question was what would Mayumi do? Shimoyanagi was tiring and had thrown 92 pitches. If he was withdrawn he wouldn't qualify for the victory. If he was left in he might blow the lead. Mayumi decided to leave him in to face Hatakeyama (pinch hitter for Muranaka). This decision worked, Hatakeyama flew out to Sakurai to end the innings. Tigers fifth was pitched by Masebuchi who actually pitched very well. In the fifth he retired the batters in order. For Swallows sixth Mayumi decided not to risk Shimoyanagi and sent Nishimura to the mound. Aoki reached first on a short hit but Nishimura struck out D'Antona to end the innings. Tigers sixth started with Arai's third hit of the day but Johjima flew out to the superlative Miyamoto in foul ground. Brazell was then lured into a double play to end the innings.

Nishimura returned for Swallows seventh and started well striking out Guiel with a magnificent pitch. Miyamoto grounded out and then Fujimoto hit. The didn't lead to anything as Kinugawa flew out into the glove of Kanemoto. Masebuchi returned for the Tigers seventh and did well for two outs. He then faced Murton who hit straight at D'Antona at first. The ball merrily went between D'Antona's legs into right and Murton was safe on first. Next batter was Hirano (replacement second) who swung and then decided to run. Kinugawa threw to first but D'Antona dropped it for his second error in as many batters. Of course this was bound to affect Masebuchi who walked Toritani to load the bases. Still only one out to get and Kanemoto next. Masebuchi's first pitch was a sinker which Kanemoto promptly hit into right field driving in two runners 7-3 Tigers, runners on first and third. Arai flew out to third but Tigers now had a comfortable lead. Mayumi was taking no chances though. Swallows eighth was pitched by Kubota. He was secure and retired the batters in order. Tigers eighth was pitched by Takagi who almost gave up a home run to Brazell. The first pitch he received was walloped towards left and literally just drifted foul. Brazell then hit to right but Katsuragi (pinch hitter) hit into a double play. So to Swallows ninth. This was a none save situation but Mayumi wasn't taking any chances and Fujikawa took the mound. He faced Aoki who very luckily hit, bouncing the ball high and making first. This seemed to motivate Fujikawa who blew D'Antona away (a batter with 18 RBIs already) in three pitches. D'Antona couldn't handle a 153 kmh, 149 kmh and 154 kmh series of straightballs and struck out looking. Guiel was next and got a 151 kmh straight, a 118 kmh curve and another 151 kmh straight at which he took a swing and missed. Two out and Aoki stranded on first. The final batter was Miyamoto who hit his second pitch straight to Toritani. Ground out and end of game. Tigers victory.

This victory was better than the night before. Shimoyanagi who picked up the win had pitched poorly but the Tigers had held on and engineered the victory. Both Kubota and Fujikawa had been superb with the latter being awesome in his destruction of D'Antona and Guiel. Tigers now have something to build on for the next series at Tokyo Dome where they need to take two of the games to be credible challengers.