May 2nd Nohmi v Utsumi - Giants swept

Tigers winning streak is now 5 games and they are joint first with the Giants. This was a fantastic game but Tigers were made to work quite hard. Both Nishimura and Kubota would have trouble with the batters but Kubota showed very good persistence when after a poor seventh produced a very fine eighth. Nohmi's injury to his right instep is not thought to be serious and will require only a few days recovery.

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Giants  0 0 0 1 0 4 2 0 0 7  8 2
Tigers  0 0 0 2 4 0 1 1 X 8 15 3

Starting lineups

Giants
1. Sakamoto (Short)
2. Wakiya (Second)
3. Ogasawara (Third)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Abe (Catcher)
6. Tani (Right)
7. Takahashi (First)
8. Chono (Centre)
9. Utsumi (Pitcher)

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

Utsumi hasn't won yet this season and Nohmi has won three games so far. The latter wouldn't figure in the victory unfortunately due to his injury. He started well retiring the first three Giants he faced. Utsumi would struggle through Tigers first. Murton hit, continuing his excellent form as leadoff batter. Hirano bunted him to second and then Toritani walked. Arai struck out but Johjima hit to right. Murton tried for home but was tagged out at the plate to end the innings - still it ws nice to see him trying to score. In Giants second, Tani reached first on a Toritani error (the error count from both sides was quite high) but the next batter Takahashi popped one up to Toritani allowing the latter to immediately redeem himself. Tigers second saw the batters fall in order and then Nohmi returned the complement in Giants third. He was pitching well and looked in control. With two out in Tigers third, Hirano hit but was thrown out trying to steal second. So far no one had been able to gain any advantage.

Things changed in the Giants fourth. Once again an error allowed a runner on base, this time Wakiya who was able to make second on Arai's error (he used to be quite error prone with Carp as well). Ramirez grounded out moving Wakiya to third but then Abe hit to left, 1-0 Giants, runner on first with two out. Tani grounded out to end the innings. Utsumi then demonstrated no ability to hold the lead. Toritani hit to left. This was followed by an Arai ht to centre. Johjima also hit to centre to load the bases with no out. You felt that Toritani should have tried for home but Tigers were still holding the whip hand. Brazell grounded out to second but he brought Toritani home 1-1 scores tied, runners on first and third. The next batter Sakurai grounded out as well but brought home Arai 2-1 Tigers runner on first. Finally, Kanoh grounded out to end the innings which had shown the Tigers ability to counter-attack. Takahashi led off Giants fifth with a hit. Chonos struck out and then Utsumi hit straight to Nohmi. He was quick with the throw which caught Takahashi off base for the third out - a nice piece of work. Tigers fifth started with Nohmi grounding out to Sakamoto who messed up continuing his error prone performances. Murton grounded out to first moving Nohmi round to second. Hirano was next to ground out but second's throw was poor and Tigers had a great chance to score. The third base coach waved Nohmi round but he pulled up and returned to third base. It was rounding third base that he hurt his instep. He was pinch run for by Katsuragi. Toritani was next and he punched one into right for a timely hit 3-1 Tigers, runners on first and second. This was the end of Utsumi who was begining to struggle. Kubo took the mound of the Giants and faced Arai. Arai struck out which brought up Johjima. With three balls and one strike Johjima swung and put his fifth pitch over the fence just near the foul pole - three run home run 6-1 Tigers. Brazell struck out but Tigers looked out of sight. As Nohmi was injured Mayumi sent Nishimura to the mound. He had pitched superbly the night before but would struggle this innings. Sometimes this happens - a pitcher cannot manage to be consistent. With one out Wakiya hit to centre. Murton managed to get his glove on the ball but dropped it. It was a difficult take but one can't help feeling that Murton should have held it. Be that as it may, Wakiya made third. Ogasawara lined out straight to Arai which kept the runner locked oh third. Ramirez was next and he drove the ball between third and short into left for a timely hit 6-2 Tigers runner on first. However, nothing to worry about. Nishmura though couldn't maintain his placement and his pitching started to drift. Abe turned one to left putting it over the fence for a two run home run 6-4 Tigers. Next up was Tani and once again Nishimura drifted and once again the batter punished him for it this time a solo home run 6-5 Tigers and the Giants were mounting an unlikely comeback. Mayumi pulled Nishimura at this point and brought on Kawasaki for the final out. He struck out to end the innings. Kubo ran into problems in Tigers sixth. He gave up a one out hit to Kanoh. Katsuragi (replacement first) hit to centre and Tigers had runners on first and second. The next batter was Murton who hit to centre to load the bases. Once again you felt that maybe the runner should have tried for home. Kubo left the mound to be replaced by Yamaguchi. He faced Hirano who hit straight into a double play and the Giants had escaped a serious situation. At this point you wondered if the game had turned in their favour.

It looked even more that way when Kubota took the mound for the Giants seventh. He didn't start well giving up a three base hit to Chono who is having a great time in his rookie year. Kubota then released a wild pitch which brought Chono home 6-6 scores tied. Lee (replacement first) walked as Kubota struggled with his control and then Sakamoto hit straight to Kubota. Kubota turned and threw to Toritani to get the runner going for second but Toritani missed the take and Lee made third with Sakamoto on first. A bit of a disaster. Wakiya grounded out but then Kubota let fly another wild pitch and the runner on third was home 7-6 Giants, runner on third (Sakamoto having moved round). Kubota had managed to throw the Giants into the lead. This finally woke Kubota up and he got Ogasawara to ground out to short and then struck out Ramirez to end the innings. Giants though had the lead. They needed to hold it and Yamaguchi proved incapable of doing so. With Toritani out, Arai was next and he hammered a huge solo home run into the left gaia 7-7 scores tied. Another out later Shunsuke Fujikawa (replacement left) hit a three base to left centre but this time Sakurai struck out to end the innings. Kubota returned for Giants eighth and one wondered about this decision. It certainly showed a high degree of trust in the pitcher. Kubota repayed the trust. He made sure he retired the batters in order giving Tigers an opening again. This was a vital innings - Giants momentum had been stopped. Yamaguchi pitched Tigers eighth as well and found himself in the same situation as the seventh. One out and a batter ready to hit. This time it was Sekimoto (pinch hitter and replacement first) who drove the ball into the left gaia for a solo home run 8-7 Tigers. Murton hit and was bunted to second by Hirano but then Kanemoto (pinch hitter) and Toritani did nothing. Of course the Giants ninth was pitched by Fujikawa who started poorly walking Chono. Lee bunted him to second. Next Sakamoto hit to left but Giants didn't risk the run and the runners stopped on second and third. Still Fujikawa was in a difficult situation yet again. He responded superbly striking out Wakiya with a pitch that was way too high. Hara was seen to look up to the heavens in disbelief. Ogasawara was next and he was lured into swinging and striking out. Superb pitching by Fujikawa and Tigers victory.

This had been a superb game, tight and hard fought until the end. Both Kubota and Fujikawa had shown their worth - both getting into difficult situations and then lifting their pitching to get out of them. Kubota's eighth stopped the Giants momentum and Fujikawa showed ice cool nerves to get out of a difficult situation and preserve the victory. Fujikawa picked up his eighth save but one should say that the series victory had been a team effort with everyone performing at some stage. For once as well Mayumi's management had been flawless and one hopes that he will be able to build on this.