April 24th Nohmi v Valdez - Yamato's brace of steals

Much tighter than the previous night this game saw Tigers take the series against the Dragons. What was encouraging was the level of control and application put in by the Tigers to hold a tight game and to ensure that the Dragons could not fight back. The Dragons generated more hits than Tigers but just couldn't convert. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Dragons
1. Araki (Short)
2. Ibata (Second)
3. Morino (Third)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Koike (Right)
7. Cesar (Centre)
8.Oyama (Catcher)
9. Valdez (Pitcher)

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

Dragons first hit came in their first innings with one out. However, they were unable to convert this into a run and the runner stayed on first. Hirano hit to right in Tigers first and then made second on a wild pitch. He was joined on base by Arai who took a dead ball as Valdez struggled to establish contol of his pitching. Johjima, however, flew out to end the innings. Dragons second was quiet and the batters fell 1-2-3. Valdez' s control still hadn't settled and he gave up a solo home run to Sakurai 1-0 Tigers. The rest of Tigers second was quiet. Nohmi gave up a hit in Dragons third to Araki but struck out the other three batters he faced to preserve the lead. Valdez's third innings was much better and he retired the Tigers batters in order.

It was Nohmi's turn to run into control problems in the fourth. Morino led off with a hit to left. Blanco drilled the ball to right to set up runners on first and third. Wada lofted a pitch to right where it was taken by Sakurai. However, there was enough time for Morino to reach the home plate 1-1 scores tied, runner on first. Koike hit to left and poor fielding ensured runners on second and third. Cesar grounded out to Hirano who fired the ball to Johjima in time to tag the runner going for home, runners on first and third. Oyama grounded out to end the innings and Tigers had managed to restrict the damage to one run. Valdez dead balled Brazell in Tigers fourth but once again they were unable to make anything of it. Dragons fifth was quiet as Nohmi was back in control. Tigers fifth was much the same. Dragons pushed again in their sixth. With one out Blanco managed a two base hit. Wada hit to right to set up runers on first and third, Blanco not having the speed to make home. Koike walked to load the bases with only one out but Nohmi was up to the challenge. Cesar he struck out swinging and Oyama he got to ground out to end the danger. With Dragons threatening Tigers decided to do some pushing of their own. Hirano hit and beat the throw from short - safe on first. He was pinch run for by Yamato who promptly stole second. Toritani grounded out which moved Yamato to third and then Arai drilled one to centre 2-1 Tigers runner on first. Johjima grounded out which moved Arai to second and Ochiai decided that it was time to switch pitchers. Kobayashi took the mound and struck out Brazell for the final out of the innings.

Nohmi was replaced for Dragons seventh by Nishimura - after the sixth a wise move. He gave up a one out hit to the irrepresable Araki but Ibata then hit into a double play and the innings was rapidly over. Asao replaced Kobayashi for Tigers seventh and faced Sakurai. Sakurai led the innings off with a hit. He was bunted to second by Shunsuke Fujikawa (pinch hitter) and this brough Kanemoto (pinch hitter) to the plate. He hit to Asao who messed things up and Kanemoto was safe on first with Sakurai still on second. Murton then hit into a double play to end the innings - there being a limit to how much luck you can expect. Kubota was the pitcher for Dragons eighth as expected. He got the first two outs then walked Wada. This unsettled him slightly and he gave up a hit to Koike to set up runners on first and second. Mayumi decided that it would be wiser to bring Kyuji Fujikawa on earlier than planned. He got the final out striking out Cesar looking. The safetly first approach paid dividends. Hirai took the mound for Tigers eighth and was immediately in trouble. Yamato hit to short. With Toritani out and Arai at the plate, Yamato stole second. Arai then banged one over Cesar at centre for a two base timely hit 3-1 Tigers runner on second. Neither Johjima or Brazell could convert Arai but the score was a bit more comfortable. So comfortable in fact that Fujikawa was able to retire the batters in order in Dragons ninth. Tigers victory.

A hard fought game in which Tigers had to work for the victory. The fact that they were able to do so against opponents they have traditionally found difficult shows a new spirit developing. Mayumi is still not a particularly good manager but one feels that the team is moving on and learning. In fact it is possible to be more optimistic about their chances than at the start of the season.