July 9th Kubo v Miura - 'The Miracle Run'

Neither starter was at his best in this game and both Miura and Kubo gave up too many runs. However, the game turned on some wonderful base running by the Tigers rookies Uemoto and Yamato. This game put the Tigers 1.5 games behind the Giants and showed an encouraging drive. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
BayStars  0 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 12 1
Tigers    2 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 X 6 11 0

Starting lineups

BayStars
1. Shimozono (Centre)
2. Ishikawa (Short)
3. Uchikawa (Right)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Sledge (Left)
6. Harper (First)
7. Hashimoto (Catcher)
8. Fujita (Second)
9. Miura (PItcher)

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

Kubo started the game by striking out Shimozono looking but the first innings could be said to be his high point. Ishikawa did walk, it is true but Uchikawa hit into a double play. Miura wasn't on form either and started by walking Toritani. Hirano bunted him to second and then Murton hit a long two base which just fell short of a home run. Toritani was safely home 1-0 Tigers, runner on second. Arai followed with another two base to right centre which brought Murton home 2-0 Tigers, runner on second and a very good start for the Tigers. However, Miura managed to limit the damage to two runs getting Brazell to ground out to third and Johjima to fly out. Kubo started to deteriorate in BayStars second. With Murata out he gave up a two base hit to Sledge. This brought up Harper who kind of lifted a lower pitch in the bottom of the zone over the right field fence for a two run home run 2-2 scores tied. A shot of considerable power. Hashimoto hit to first and was able to beat the field to the sack. The final batter was Miura who struck out swinging with the runner still on first to end the innings. Miura dead balled Asai in Tigers second and he was bunted to second by Kubo. However, Toritani grounded out to second to end the innings. BayStars third started with Shimozono striking out. Ishikawa hit to left as did Uchikawa as Kubo's placement drifted. Murata struck out but then Sledge swung and deflected the ball to right with enough to get over the fence for a three run home run 5-2 BayStars. Kubo continued to drift and first Harper and then Hashimoto hit to left to set up runners on first and second. This time the batter was Fujita who grounded out to second and end the innings with a comfortable BayStars lead. Ordinarily, one would expect Miura to hold this kind of lead comfortably but he is a fading pitcher and demonstrated this in Tigers third. Hirano led off with a hit to right. Murton followed up with another two base which put runners on second and third. Arai was next and drove Miura nicely into centre field for a timely hit 5-4 BayStars, runner on first. Brazell grounded out which moved Arai to second and Johjima flew out to third. Lin took advantage of a wild pitch on his third strike to reach first and Arai moved round to third. Miura really wasn't pitching well. However, he was able to strike out Asai swinging and preserve a one run lead.

Miura departed after Tigers third and was pinch hit for by Yoshimura in BayStars fourth. Kubo continued to pitch but this was really taking a risk and it was more due to BayStars inadequacies that Tigers didn't give up more runs. He struck out Yoshimura and one out later gave up a hit to Ishikawa but Uchikawa couldn't bring the runner round and the innings ended tamely. Kaga replaced Miura and did well retiring the batters 1-2-3 in Tigers fourth. The level of risk that Mayumi was taking became a bit clearer in BayStars fifth. Kubo managed the first two outs but then dead balled Harper. Hashimoto hit to set up runners on first and second but Fujita grounded out to Kubo to end the innings. Kaga also had trouble in Tigers fifth. Murton led off with a two base hit, his third of the game. Arai grounded out to third and then Brazell flew out but Johjima managed a short hit which put runners on the corners. Lin followed but could only manage to ground out to second to end the innings. BayStars engineered a similar situation in their sixth with hits from Shimozono and Uchikawa to also put runners on the corners with two outs. This time Murata grounded out to short and Kubo had escaped. Tigers sixth was quiet as Kaga retired the batters in order.

Finally, Mayumi bowed to the inevitable in BayStars seventh and replaced Kubo who was lucky to have given up only five runs. The replacement pitcher was Fujihara who did well this innings retiring the three batters he faced in order. Tigers seventh saw Hirano lead off with a hit but Murton grounded out to second for the force out. Arai then hit back at Kaga for a double play to end the innings. Kaga had pitched longer than Miura and it must be said with considerably more ability. He had kept BayStars lead intact very well. Nishimura pitched the BayStars eighth and got the first two outs but then walked Shimozono. This wasn't a problem as Ishikawa grounded out to first to end the innings. Katoh started Tigers eighth and ran into trouble as Brazell took a swing and managed a two base hit to left. This certainly wasn't where he intended it and furthermore it just missed being a home run. Exit Katoh to be replaced by Sanada and Brazell to be pinch run for by Yamato. Johjima grounded out to first which brought Yamato round to third. It was time for Kanemoto's pinch hit appearance and he bounced a hit infield. Harper ran in and latched onto it throwing to home to catch Yamato coming in. However, Hashimoto hadn't covered enough of the plate and wasn't able to turn enough to tag in time. Yamato was safe 5-5 scores tied. Kanemoto was safe on first and was pinch run for by Uemoto. With Asai at the plate Mayumi signaled the steal and Uemoto set off. BayStars were alert to this and Hashimoto fired off the throw which was right of the plate and taken cleanly by Fujita. As Uemoto slid in he applied the tag but Uemoto knocked the ball from his glove and the ball rolled into centre field with Ishikawa after it. Uemoto was up on his feet and round the bases in a flash making home 6-5 Tigers and a surprising run. Asai grounded out but Sekimoto (pinch hitter) and Toritani both hit. Hirano though struck out to end the quite remarkable innings. Tigers had seized the lead back in a totally unexpected way. BayStars ninth was pitched by Kyuji Fujikawa. He retired the BayStars clean up one after the other but not without some work as the batters refused to give in. Tigers victory.

A perfect illustration of never giving up and seizing the moment to set up an unlikely victory. The winning pitcher was Nishimura and Kyuji picked up his 16th save. The games heroes were Yamato and Uemoto the latter being unusual as it is quite rare for a pinch runner to pick up a hero interview. No doubt Obana had words with his team - his face was certainly a picture during the Tigers eighth. Luck had played its part but sometimes a team needs to be lucky.