August 15th Shimoyanagi v Barnette - A great game

Finally, we saw Kanemoto actually bat on the level his position in the order demanded. He put in a fine performance and was also effective in the field taking a fine run saving catch. Both starters were poor in the extreme and this makes the third poor start in a row for Shimoyanagi. This is worrying as at the moment he is unable to go even five innings safely. Andoh and Nishimura were also ineffective and the bullpen is under considerable strain. It was only when he got to Kubota that Mayumi could relax but even then had to use Kubota for two innings. Watanabe would have been useful here but oops, he's in ni-gun for his punishment. The lead changed hand several times with Tigers batting eventually proving the stronger. However, if either Fujikawa or Kubota go Tigers really will be in trouble. Work needs to be done with the bullpen to strengthen it as a matter of urgency. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Swallows  0 1 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 6 13 2
Tigers    0 2 3 0 0 0 0 4 X 9 11 0

Starting lineups

Swallows
1. Aoki (Centre)
2. Tanaka (Second)
3. Iihara (Right)
4. Whitesell (First)
5. Hatakeyama (Left)
6. Aikawa (Catcher)
7. Miyamoto (Third)
8. Kawabata (Short)
9. Barnette (PItcher)

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

Shimoyanagi's first innings wasn't exactly inspiring. Aoki grounded out to second but then Tanaka hit. Another out followed before Shimoyanagi faced Whitesell. This he messed up but not to an enormous degree. A wild pitch took Tanaka to second and then Whitesell walked. Hatakeyama snatched at his second pitch and flew out to end the innings - Brazell taking the catch. Tigers first saw the batters fall 1-2-3 but somehow you weren't worried as this was Barnette who has a tendency to get hit around by Tigers batters. Swallows second confirmed the doubts about Shimoyanagi. He left a hittable pitch for Aikawa to put into the left stand for a solo home run 1-0 Swallows. Still only one run especially as the next three batters fell in order. Tigers batters then proceeded to confirm Barnette's unreliability. Arai took a ball and then hit his second pitch high into the left stand for a solo home run 1-1 scores tied. Brazell struck out which brought up Kanemoto. He hit one high into the ceiling which then bounced into the right outfield. There was some confusion as to what had happened to the ball and the umpires gathered for a long conference about this. Replays didn't seem to be available - NHK didn't show any but the location of the ball was a topic of much discussion on both benches. Certainly, this would have never happened in an open stadium. Eventually a decision was made - that the ball had gone foul. This brought Mayumi onto the field and another long discussion followed with the eventual result that the decision of a foul ball stood. Kanemoto returned to the plate and got hold of a low pitch depositing it in the Tigers gaia for a solo home run 2-1 Tigers. Johjima flew out to second but Lin hit. However, the final batter was Shimoyanagi who struck out to end the innings. Things didn't look good in the Swallows third when Aoki led off with a nice two base hit. Tanaka walked and then Iihara grounded out to third taking the runners to second and third. With Whitesell next, Shimoyanagi was in a bit of a pickle. He responded well and produced his best pitching of the game. Whitesell struck out to a low pitch which curved away from him and then Hatakeyama was lured into swinging at a higher pitch to get the necessary two outs. It would be nice if Shimoyanagi could pitch like this all the time but he had done well to get out of the situation. Barnette had no such escape and facing Murton gave up a lead off solo home run 3-1 Tigers. Hirano then hit beautifully to right centre and turned the run into a three base. This brought a mound conference but there was no saving Barnette. He walked Toritani to set up runners on first and third. Brazell hit over the infield bringing home Hirano 4-1 Tigers, runners on first and third. Kanemoto followed driving a loose pitch into centre and bringing in another run 5-1 Tigers, runners on first and second. Johjima flew out which moved Brazell to third but then Lin flew out to short to end the innings. Tigers had a comfortable and commanding lead.

Shimoyanagi started Swallows fourth by striking out Aikawa and then everything went pear shaped. Miyamoto hit a two base - fair enough, there was one out and nothing to worry about - we had Kawabata and Barnette (or a pinch hitter next). Shimoyanagi's next pitch was awful and Kawabata hit a two base nicely to left centre 5-2 Tigers, runner on second. Then D'Antona (the pinch hitter) blasted his first pitch into right centre for another two base hit 5-3 Tigers, runner on centre. Kubo hurriedly came out to have a discussion with Shimoyanagi. The upshot of this was that Aoki grounded out to short moving D'Antona round to third and then Tanaka also grounded out to short to end the innings. Shimoyanagi had escaped with a lead but Tigers had been served warning that they couldn't coast to victory. Obana had heeded his own warning by bringing on D'Antona to pinch hit for Barnette. The replacement pitcher for Tigers fourth was Yamagishi. He pitched well stabilising things for the Swallows and retiring the batters in order. Mayumi didn't heed the warning signs and brought Shimoyanagi back for Swallows fifth. This was a disaster waiting to happen. Iihara hit to left and then Whitesell did the same to set up runners on first and third with no outs. This was enough and Shimoyanagi left the mound - he should have never pitched into the fifth at all as the signs were there in the fourth. Andoh replaced him and failed. Firstly Yamagishi (inserted at five) bunted moving Whitesell to second. An intelligent move by the Swallows. Then Aikawa dug a low pitch out and put it comfortably over Toritani's jump for a hit to left - both runners home 5-5 scores tied, runner on first. The lead had gone. Miyamoto struck out but Aikawa had made second. Finally, Kawabata hit deep to left but Kanemoto took it comfortably to end the innings. Once again Yamagishi was able to stymie the Tigers batting in the fifth making sure that the batters did not get on base. For Swallows sixth, Nishimura faced D'Antona - his pitching was unintelligent. The second to last pitch was a fast straightball which D'Antona fouled off. The last pitch was exactly the same with the result that D'Antona slammed it into the stand for a solo home run 6-5 Swallows. The game had turned around. Nishimura then staggered through the rest of the innings. Aoki grounded out but both Tanaka and Iihara hit - Iihara having a bit of luck with the bounce which allowed him to outrun Arai's throw to first. Whitesell grounded out to first which moved Tanaka to third. Yuichi was next and he hit a deep fly to left. Kanemoto took it going backwards and behind him holding onto the ball as he hit the wall. A game saving catch because if he had missed it Swallows would have scored. Masabuchi pitched Tigers sixth and even though he walked Lin he was effective and kept Lin from going beyond first.

Swallows seventh and Kubota. He wasn't pitching at full speed and in fact never got up to 150 kph but in the high 140s was a bit of a handfull for the batters. He got the three batters to fly out and the innings was scoreless. Masabuchi walked Hirano in the second with Murton out. Toritani struck out and as he did so HIrano tried to steal second but was thrown out to end the innings. Aikawa was having a good game. Kubota pitched the Swallows eighth and started well but with two out walked Tanaka. Next was Iihara who hit straight to short for the final out. Kubota had kept the Swallows off the scoreboard for two innings - a vital contribution. For Tigers eighth the pitcher was Matsuoka who has been pitching a lot of late and according to Swallows fans (see Tsubamegun) is tired. He certainly looked unhappy on the mound. Arai started with a very nice two base hit to right. Next was Brazell who popped one up to short. This was straightforward but Kawabata dropped it and Brazell was safe on first. A costly error. Kanemoto followed and he drove one into right past the despairing dive of first. Arai rounded the bases and slid home 6-6 scores tied with Kanemoto on first and Kanoh (pinch running for Brazell) on third. Tigers were in with a big chance and here would have been a good time for Obana to replace Matsuoka. Instead he kept the pitcher in. This was a big mistake. Johjima swung to left for a two base hit bringing home Kanoh 7-6 Tigers, runners on second and third with no outs. Things looked set for a big innings. Lin though flew out to centre but too near for Shunsuke Fujikawa (pinch running for Kanemoto) to try for home. Then Sekimoto (pinch hitter) grounded out to short. Kawabata threw to home and Aikawa blocked the plate well and tagged out Fujikawa. Another chance gone with runners on first and second. Murton was next and while he was batting Sekimoto stole second. Murton then drove nicely along the right baseline bringing both runners home 9-6 Tigers, runner on second. Finally, Obana reacted replacing Matsuoka with Watanabe. He faced Hirano who hit straight to Kawabata who let the ball through his glove for his second error of the innings. Murton was on third and Hirano safe on first. Hirano then stole second - this time was successful but Toritani flew out to left to end the innings, Fukuuchi taking a nice running catch. Now Tigers could relax a bit - one innings to go with Kyuji Fujikawa to come. Kyuji started the Swallows ninth by striking out Whitesell looking. Then Fukuuchi (replacement left) hit his first pitch to left - runner on first. Aikawa hit straight to Toritani for the out but Fukuuchi was able to make second. Finally, Miyamoto took a ball and then tried to drive into right field but Hirano took the liner to end the game. Tigers victory.

A very good victory for Tigers to win. They had needed to restore some of their confidence and had done so in nice style. Pitching remains a concern - one can't always expect the opposition to use a tired pitcher and the bullpen needs to be strengthened. It was really Tigers elite pitchers who had engineered the chance of victory and Mayumi needs to be aware of this and develop his relief more. The victory went to Kubota and the save to Kyuji (No. 21).