April 21st Iwata v Sawamura - Maybe its time

The current Kanemoto slump is starting to be a problem for the Tigers. He is not timing the ball effectively and as his teammates begin to hit his mistiming of his swings becomes more and more obvious. Overall Tigers did waste their chances against Sawamura and should have done better especially in the first when he was nervous and not pitching well. Kanemoto was not the batter for this situation and his fly out to third was typical of his batting at the moment. Sawamura gradually settled down and by the end of the session had performed quite creditably. Kanemoto's positioning at left is also looking poor and he really needs to improve all aspects of his game. However, there is a stronger and stronger case for Lin to take over in this position. He has shown great application and ability in the games he has started in - enough to get the starting position in most other teams but with Tigers sentiment is allowed to govern. Kanemoto batting six is not good for an effective team.
As I mentioned Tigers wasted their chances but Giants didn't waste theirs and deserved this victory. I have written before about the ineptness of the Lotte management in trading Kubo and we see a similar situation with the that of the Yakult management refusing to pay Ramirez enough. The Giants jumped at the chance and Ramirez has more than justified the investment. Iwata is still not 100% and one wonders if moving him down the rotation might give him a chance to settle. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

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

The game started really well for Iwata who struck out two of the three batters in Giants first. It started badly for Sawamura who with two outs gave up consecutive centre hits to Toritani and to Arai. Then he walked Brazell which is always a difficult feat and had managed to load the bases. Kanemoto was next and whilst it is possible that Lin would have wasted the chance as well Kanemoto is not good in these situations at the moment. However, Sawamura was suffering a big attack of nerves and this should have been a great opportunity to turn the screw. Kanemoto swung too early and skied the ball to Ryal at third who took it nicely to end the innings. Chono had a hit with two outs in Giants second but nothing came of this. Tigers second saw Johjima walk and it would have been nice if Kanemoto had tried to work a walk as well. Shunsuke flew out to Sakamoto and then Iwata bunted to Johjima to second. However, it was all to no avail and the innings was over when Murton flew out. Iwata walked Katoh to start the Giants third. He was forced out by Sawamura but Sakamoto hit - runners on first and second. Wakiya flew out to right and the throw was good enough for the second out as well ending the innings. Tigers third and Hirano started with a two base hit. Toritani grounded out and Hirano moved round to third. Here was a great chance but once again Tigers blew it. Arai swung at an outside pitch which was leaving him and struck out. Brazell also swung and missed. One has to say that this was good pitching by Sawamura.

Arai then messed up in the field - he was not having a good night so far. With one out in Giants fourth Ramirez hit infield and Arai picked up and threw to first. There was no rush to this, Ramirez doesn't run so much as waddle but Arai's throw was too high. He had done this in the previous game but Brazell had managed to grab it and stay on base for the out. This time Brazell couldn't stay on base and Ramirez was safe. Luckily for Tigers the threat didn't last long with Tani hitting to Toritani for the innings ending double play. Tigers fourth was quiet with the batters falling in order. Giants fifth was also quiet as the bottom of their order failed to get to grip with Iwata. In Tigers fifth Hirano hit again with two out but Toritani struck out to end the innings. Things unraveled for Iwata in the Giants sixth. Sawamura led off with a walk - this was rather poor pitching by Iwata and it didn't get any better. Wakiya hit his first strike to left and then Ogasawara walked to load the bases. This looked dangerous - Iwata was having trouble keeping the ball down. Ramirez was next and hit smoothly into left field bringing home two runners 2-0 Giants, runners on first and second. Tani grounded out to move the runners round to second and third and Johjima decided to deliberately walk Chono to load the bases. Iwata then struck out Ryal to end the innings. The Giants could have made more of this innings but even so could be very satisfied with the lead. All Sawamura needed to do was hold it. He started poorly with Arai hitting to right. Next was Brazell who hammered a pitch deep into right centre where it landed just short of the fence. Arai took off and rounded the bases reaching home 2-1 Giants runner on second. Kanemoto of course failed once again flying out to the infield. Johjima let his bat drift too far and was adjudged to have swung at his third strike and then Shunsuke grounded out to Wakiya for the final out. Sawamura had retained the lead.

Iwata pitched Giants seventh and with two outs gave up a two base hit to Sakamoto. This didn't result in anything as Wakiya grounded out to end the innings. Tigers seventh saw Murton hammer his second pitch where Chono moved round and took it nicely right by the fence. Needless to say no one got on base. Kojima started Giants eighth and got Ogasawara to ground out. Mayumi then switched pitchers to Watanabe working on the left/right principle. This was a pointless move especially as Watanabe was not on best form. He walked Ramirez and then walked Takahashi (pinch hitter and replacement right). Runners on first and second. Chono hit his first pitch into left field were a poorly positioned Kanemoto could only chase the ball to the fence. Ramirez made home 3-1 Giants runners on second and third. Once again Johjima resorted to the deliberate walk to load the bases. He does use this tactic well. Konta (pinch hitter) flew out to short and then Tanaka grounded out to first to end the innings. Hara didn't pitch Sawamura into the eighth but went to the relief. Takagi got Toritani to ground out and then the Giants made a pitching change bringing on Kuboh. He retired the next two batters to end the innings. Watanabe continued in the Giants ninth and retired the batters in order. For Tigers ninth the closer was Romero. In the game before Tigers had successfully pressured him but this time the fight had gone out of them and the tamely surrendered. Giants victory.

Tigers had wasted their chances whilst the Giants had taken theirs. Sawamura had been lucky but had taken advantage of his luck and pitched well to deserve the win. Tigers had not been tight enough in the field and Kanemoto, in particular, had looked out of place. Giants took the first series but in dubious fashion. Even though this win was deserved the night before definitely wasn't