July 26th Nohmi v Nelson - A Tigers first

Is Nohmi the first Tigers pitcher to start to burn out because of Mayumi's over-pitching regime? This is the second game in a row he has failed to go beyond six innings, only managing five this time. Mayumi was forced to rely on his relief using Watanabe as the link man but he only has himself to blame - pitching the starters for too long. One hopes that this isn't the case but it is something to worry about. Morita registered a first for the Tigers - the first ever Tigers batter to hit a home run off his first at bat. A rather lucky affair but it counted and gave the Tigers the chance to pull back and overhaul the Dragons. This is important because at the moment the Dragons are faltering and Tigers need to be able to take advantage of this and pull past the Dragons. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Dragons
1. Araki (Short)
2. Ibata (Second)
3. Hirata (Centre)
4. Morino (Third)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Guzman (First)
7. Koike (Right)
8. Ohyama (Catcher)
9. Nelson (Pitcher)

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

Kanemoto sat this game out and was replaced by Lin who has been restored to the first team. One can only hope that Lin gets a nice run and a chance to prove himself. Nohmi was wobbly from the start. He managed two outs but then walked Hirata. Morino hit to centre and put Hirata on third but Wada flew out to end the innings. Tigers had a piece of good fortune in their first. Nelson's start was just as uninspiring as Nohmi's and with one out he gave up a hit to right to Hirano. Toritani also hit to right to set up runners on first and third. Arai for some reason hit a grounder to Morino who threw to Ohyama. He missed the catch and Hirano was home 1-0 runners on first and second with Arai of course being safe. Brazell struck out and then Sekimoto grounded out to second. Tigers had the lead but would need more runs. Guzman led off Dragons second with a single to left but nothing came of this and he was unable to advance beyond first. Tigers second was quiet - the bottom of the order failed to respond. Nohmi started to fail in the Dragons third. He didn't collapse spectacularly but found it impossible to stop runs from being scored. He got the first two outs but then Hirata hit to right centre for a two base. Morino singled to centre and this brought home HIrata 1-1 scores tied, runner on first. Wada snatched at the ball and flew out to Toritani to end the innings. Tigers top of the order failed to respond to this setback and the Tigers third was quiet with no one reaching base.

Guzman started the fourth by flying out but Koike walked in four - this wasn't in the script. Ohyama hit an over left base but Koike didn't go for home - runners on second and third. Nelson was next and he hit weakly at Nohmi who couldn't field. Koike needed no second invitation and was home 2-1 Dragons, runners on first and third. All this with one out meant that the sacrifice was on. Araki was the next batter but he flew out to Fujii - a vital out. Finally, Ibata struck out swinging and Tigers had given up only one run. Nelson after putting Dragons in the lead held it - Tigers fourth was another quiet innings. This looked serious - it's always difficult for the Tigers to pry a lead loose from the Dragons claws. Dragons fifth and with two out Wada drove deep to left for a solo home run 3-1 Dragons. Guzman tried to repeat the feat but flew out to end the innings. This was also the end of Nohmi who had thrown 76 pitches but didn't seem to be able to cope. Lin led off Tigers fifth by grounding out but then Fujii singled to centre. With Nohmi out of the picture, Mayumi sent in a pinch hitter - another youngster Morita. He is a beefy rotund guy and this was his first appearance in the top team. He let his first pitch go by but then hit his second high along the third baseline. It stayed straight and cleared the fence for a two run home run 3-3 scores tied. A really nice piece of luck for the Tigers. Murton struck out and Hirano grounded out to Nelson to end the innings. Watanabe was Tigers link man for Dragons sixth. He started with a hit to Koike. Ohyama bunted the runner to second and then Nelson grounded out to second which moved Koike to third. Araki was next but he could only hit to Watanabe for the final out. Nelson then retired Tigers cleanup in order and the game remained tied.

Enokida who has been struggling recently pitched Dragons seventh was was again shaky. He walked Iwasaki to start the innings but then struck out Hirata. Next Morino walked and Dragons had runners on first and second. Morino was forced out by Wada's ground out but Iwasaki had reached third. The final batter was Guzman who struck out and Enokida had escaped without damage. Nelson returned for Tigers seventh and with two out gave Fujii his second hit of the day. Fujii has been hitting better than for a long time. This time Tigers pinch hitter was Shibata but he hit a grounder to first to end the innings. Kobayashi was the pitcher for Dragons eighth and he was untroubled retiring the batters in order. For once Ochiai got his pitching wrong and aping Mayumi decided that Nelson could handle another innings when perhaps going to the relief would have been the better option. Murton singled to right and was bunted to second by Hirano. This brought a belated pitching change and Mise took over. His first pitch was loose, so loose in fact that Toritani slammed it into the left sweet spot for a three base hit 4-3 Tigers. That was the end of Mise - one pitch was all he lasted. Kawahara took over and faced Arai with one out. Arai did exactly what was needed and his first pitch was lifted high into centre for the sacrifice 5-3 Tigers. Brazell then tried to hit left but flew out. Kawahara had only thrown two pitches and now the tenor of the game had changed. Kyuji of course pitched the Dragons ninth. He had a good innings finishing with a strike out looking of Hirata. Tigers victory.

This had been a very good victory for Tigers to win - of course it had been at home but it had still been against their most difficult opponents and had opened up a one game gap in the table. However, Tigers need to win again and take advantage of the Dragons current struggles. In fact now is a great opportunity to break the psychological hold that the Dragons have over them. Fujikawa picked up his 20th save and the victory went to Kobayashi, his first of his Tigers career. The hero interview went to Toritani and of course Morita who opened his professional career with a bang.