August 12th Kubo v Muranaka - Edging closer

Tigers arrived at Jingu and whatever their struggles are still able to beat the Swallows. This is not to say that the Swallows are a poor outfit - they aren't and just need things to go their way which they aren't. Kubo wasn't at his best but was still pretty good and Arai partially redeemed his failures at Nagoya Dome. In fact once he hit his home run Tigers were able to go into cruise control as Swallows seemed to lack that little extra bit of drive to take advantage of their hits and base runners. Still this is good for Tigers and long may it continue. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Swallows
1. Aoki (Centre)
2. Kawashima (Short)
3. Kawabata (Third)
4. Hatakeyama (Left)
5. Whitesell (First)
6. Balentien (Right)
7. Morioka (Second)
8. Kawamoto (Catcher)
9. Muranaka (Pitcher)

With Murton restored to lead off batter and Sekimoto at six the lineup looked a lot more balanced than the past series. Murton celebrated by earning a lead off walk in Tigers first. Hirano bunted him to second and I can't believe that our manager is so backward as to use this discredited tactic which fails more often than it succeeds. Well, actually I can believe it but it is a waste of Hirano's skills. Toritani struck out swinging and then Arai grounded out to second. Swallows first was uneventful - whilst Kubo would put too much spin on his pitches and miss the outside of the zone he had more than enough options to get the outs. Firstly Aoki lined out to him and then Kawashima struck out, finally Kawabata flew out to Kanemoto who ran round well to take the catch. Tigers second saw everyone fly out to Aoki at centre and he took a fine low catch to dismiss Sekimoto I think. Swallows second saw their first chance. As I mentioned Kubo was missing the outside of the zone fairly regularly and with two out this resulted in him walking Balentien. Morioka hit his first pitch to centre and Swallows had runners on first and second. Kawamoto hit deep to centre but Hirano was under it and took a simple catch to end the innings. Muranaka started to struggle in Tigers third. Fujii led off with a hit to centre. Kubo bunted him to second and then Murton hit left. It was a shallow hit so Fujii rightly stopped on third with Murton on first. Next was Hirano who hit a bounce ball which was taken by second. Murton was forced out but Fujii was home. Hirano was also safe on first as Kawashima the short had taken the ball but for some reason had been unable to get the throw away 1-0 Tigers. Muranaka faced Toritani and spent some time trying to pick him off. One of these throws bounced off the wrist of Whitesell into foul ground. Not a bad throw but a bit of poor fielding by Whitesell. Hirano picked himself up and made second safely. Toritani then picked up a walk which brought up Arai. He really needed to do something and he did so hitting a massive home run into the left stand 4-0 Tigers and what seemed to be the killer blow. Brazell hit deep to right where Balentien took a very good catch near the fence to end the innings. Tigers were comfortably in the lead. This lead perked Kubo up and he started pitching with more authority and verve. With two out Kawashima hit to centre but then Kawabata grounded out to Sekimoto and the Swallows third was over.

Sekimoto worked himself a walk to lead off Tigers fourth. Next was Kanemoto who wanted to hit into the right outfield. Muranaka kept on feeding him pitches which allowed him to do so and after a couple of fouls, Kanemoto drove fiercely into right for a single - hardly intelligent pitching. Tigers now had runners on first and third with no outs but proceeded to waste the chance. All that was needed was a sacrifice fly but Fuji struck out swinging wildly at a pitch he should left. Kubo at least hit into centre but not far enough for Sekimoto to chance home and the runners stayed where they were. Finally, Murton grounded out to second to end the innings. Tigers were already in cruise control and had wasted a very good chance. Kubo struck out Hatakeyama with a nice high pitch to start Swallows fourth and then Whitesell hit to centre. Balentien swung and popped the ball up to Toritani, a really dreadful shot with finally, Morioka grounding out to second. Whitesell had stayed on first all the time. Tigers fifth was over quickly with non of the batters getting on base. In fact no more Tigers batters would get on base for the rest of the game. Kawamoto led off Swallows fifth with a single. Muranaka was pinch hit for by Takeuchi who was a disaster. His first pitch was banged high for Sekimoto to catch which the latter duly did so. Aoki hit nicely into right but unfortunately for him it was straight at Murton who didn't even have to move to take it. Finally, Kawashima hit to Toritani to and the innings - it hadn't been a good piece of batting by the Swallows. Akagawa took over from Muranaka for the Tigers sixth. He handled the batters well and struck out Sekimoto and Kanemoto. The Swallows batters tried to hit out in their sixth but Kubo was in control and they all fell easily.

Tigers seventh was a quiet quick innings - no one really trying and some, it must be said, good pitching from Akagawa combined to end the innings in 7 pitches. Kubo returned for Swallows seventh and was probably feeling tired. Whatever the reason he was a bit too casual with Balentien who banged a lead off solo home run into the left centre stand 4-1 Tigers. Morioka and Kawamoto did nothing but then Miyade (pinch hitter) singled to centre. Aoki drew a full count walk and Swallows had runners on first and second. They couldn't exploit it as Kawashima grounded out to Sekimoto at second to end the innings. Oshimoto took over for the Tigers eighth and he had an easy ride, finsihing with a strike out of Arai who was also in cruise control mode. Kobayashi pitched Swallows eighth and whatever his occasional flakiness is really a fantastic addtion to the relief. One feels that Lotte have been incredibly stupid in letting two fine pitchers go. He was at his best strking out two including a befuddled Hatakeyama. Oshimoto returned for Tigers ninth and took only five pitches to finish the innings. Swallows ninth and Fujikawa. He started with Balentien who struck out looking to 3 150 kph fastballs. Then Morioka and Kawamoto both went swinging to end the game. Tigers victory.

Once Arai hit his home run the game seemed over. Tigers hadn't needed to try hard after that though Kubo had had to work. He picked up his fifth win and had done well. Kyuji picked up his 26th save but Swallows seemed to lack the will and ability to beat the Tigers this night. At the moment Tigers own the Swallows (just like the Dragons own the Tigers at Nagoya) and one hopes this continues a little longer.