August 13th Messenger v Yoshinori - Two stupid old men

The stupid old men are Mayumi and Ogawa. Mayumi because his over-pitching of Messenger in the game before probably had an impact on his meltdown in the second and Ogawa because he had Yoshinori throw 140 pitches in really sweltering heat. At least Mayumi had a slight justification in that Messenger was going for a complete game shutout but that option had disappeared for Yoshinori in the second. One gets the impression that it was anything your pitcher can do, my pitcher can do. Do the Swallows actually want to win the pennant? It was perhaps inevitable that Tigers wouldn't be able to win everything against the Swallows but they are still in with a chance of taking most of the remaining games. Swallows fans were out in strength last night and contributed to a very good atmosphere - they also had something finally to shout about. There were still more Tigers fans than Swallows fans but at least the atmosphere was a bit more balanced. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Swallows
1. Aoki (Cantre)
2. Tanaka (Second)
3. Kawabata (Short)
4. Hatakeyama (Left)
5. Whitesell (First)
6. Miyamoto (Third)
7. Balentien (Right)
8. Aikawa (Catcher)
9. Yoshinori (Pitcher)

Tigers first started conventionally enough with Murton grounding out to short but then Hirano hit. Next was Toritani who struck out swinging and as he did so Hirano stole second. The Swallows were aware that this would happen but were just that split second too slow. However, Arai also struck out swinging to end the innings. Aoki led off Swallows first by flying out to centre and then Tanaka manufactured a two base for himself. Kawabata swung too soon and flew out to second and Hatakeyama flew out to right. Tigers second started with Brazell being out even before his song had got going. Kanemoto did one of his characteristic foul fly outs and this brought Uemoto to the plate. He was surprising driving a very nice solo home run into the left stand 1-0 Tigers. He's begining to look like he might be very useful - it was not a lucky hit. Fujii grounded out to end the innings but Tigers had a lead. Whitesell struck out looking to start the Swallows second. Miyamoto hit to second and even though Uemoto fielded he was unable to get the throw away in time and Miyamoto was safe. Uemoto still does need to work on his positioning at second. Balentien grounded out to short moving Miyamoto round to second. Next was Aikawa and you felt that Tigers could relax - a bit of work and the third out was in the bag. But Messenger's placement started to go. Aikawa hit deep into left centre for a two base 1-1 scores tied, runner on second. Yoshinori bunted and Arai picked up and threw to first but the base umpire ruled him safe - this looked to be a dubious call but the Jingu first base umpire is known for being unreliable and Tigers would benefit from a similar call later in the game, runners on first and third. Messenger walked Aoki in four and here would have been a good time to replace him. All the signs were that he was seriously in trouble. However, you have to have faith in your pitchers and so Mayumi leaving him in was a valid decision. Tanaka was next and he isn't one you think of as hitting well in a bases loaded situation. However, he hit into centre for a timely hit 3-1 Swallows, runners on first and third. Kawabata hit to first where it was fielded by Brazell who insisted on tagging the base himself but was just too late and the bases were loaded again - poor fielding. Hatakeyama drove right for another timely hit 5-1 Swallows, runners on first and third. This was enough and Messenger was replaced on the mound by Kojima. He walked Whitesell to load the bases as he took a bit of time to settled but then got Miyamoto to fly out to Hirano and end the innings. This had been devastating for Tigers and Swallows now had a comanding lead. It was Kojima who led off the Tigers third - he was going to be used in deep relief and he hit nicely to centre but it was caught by Aoki. It did prompt one Tigers fan to jokingly shout out 'Kojima for No. 4' and indeed it was a nice swing. The next two batters fell quickly and the innings was over. Kojima then had no problems retiing the Swallows batters in order - his strike out of Balentien being very good.

Tigers fourth saw Toritani and Arai fly out. Yoshinori had the occasional wild pitch but generally pitched really well. Brazell hit to second and then was able to beat the throw - this was the Tigers benefiting from the Jingu first base umpire. However, the next batter was Kanemoto who's place in the team is looking more and more ridiculous. He flew out to second and the innings was over. Kojima struck out Aoki and Tanaka in Swallows fourth and then got himself into trouble. Of course part of the blame lies with Fujii who would be replaced as catcher by Komiyama later. Kawabata hit to right with Hatakeyama next. He got just enough bat on an outside pitch to put it just over the fence for a two run home run 7-1 Swallows. Whitesell struck out looking but you did rather feel why hadn't Kojima done this to Kawabata or Hatakeyama. The Swallows now had the game won baring a meltdown. Tigers fifth didn't indicate that would be happening soon. Uemoto led off with a walk but then Fujii hit directly into a double play. Finally Shibata (pinch hitter) grounded out to end the innings. What Shibata was doing being used as a pinch hitter is rather difficult to say - his hitting hasn't been impressive at all. Fukuhara pitched Swallows fifth and wasn't anywhere near his best. Miyamoto led off with a hit to second again. Balentien flew out but then Fukuhara managed to walk Aikawa - he didn't pitch well but Fujii really wasn't doing well either. Yoshinori went to bunt again and this time bunted to third. Brazell came in to take the ball and throw to third but failed to release and Yoshinori was safe - bases loaded. Really, Arai should have gone for the ball and thrown to Brazell at first. This would have still put runners on second and third but with the crucial extra of two outs instead of bases loaded with one out. Aoki followed and was lucky - swinging and getting the ball to just land over Uemoto for a timely single 8-1 Swallows, bases loaded. Tanaka flew out to second and then Kawabata flew out to right to end the innings. A little icing on the cake for the Swallows. After the end of the fifth Jingu Stadium puts on a firework show for the fans. Not an enormous show but very well planned and executed with very nice fireworks as well. It was all very enjoyable and impressive. With one out in Tigers sixth Hirano hit nicely to third. Then Yoshinori faced Toritani and managed to drop one painfully on his foot (as mentioned his pitching was occasionally wild). Tigers now had runners on first and second. Arai was next and was lured into not checking enough and striking out. Then Brazell and exactly the same thing happened (This is the way the world ends, Not with a bang but with a whimper). Brazell seemed to feel that this was unfair and remained standing at the plate with his hands outspread until ushered to the dugout by the Tigers first base coach. He also made a sign of spectacles using his hands. He did not agree with the call but though strict it did look legitimate. Nishimura took over for Swallows sixth and showed considerable composure in retiring the batters in order.

Tigers seventh and no jettos - filthy Jingu authorities! Yoshinori pitched well and the batters fell in order. Kanemoto had another of his at bats and flew out to third - when will they bench him and concentrate on developing a successor? Swallows seventh saw the Tokyo ondo and the Tigers fans joining in with the song (singing kutabare Yomiuri and waving thunder bat towers around). Nishimura was also being used in deep relief and once again was effective - retiring the batters in order. At this stage Yoshinori had thrown 110 pitches and should have been replaced but the pathetic Ogawa insisted on inserting him for the Tigers eighth. Yamato (replacement first - yes really) grounded out to second. Then Murton hit to right and was pinch run for by Asai (some strange thinking here). Hirano grounded out to second forcing out Asai but making first safely. Toritani hit deep to left centre bringing in Hirano 8-2 Swallows but this was academic and with Toritani on second Arai flew out to left. Swallows eighth was quiet and the three batters fell in order - a much more confident pitching display from Nishimura. Tigers ninth saw the folly of using Yoshinori again - give the guy a rest. He had to work hard to retired Sekimoto (pinch hitter) but then managed to get Shunsuke (replacement left) and Uemoto. Swallows victory.

This had been a well worked victory for Swallows. They had seized the lead, batted well and taken their chances. Yoshinori had pitched well. As for Tigers they had been caught out and never really recovered from the Swallows fifth. Messenger seems to have been suffering from Mayumi's stupidity of pitching him over an entire game. One hopes that the effect is only temporary.