September 23rd Nohmi v Nishimura - Giants thwarted

The game went on a long time and at the death was tied. The Giants having their pitcher on the field went through the usual congratulations routine but it all seemed a bit flat. Kubo had held a lead and blown it and the Tigers could be happier with the result - they had come back from three runs down to tie the game.
The debate on Mayumi's future is getting quite intense mostly with dissatisfied Tigers fans calling for his dismissal. Whether or not the current president and manager can actually summon up the wits to dismiss him remains debatable. Let's keep our fingers crossed. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Giants  0 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 4  9 2
Tigers  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 4 10 0

Starting lineups

Giants
1. Sakamoto (Short)
2. Terauchi (Third)
3. Chono (Centre)
4. Abe (Catcher)
5. Ramirez (Left)
6. Fields (First)
7. Yano (Right)
8. Fujimura (Second)
9. Nishimura (Catcher)

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

All would start well, three Giants batters, three outs. Unfortunately the same followed in the Tigers first and Nishimura wasn't fazed by the outright hostility of the partisan crowd. Giants second was even better from the Tigers point of view with three strikeouts in a row, all of them swinging. The idea of Abe at fourth was interesting but not really surprising but this at bat didn't produce any results. Brazell generated the first hit of the game in the Tigers second - a single to centre with one out. This didn't go anywhere though as Murton hit his first pitch straight to Sakamoto for a double play to end the innings. A typical Tigers waste. Yano then led off Giants third with their first hit - another single. He was bunted to second by Fujimura and then the next two batters struck out to end the innings. Kanemoto led off Tigers third with a three base hit to centre. This was a fine piece of work and was wasted. Fujii struck out looking - he really is a waste of space in every respect. Nohmi tried to hit deep and flew out to third which left Hirano who worked the count full but eventually grounded out to second to end the innings.

Tigers would pay for the squandered chance in Giants fourth. Terauchi led off the innings with a hit. Then Chono hit and Giants had runners on first and second with no outs. Abe lined out to first but Ramirez hit to load the bases. Next was Fields who hit into centre. Shibata fielded this but fumbled the ball on the ground and two Giants runners were home 2-0 Giants, runners on first and third. Yano bunted - maybe an attempted squeeze but this was fielded by Nohmi who was able to throw to first for the second out with Fields making second. So with runners on second and third it was decided to walk Fujimura to load the bases and get at Nishimura. Rather an unnecessary move but it worked out with Nishimura striking out swinging to end the innings. Tigers fourth saw them waste a golden opportunity. Toritani hit to left with one out and then Arai flew out to left where Ramirez dropped the ball. Runners on first and second which became runners on second and third with a wild pitch. Tigers had a great chance now but Brazell struck out swinging and then Murton grounded out to second to end the innings. Rather inept by the Tigers. Sakamoto took a dead ball at the start of Giants fifth. He was bunted to second by Terauchi and Chono flew out to right moving Sakamoto round to third. Abe then hit a two base to left bringing home the runner 3-0 Giants, runner on second. Finally, Ramirez grounded out to end the innings but Tigers were reeling. In Tigers fifth Fujii picked up a walk and then Hirano hit to centre to set up runners on first and second. Next thought was the worthless Shibata who obligingly for the Giants flew out to left to end the innings. Watanabe replaced Nohmi who it was decided didn't have another innings in him and of course had struggled with Fujii's calling. Watanabe had a smooth innings retiring the batters in order. Toritani led off Tigers sixth with a walk. He was forced out by Arai but then Tigers had a piece of luck. Brazell hit a grounder to Sakamoto who managed to mess up his throw with the result that Tigers had runners on first and third. Murton hit into centre to bring in a runner 3-1 Giants, runners on first and second. This brought an immediate response from Hara who replaced Nishimura with Yamaguchi. He struck out Kanemoto and then Uemoto (pinch hitting for Fujii who was also being pulled) to end the innings. Giants still held the lead.

Fujihara started Giants seventh and struck out Kamei (replacement left). He was then replaced by Fukuhara in one of those pointless changes beloved of Japanese managers. Fukuhara struck out Sakamoto looking and then got Terauchi to ground out to third. Tigers seventh was a quiet affair with the batters falling in order. Tsutsui pitched Giants eighth and immediately made a mess of things. He started by dead balling Chono. Abe hit to centre to set up runners on first and third. Tani (pinch hitter) flew out in foul ground and no run resulted but Fields hit into centre bringing in another run 4-1 Giants, runners on first and second. Finally Yano flew out to right to end the innings but Giants looked to have dealt the killing blow. Their relief though couldn't hold. Kaneto took over for Tigers eighth and immediately gave up a three base hit to Toritani - desperation lending his feet wings. He was replaced by Albalajedo who faced Arai. Arai drove into centre for a timely single 4-2 Giants, runner on first. Arai was able to steal second but Brazell struck out. Murton also hit into centre and Arai made home safely 4-3 Giants, runner on first and the margin paper thin. Kubo took over from Albalajedo and struck out Kanemoto but Murton also managed to take second. Komiyama though was the final batter and he struck out swinging to end the innings. Enokida pitched Giants ninth and they really do need to do something about the Fujii Komiyama combination. Whilst Komiyama is superior to Fujii he is not a good catcher and it showed in this innings which Tigers managed to get out of with a bit of luck. Fujimura hit to short and was bunted to second by Kamei. Sakamoto walked and Giants had runners on first and second with one out. Terauchi struck out swinging but then a wild pitch took the runners to second and third. Chono also walked and the bases were loaded with two outs. Finally, Abe lined out to second to end the innings but it had been close. Tigers ninth and with one out Hirano hit to right. He was pinch run for by Yamato. The next batter was Hiyama (pinch hitter) who drew a walk to set up runners on first and second. Toritani hit into centre and Yamato charged round the bases to reach home safely 4-4 scores tied. At this point Nishimura (pinch runner) replaced Hiyama. Arai flew out to right - a nice hit but just a bit too far. The final batter was Brazell who tried to hit into centre but flew out. Game tied.

The game was tied because it had already reached the limit. Tigers could be happier with the result than Giants who had squandered a useable lead. Both teams had wasted their chances but once again Fujii had had to be replaced - he is being replaced far too often and Tigers do really need to start using Kanoh more frequently. Shibata once again failed and one wonders how long he will remain in the top team. It surely can't be much longer.