September 29th Nohmi v Tateyama - Mayumi does it again

It is getting sadly predictable - Mayumi never learns. Once again he pitched his starter too long. Sensibly Fujii was benched this game and Komiyama was catcher. The latter isn't in the same league as Kanoh but is a great improvement on Fujii. It took an innings or two for him to gel with Nohmi but once he did he was impressive. However, at the end of seven innings Nohmi had thrown 100 pitches and should have been replaced. There was no need for him to pitch the eighth apart from Mayumi's pride. Going to the relief at this stage was clearly the better option - the eighth was really Swallows last chance to win (the ninth would be a well rested Kyuji) and Nohmi was tired. He couldn't locate his pitches and the inevitable happened. Once again the abuse of Mayumi from fans was fierce and unrelenting. The Swallows guys on Tsubamegun say that it was even audible over on the Swallows side and for the second time Mayumi had to be escorted from the dugout by ground security. Fans were lining up to complain and other members of the coaching team were coming in for abuse as well (Kubo in particular). Tigers fans are very angry at the moment and if Sakai doesn't respond to the anger Tigers will suffer. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

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

Tigers started quietly with Tateyama pitching a solid first. Hirano grounded out, Shibata flew out to left and Toritani hit to second. Nohmi and Komiyama didn't really connect at first. Nohmi was throwing too much outside the edge of the zone particularly above and below. Aoki hit the first pitch to centre and was bunted to second by Tanaka. Then Kawabata grounded out which took Aoki to third. Nohmi's pitching to Hatakeyama was particularly poor and the Swallows clean up walked in four. Next was Balentien and what followed had an air of inevitability about it. Nohmi was still struggling to locate and left a changeup hanging nicely for Balentien to hit. He did so - the ball just clearing the left fence for a 3 run home run 3-0 Swallows. Miyamoto followed and flew out to short but the damage was done and Swallows were off to a great start. Tigers second was also quiet with no one really getting a handle on Tateyama. Surprisingly after his poor first, Nohmi settled down nicely and started to throw some good stuff and work well with Komiyama. He also picked up his first strike out of the game, that of Aikawa. Kanemoto led off Tigers third with a big hit to centre. This produced a nice jump and take by Aoki near the wall. Neither Komiyama nor Nohmi did anything and this was another quiet innings. Swallows third was also quiet Toritani making a nice dive and throw to dismiss Aoki.

For some reason Tateyama's attention started to wander in the fourth. Shibata hit nicely to centre and then stole second as Toritani struck out. Arai managed to ground out to Tateyama though and the innings was over. Swallows fourth was well pitched by Nohmi and both Balentien and Miyamoto struck out. As I mentioned Tateyama was slightly off and he paid for it in the fifth. Brazell flew out to centre but then Murton hit driving into centre. Next was Kanemoto who was in the mood to hit and stroked one to right for a two run home run 3-2 Tigers. For a brief moment, this was the Kanemoto of old, timing, power and placement. Both Komiyama and Nohmi struck out but Tigers were within vomiting distance of the Swallows. Nohmi kept his cool and retired the Swallows battters in order keeping the pressure on the home side. Hirano led off Tigers sixth nicely hitting into right. Shibata was instructed to bunt and made a complete hash of it. To be honest, the bunt was not called for and Shibata should have tried to hit but Mayumi must have his bunts. Anyway, Shibata's bunt was a bit too strong and rolled into the right infield within reach of Tateyama. He fired a fierce throw to Kawabata covering second and the force out was a formality. Shibata was safe on first but it had been a real failure. Toritani worked the count full before hitting a wayward pitch into left centre for a two base hit. Shibata set off round the bases at top speed and he is fast. The throw and relay came in as Shibata slid in for home and in fact was just in advance of Shibata. If Aikawa had held the ball Shibata would have been tagged out - even he isn't that fast. However, as he slid in he dislodged the ball from Aikawa's glove - safe and the scores tied 3-3 with Toritani on second and one out. Arai grounded out to second moving Toritani to third and it was up to Brazell. He swung wildly at his first pitch and skied it over third into the outfield and near the third baseline. Miyamoto, Kawabata and Iihara all went for it. The ball came down vertically and through the gloves of Iihara who should have taken it. This amazingly was judged a hit but was a glaring error and the scorer needs his eyes seen to. As the ball landed fair it counted and Toritani was home 4-3 Tigers, runner on first. Murton finally grounded out but Tigers had a lead and with the way Nohmi was pitching it looked highly promising. Nohmi struggled with Aoki at the beginning of the Swallows sixth finally throwing one to make Aoki swing. Aoki though checked in time and walked. Tanaka bunted
Aoki to second but Nohmi produced a superb inside pitch to strike out Kawabata looking. Then Hatakeyama struck out swinging and the innings was over. Nohmi had held the lead. At this stage, Komiyama looked very assured behind the plate calling and moving smoothly.

Surprisingly, Tateyama returned for Tigers seventh and seemed more focused. He retired the batters in order finishing with Nohmi who was going to pitch Swallows seventh. Nohmi faced Balentien who hit to left. He was bunted to second by Miyamoto - a waste of your number six. Next was Iihara and one has to ask what is this man for? He hits even less than Fujii and drops straightforward catches. Surely Swallows have someone better for the No. 7 slot. He is the only weak point in an otherwise well balanced side. Iihara flew out to centre which left Nohmi facing Aikawa. This proved to be quite a battle with Aikawa fouling well before flying out to Murton in foul ground. Nohmi had held the lead but was clearly under pressure and needed to come off. It was about this time that Fujikawa also started warming up. Tateyama returned for Tigers eighth and you felt that this was maybe a mistake though it could have been a ploy to lure Mayumi into putting Nohmi in for the eighth as well. He got Hirano to ground out and Shibata to fly out but then Toritani hit to left. Arai walked and Tigers had runners on first and third. This brought a change of pitcher with Oshimoto taking over. He got Brazell to ground out to him and the innings was over. If it was a ploy to psyche Maymi into putting a tired pitcher in for one innings too far it worked. Mayumi duly put Nohmi in for the eighth when he should have gone with the relief. Nohmi faced Kawashima (pinch hitter) and suddenly had no control of the zone walking the latter on a full count. Then Aoki hit to right to set up runners on first and third. Tanaka bunted the runners to second and third and one sensed a very great danger. Kawabata was next and drove his second pitch along the first base line past Arai's (Arai had moved over to first and Yamato was fieldng third) desperate dive for a nice two base hit bringing in both runners 5-4 Swallows and the score turned round. Watanabe took over at this point - once again shutting the door after the horse had bolted and gave up a single to left to Hatakeyama - runners on first and third. Komiyama was struggling by now and wasn't really communicating with Watanabe. Watanabe let go a wild pitch - wild enough to let Hatakeyama take second but not for Kawabata to reach home. Balentien hit a deep sacrifice fly to centre bringing in the run 6-4 Swallows and the game was running away from Tigers. Then Miyamoto banged one into left. Asai (replacement left) dived for the ball but it landed just short of his glove for a timely hit 7-4 Swallows, runner on second. Finally, Iihara grounded out to second to end the innings. The Swallows had turned the game around in a big way thanks to Mayumi's stupidity. The problem with Tigers losing the lead in the eighth was that they would face Lim in their ninth. He struck out Murton and Lin (pinch hitter) and then Hiyama (pinch hitter) grounded out to end the game. Swallows victory.

Tigers have now lost four in a row and their last six games against the Swallows (two sweeps). They had the game under control until the eighth when Mayumi messed up. Komiyama had done well up to a point but hadn't had the ability to handle the situation in the eighth. It was good that Fujii was benched and long may this continue but he will probably be back next game. However, Kanoh's return to catching duties cannot be long delayed (well actually it can with the current management refusing to admit or acknowledge their mistakes). It isn't looking good for the end of the season run.