April 8th Iwata v Miyaguni - The empire strikes back

With the Giants facing humiliation, it was always likely that they would fight back and with Iwata they had a very good chance. Iwata hasn't started the season well and was paired with Kojima to keep the runs down. Whilst the scoring was limited it was more than sufficient for the Giants who also had a decent performance from their pitcher Miyaguni. Tigers reverted to their usual practice of swinging at anything when faced with a new pitcher and despite looking vulnerable at times Miyaguni also had an easy ride. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Giants  1 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 5 13 0
Tigers  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1  6 0

Starting lineup

Giants
1. Sakamoto (Short)
2. Tani (Left)
3. Chono (Centre)
4. Abe (Catcher)
5. Murata (Third)
6. Takahashi (Right)
7. Kamei (First)
8. Terauchi (Second)
9. Miyaguni (Pitcher)

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

Iwata needed to prove himself and didn't lasting only four innings. The experiment of Johjima at first and Brazell at left lasted until the second when Johjima took a knock in the shoulder and was replaced by Brazell with Ryota Arai taking left. Iwata though started well striking out Sakamoto and Tani. Then things went wrong. Chono managed a hit to short and was quick enough to make first. Abe also hit to set up runners on first and second. Then a piece of luck - Murata swung and broke his bat. Instead of landing weakly in the infield as these things usually do the ball comfortably cleared the infield and landed in the left field for a timely single 1-0 Giants runners on first and third. Takahashi then struck out swinging. Tigers first three batters meanwhile had no idea how to deal with Miyaguni and fell without anyone getting on base. Giants second saw more of the same. We had an out followed by a single from Terauchi. Miyaguni tried to bunt but failed in his three attempts. Like the first there was only one more out needed but once again Iwata failed. Sakamoto hit to second and beat the throw - runners on first and second. Then Tani hit left bringing in a run 2-0 Giants. Next Chono hit right - he had to stretch for it but got sufficient width on the shot to pierce the infield bringing in another run 3-0 Giants and runners on first and third. Finally Abe grounded out to first to end the innings. The Giants had seized the lead but Tigers had the capacity to pull it back. However, they needed to bat intelligently and both Takahiro Arai and Brazell showed no sense striking out swinging. Murton grounded out to second to end the innings. Giants third was quiet with Iwata having some measure of control. Ryota Arai led off Tigers third with a walk. He fell to a Komiyama double play but then Iwata walked. Miyaguni was vulnerable but Hirano's innings ending strike out was just stupid.

Terauchi led off Giants fourth singling nicely to centre. Miyaguni bunted him to second and then Sakamoto was nicely lured into grounding out to third. Things looked secure but Iwata then gave up another left single to Tani which brought home another run 4-0 Giants. Tani tried to go too far and was caught off base and tagged out for the final out. Giants base running this game was pretty amateur. Shibata led off Tigers fourth with their first hit. He then fell to a Toritani double play and Takahiro Arai grounded out to short. Wada had decided that four innings of Iwata was enough and probably wisely. Unfortunately, his replacement was Kojima who was next to useless. Here we saw some great work from Komiyama which unfortunately couldn't keep another run from being scored but did keep the score to just one run. But Kojima should have never been on the field. He started by walking Chono. Then Abe singled left and Giants had runners on first and third with no outs. Murata was induced to hit to third again - straight at Arai. Chono was off his base and halfway down the baseline and was trapped and tagged out. Giants had runners on first and second meanwhile. This became runners on second and third with a wild pitch. Takahashi hit one back to Kojima who locked the runners on base before throwing to first for the second out. It began to look like Tigers were out of the woods. Kamei was next and Kojima let fly a wild, wild pitch which hit the visor of Kamei's helmet and cannoned into his face. Down went Kamei and from the camera looked to be bleeding. He was carried off the field on a stretcher. It was later announced that he had a broken nose. An apologetic Kojima was ejected and Ogasawara replaced Kamei. Watanabe took the mound faced Terauchi. Komiyama then set up a second ground out. Instead Watanabe was wild (he likes to start his pitching sessions with a walk) - his pitch was far too outside and low, oshidashi 5-0 Giants bases loaded. Miyaguni was next and he provided the second ground out but Tigers pitchers had wasted some very good work by the field and their catcher. To add insult to injury, Miyaguni retired the Tigers batters in order in the fifth. Watanabe continued for the Giants sixth and with one out gave up a single to Tani. Another out followed and then Abe singled to centre. However there was to be no repeat of the previous innings and Murata struck out swinging. Tigers sixth was as innocuous as the other innings - so far Tigers had generated one hit.

Tsuru took over for Giants seventh and issued a lead off walk to Bowker (replacement left). He made second on Ogasawara's ground out but stayed there as neither of the next two batters could do anything. Miyaguni was probably tiring by now or else Tigers batters were beginning to think. Shibata led off Tigers seventh with a two base hit. Toritani walked to set up runners on first and second with no outs. Takahiro Arai hit intelligently into right (this makes a change from the previous at bats) bringing in a runner 5-1 Giants, runners on first and second and so far so good. Brazell though messed up grounding out to the pitcher for a double play. This did move Toritani round to third but Murton could only pop the ball up to first for the final out. A run - Tigers wouldn't be shut out but not enough. Giants eighth was quiet and non of the batters got on base. Yamaguchi replaced Miyaguni who had done well for Tigers eighth. Ryota Arai led the innings off with a single but stayed on first as non of the other batters could move him round. Fukuhara took over for Giants ninth and he is another who hasn't started the season well (but better than some others). He gave up a lead off single into centre to Abe. Murata flew out to left and a wild pitch took Abe to second. Abe is hardly likely to steal so this situation is about the only thing short of a hit that will move him round. Bowker walked but then the next two batters fell and the innings was scoreless. Despite Giants determinattion they still looked a bit flat footed. Nishmura took over for Tigers ninth and with Shibata out gave up a single to Toritani. Takahiro Arai who was by now fully awake singled to centre to set up runners on first and second. Brazell struck out and then Murton grounded out to short to end the game. Giants victory.

It hadn't been quite as horrendous as it had looked earlier. True the Giants won comfortably but they hadn't run away with the game and Tigers had done well to restrict them to five runs. Yabu needs to work on his pitchers nerves, mentally Kojima was a mess and Watanabe is far too fond of walking his first batter. As for Iwata, one can't rely on the catcher to get him out of the troubles he generates all the time. He can pitch better and should pitch better.
Edited to include details of Kamei's injury