April 19th Andoh v Ishikawa - Missing the zone

A tight game beckoned - with the series at 1-1 this would be the rubber game. Both starters were poor and this made for an interesting affair. However, just because the pitching was poor didn't mean that the batters scored lots of runs. Both pitchers were still good and couldn't be hit at will. Tigers batting lineup eventually proved to be stronger and a fireball performance by Tsutsui broke the back of the Swallows resistance (though they weren't out of it until the final out). Scores

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

Starting lineups

Swallows
1. Tanaka (Second)
2. Ueda (Centre)
3. Milledge (Left)
4. Hatakeyama (First)
5. Kawabata (Short)
6. Miyamoto (Third)
7. Balentien (Right)
8. Nakamura (Catcher)
9. Ishikawa (Pitcher)

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

Tanaka singled to start the Swallows first. Ueda managed to ground out to first but moved Tanaka round to second. Andoh struck out Milledge nicely and then got the flyout from Hatakeyama. A rather efficient innings. Ishikawa, who hasn't been pitching well, started efficiently as well getting Hirano to fly out to short. Yamato hit back to the pitcher who couldn't field and deflected the ball. Yamato used his speed and reached base safely. Toritani demonstrated that Ishikawa wasn't someone to treat casually by flying out to centre. Arai was much more cautious but Yamato decided to steal. This was well spotted by Nakamura behind the plate and he threw to second for a comfortable tag out and the end of the first. Andoh then wandered all over the place and walked Kawabata on a full count to start Swallows second. Miyamoto singled right - the ball died in the wind and fell short of Murton. Balentien would also experience this phenomena. It put Swallows first and third. Balentien hit his first pitch deep enough into centre for the sacrifice fly 1-0 Swallows, runner on first. Then Nakamura hit to Hirano for the double play and the innings was over. Swallows had the lead but Ishikawa couldn't hold. Arai returned to complete his unfinished at bat. He singled right. Next was Brazell who launched into the ball. It died as it reached the fence and landed on the wall for a two base hit. Tigers had runners on first and second. Murton was next and singled right - the ball once again dying in the wind 1-1 scores tied, runners on first and third. Next Kanemoto who after a bright start has since reverted to his usual mediocre form. A far cry from his glory days. He hit straight to Kawabata for the double play - the temptation proving too much. Brazell was home though 2-1 Tigers. Finally, Komiyama grounded out to short. With one out in Swallows third, Tanaka singled. He was forced out by Ueda who hit infield where it was taken by Hirano. Hirano went straight for second with a little pop up throw to Toritani for the out but Ueda was safe. He didn't last long though and tried to steal second. Once again Komiyama's cannonball throw ensured the third out. Andoh led off Tigers third by striking out swinging. Hirano though hit a two base to right using the baseline nicely. Yamato struck out looking but Ishikawa let go a wild pitch which took HIrano to third and then Ishikawa walked Toritani. A great chance for Arai but he didn't wait and swung too soon at a slider. A flyout to second and the Tigers had blown the chance.

Swallows fourth and after some good work to dismiss two batters, Andoh gave up a single to right to Kawabata. Miyamoto swung at his first pitch and this one looked flyball from the moment he hit it. So it proved Murton took a good catch. He generally looked far superior to Balentien and was moving around the field well. Tigers fourth was very disappointing the batters all swinging early and grounding out. Balentien singled left to start Swallows fifth. Then Nakamura singled right - this was a lucky swing but safe - runners on first and second. Ishikawa bunted the runners to second and third which brought up Tanaka. He hit to Toritani who threw to first for the out. This was a mistake as Toritani should have thrown to home. As a result Balentien was home 2-2 scores tied and there was a runner on third. Ueda drew a walk to set up runners on the corners. Milledge was next and he singled right digging the ball out nicely for a timely single 3-2 Swallows, runners on first and second. Now Yabu came out for a chat which would have been better if it had been delivered before the runners scored. Still Hatakeyama was induced to hit to Toritani for the final out. Swallows had a slender lead again and the night before had held it. The bottom of Tigers order could not respond and the Tigers fifth was quiet. Luckily so was the Swallows sixth. Andoh found his form and retired the batters in order. This was important for the Tigers sixth but it didn't start that way. Yamato struck out swinging stupidly at a pitch he should have left. His batting hasn't been that impressive recently. Toritani waited and then singled to centre. Arai walked but Brazell flew out to left not getting hold of the ball. This brought up Murton again who hit deep into the Koshien right centre sweet spot. Toritani was round the bases neatly evading Ishikawa's attempted block for the tying run but the real pleasure was Arai who raced round from first to slide in evading the attempted tag 4-3 Tigers, runner on second. it was up to Kanemoto but he flew out to left and the innings was over.

In a wise move Andoh was replaced for the Swallows seventh. Tsutsui took over and pitched with fire and aggression. Nakamura and Nitta (pinch hitter) were brutally bundled out and Tanaka could only ground out to short. Masabuchi pitched Tigers seventh Swallows also opting for wisdom and replacing their starter. He gave up a hit to Komiyama who hit to short where Kawabata fielded but couldn't make the throw in time. Next was Asai (pinch hitter) as a contender for stupid bunt of all time. The bunt was successful and then Hirano hit to first for the second out. Komiyama made third but had to watch as Johjima swung wildly to fly out and end the innings. Enokida then pitched Swallows eighth. He started badly facing Iihara (pinch hitter and replacement centre). Iihara hit nicely to left where Shunsuke (replacement left) fielded and threw to second. However, IIhara slid in nicely and was safe. Things looked very dangerous - a runner on second with no outs. Next was Milledge who let
Tigers off the hook bunting the IIhara to third. You could relax a little. Hatakeyama hit infield along the first baseline - the ball was ruled fair and fielded by Brazell who tagged the Swallows first out after making sure that Iihara didn't leave third. Kawabata was next and Enokida went very carefully before inducing him to fly out to left centre and end the innings. A very good defence by Tigers. Tigers eighth was pitched by Hidaka who had a nice innings striking out Tigers clean up. So to Kyuji Fujikawa and Swallows ninth. Miyamoto the batter and he singled right. The tiny Swallows contingent was excited and Miyamoto was pinch run for by Hiyane. Next was Balentien, an easy and willing victim for Fujikawa swinging wildly and striking out. Before this happened Balentien took a huge swing and hit Komiyama on the helmet. This obviously hurt but the Tigers catcher was OK which was just as well as he would have been a great loss. Next up was Takeuchi (pinch hitter). In the meantime Hiyane had been standing too far off base. Fujikawa's first attempt to pick him off was a bit too late the second wasn't. A blistering throw was taken by Arai (who had moved over to first with Sekimoto taking third) and Hiyane was tagged out for the second out. Brilliant fielding. Swallows hopes died then and there and Takeuchi struck out in three. Tigers victory.

A very nice victory and a good series to win. Tigers had held the lead well though the Swallows relief had done well. I mentioned in previous posts that Tigers enterprise in running the bases was to be admired and it was demonstrated to perfection here with Arai's run from first being vital. Fujikawa picked up his sixth save and Andoh his second victory of the season. It was also his first victory at Koshien since 2009. Murton and Tsutsui were the heros for the night and Murton attempted some Kansai ben which was very much appreciated by the crowd. A nice piece of work by the Tigers.