June 23rd Nohmi v Brandon - Power wins the day

It was nice to know that as bad as Takasaki is Brandon is even worse. This time Tigers couldn't lose and proceeded but batter the BayStars starter mercilessly. In fact he only lasted two innings and Tigers cruised to victory. The question of whether Nohmi is more comfortable pitching to Fujii or Komiyama remains undecided. He is petulant with both and the BayStars runs were really down to him rather than Fujii's calls. Maybe he should be pitching to Komiyama though as he was clearly tiring in the sxith and Fujii's calling took no account of this. The replacement of Asai by Yamato was also strange - Asai was responsible for Tigers only run yesterday and surely should have been in the side because of this. He makes things happen and needs to be given a long run not switched around with other players. Scores

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

Starting lineups

BayStars
1. Aranami (Centre)
2. Ishikawa (Second)
3. Nakamura (First)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Tsutsugoh (Third)
6. Morimoto (Right)
7. Kajitani (Short)
8. Kurobane (Catcher)
9. Brandon (Pitcher)

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

BayStars started uneasily, Aranami grounded out to Nohmi and Ishikawa struck out. This brought up Nakamura and Fujii called for a low pitch. Instead Nohmi went high and Nakamura turned it smoothly into the left stand for a solo home run 1-0 BayStars. Poor work by the Tigers pitcher. Ramirez hit right but only succeeded in flying out to end the innings. Murton's return to the starting lineup hadn't been auspicious at all but this game he was much better. He led off with a single to right. Branless Wada then had Hirano bunt but fortunately Brandon was so abysmal Hirano walked in five - runners on first and second and a very good situation. Toritani swung too soon and flew out in foul ground and then Arai flew out to centre. Both this pair had wasted their chances. Next was Kanemoto and there is something to be said for experience. He didn't waste his chance hitting hard and high along the right baseline and putting the ball just inside the foul pole for a three run home run 3-1 Tigers and the end of the BayStars. There was an element of luck in the hit but it was clearly a home run. Brazell swung and hit deep to centre where he flew out. BayStars second got off to a poor start with Tsutsugoh grounding out to second off his first pitch. It never recovered though Nohmi made heavy weather of dismissing the useless Kajitani ably assisted by Fujii's inept calling. Brandon meanwhile continued to dig himself into a deeper hole. Yamato grounded out but then Fujii walked. Wada went for the stupid bunt and Nohmi popped the ball up but Kurobane made an excellent diving catch to dismiss the pitcher. Murton though hit nicely to right centre where Aranami fielded. In the meantime though, Fujii made third (this time not exceeding his design speed) and Murton second. Next was Hirano who stroked his second pitch into centre for a timely single, bringing in both runners 5-1 Tigers, runner on first. Toritani walked and then Arai grounded out to third. Once again BayStars couldn't get going in the third and the first two batters were rapidly out, the second being Yoshimura pinch hitting for Brandon. Two innings was enough. Finally, Nohmi struck out Aranami. Kosugi took over for Tigers third and there didn't seem to be much difference. Kanemoto led off singling right. Next was Brazell who hit a massive straight home run 7-1 Tigers. The next three batters failed to get on base but Tigers were out of sight.

Ishikawa managed to hit right to start BayStars fourth. Nakamura grounded out which took Ishikawa to second and Nohmi faced Ramirez. He hit right but flew out. Finally, Tsutsugoh hit a line to Toritani to end the innings. Kosugi surprisingly returned for Tigers fourth and with two out dead balled Toritani. This time Arai tried to hit to centre but grounded out to short. Once again Nohmi managed to put runners on in BayStars fifth but they couldn't exploit. With one out Kajitani walked and then Kurobane singled after Nohmi followed a particularly poor call. Kinjoh (pinch hitter) flew out to right and the throw was much better preventing the runner tagging up to third. Aranami then flew out to Kanemoto to end the innings. Tigers fifth was pitched by Ushida who got Kanemoto to ground out to second. Brazell hit right but then Yamato and Fujii both struck out and the innings was scoreless. Nohmi was tiring by now and Ishikawa hit to short. Toritani couldn't get the throw away and Ishikawa was safe on first. Nakamura worked the count full and then hit into right. Ishikawa raced round the bases to reach home 7-2 Tigers, runner on second. Ramirez hit a grounder to short which took Nakamura to third. Nohmi was looking very tired and Fujii wasn't helpful at all. His insistence on an outside line was wasting pitches and tiring his pitcher unnecessarily. Tsutsugoh hit a shallow fly to left which Kanemoto took but with his weak arm the run was a fornality 7-3 Tigers. Morimoto struck out to end the innings but this was surely Nohmi's left. However, Nohmi led off Tigers sixth by striking out looking. This was a sure sign he would pitch the seventh which was a sign of great folly by Wada. Murton singled left and then Hirano hit to centre. Toritani flew out to centre - a nice hit but not deep or shallow enough. Arai walked to load the bases and once again it was all down to Kanemoto. He flew out to right but if his home run had an element of good luck, this one had an element of bad luck. He hit very nicely to right and just missed out on another home run, the ball just falling short.

Nohmi returned for BayStars seventh and looked tired. This was folly by Wada especially as Fujii's calling style is poor. He struggled through the innings. Kajitani led off with his second walk. Then Kurobane flew out. Shinamura drained more energy before striking out as did Aranami who then hit to short. Toritani spilled the ball in what should have been a liner and this somehow was ruled a hit not the error it was. Runners on first and second and Nohmi had to do it all again. Finally, Ishikawa hit to Nohmi for the final relieving out. This was an innings too far and if Wada wants his pitchers to be able to pitch later in the season he needs to think about their conditions. Once again more unsympathetic management with a mediocre catcher. Hayashi pitched Tigers seventh and had a straightforward job retiring the batters in order. Fukuhara pitched Tigers eighth and he gets on well with Fujii. Even so he struggled with the calling (he was following the calls exactly) and had an epic battle with Ramirez who fouled off many times. Fujii's lack of imagination was exposed as each option he called was fouled off. Finally, Ramirez made a mistake and struck out swinging but it could have easily gone the other way. Tsutsugoh flew out in foul ground but it had all taken a bit too much time. Ryota Arai (replacement first) led Tigers first off with a two base hit. Murton flew out and then Hirano grounded out to Hayashi. Toritani walked but Arai could only fly out to left to end the innings. Enokida pitched BayStars ninth and he is apparently going to be the regular closer whilst Fujikawa is away. It's nice to see Tigers developing an extra option even though it is enforced. Morimoto went first pitch but Kajitani once again took a bit of effort and singled to centre. Finally, Enokida had to work hard with Koike (pinch hitter) who lined out to Ryota Arai who stepped on the sack to catch Kajitani base for the final out of the game. Tigers victory.

Kanemoto got a deserved hero interview. His home run had basically finished the game. The victory of course went to Nohmi but he had been over-pitched unnecessarily. Tigers had rapidly crushed the BayStars, something they should have done on the 22nd. It was nice to see Brazell hitting a home run and nice to see a power game rather than Wada's preferred non-power approach.