July 31st Messenger v Ishikawa - High summer

The end of a disastrous month (5-14-1) but at least Tigers faced a team with worse pitching than themselves and took full advantage. They also had the assistance of some poor fielding but it makes a change for the opposition to be playing poorly instead of Tigers. Ishikawa was dismal and it turned out to be a nice evening for Tigers batters. Given that Swallows pitching seems to be imploding a series win is on the cards which would be a great morale boost. Wada has decided to keep going with Kanemoto who despite tonights game should be considering retirement at the end of the season. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Swallows  2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  8 1
Tigers    0 0 0 1 4 2 0 0 X 7 14 0

Starting lineups

Swallows
1. Milledge (Left)
2. Tanaka (Second)
3. Kawabata (Third)
4. Hatakeyama (First)
5. Matsui (Right)
6. Fukuuchi (Centre)
7. Morioka (Short)
8. Aikawa (Catcher)
9. Ishikawa (Pitcher)

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

Tigers start was not auspicious. Messenger was not at his best and Fujii his usual useless self. These factors combined to gift the Swallows a nice start. Milledge led the game off with a single to centre. Tanaka bunted him to second and then Kawabata singled left to set up runners on first and third. The bunt was just a wasted out. Next was Hatakeyama who singled to centre bringing in the first run of the game 1-0 Swallows, runners on first and third. Then Matsui also singled to centre 2-0 Swallows, runners on first and second, Hatakeyama being a bit slow round the bases. Fukuuchi flew out and Morioka hit to left where Kanemoto took the catch to end the innings. The Tigers first saw Toritani single with two out. He then tried to chance Aikawa's arm but was tagged out as he slid into second. That ended the innings with no sign of what was to transpire later. Swallows second looked as if it was going to be even more disastrous for the Tigers. Aikawa led off the innings hitting a two base into left field. Ishikawa messed the bunt up and flew out to Fujii which brought up Milledge who singled setting up runners on first and third. Then Tanaka hit into a very helpful double play to end the innings. Swallows should have scored and had fluffed a very big chance there. Kanemoto walked in Tigers second but nothing came of this. So far Ishikawa had been comfortable even with runners on each innings. Swallows third was quiet - the batters couldn't get on base. Ishikawa started to fall apart in Tigers third. Two outs down and Hirano singled to centre. Then Yamato hit left - runners on first and second. Toritani walked to load the bases but Arai could only ground out to second. A lucky escape for Swallows but the signs that their pitcher was tiring were already there.

Swallows fourth was quiet with Messenger now seeming to be in control of himself. He wasn't getting the strike outs but was managing fly outs and liners. Kanemoto grounded out to start Tigers fourth but Murton singled to centre. Ryota Arai hit to right and set up runners on first and second. Next was Fujii who also singled right. This was a straightforward single which Matsui fumbled and then booted into foul ground. What would have been a bases loaded situation turned into a Tigers run - Murton was home 2-1 Swallows and Tigers had runners on second and third. Asai (pinch hitter) walked to load the bases but Tigers managed to blow this chance with Hirano hitting into a double play to end the innings. Swallows still held the lead but were stalling. As Wada had used a pinch hitter for Messenger the pitcher changed and Tsuru took over for Swallows fifth. Swallows had no answer and were rapidly tumbled out. Still this was a sound decision by Wada dumping his under performing pitcher early in the game. Ogawa didn't take note and despite the evidence that Ishikawa could implode at any moment tried to squeeze another innings from him. Yamato struck out looking to start the Tigers fifth. That was the last piece of good news for the Swallows this innings. Toritani hit to left centre - a two base hit off the first strike he received. Then Takahiro Arai hit into the same area bringing in the tying run 2-2, runner on second. Kanemoto hit right where a poorly positioned Matsui managed to turn the hit into a three base 3-2 Tigers. This finally brought the end of Ishikawa who was pulled to avoid further damage. It didn't help the Swallows though. Masabuchi took over and gave up another two base hit - this one to right centre with Murton the hitter 4-2 Tigers, runner on second. Ryota Arai took a dead ball but Fujii flew out. This saw the end of Masabuchi who was replaced by Shoda. He faced Brazell (pinch hitter) who drove his first pitch into right where Matsui again wasn't particularly well positioned and Murton was home 5-2 Tigers, runners on first and second. Finally Hirano grounded out to first. A devastating innings and even though there was a way back for the Swallows it didn't seem likely that they would find it. Their sixth saw Katoh take over the pitching and he faced the heart of the Swallows batting. Hatakeyama singled with one out but didn't get off first. Tigers returned to the offensive in their sixth. Yamato lined out to Shoda but then Toritani singled. Takahiro Arai also singled - runners on first and second. Kanemoto popped one up to short and Murton walked to load the bases. Ryota Arai was next and he singled left bringing in two runs 7-2 Tigers, runners on first and second. Fujii hit a grounder to first to end the innings but Tigers were in charge now.

Morioka grounded out for the first out of Swallows seventh. This brought a pitching change with Watanabe taking over from Katoh. He got Aikawa to ground out to Hirano and then struck out Kawamoto (pinch hitter and replacement catcher) to end the innings. Tigers seventh was pitched by Kyudo who finally stemmed the run flow retiring the batters in order. Fukuhara pitched Swallows eighth and with one out gave up a left centre two base hit to Tanaka though any runs that resulted at this late stage would have been in the nature of consolation runs. Kawabata's ground out to first took Tanaka to third but Hatakeyama could only fly out helplessly to right to end the innings. Tigers eighth was pitched by Fernandes. Nothing of interest to report here either; Tigers batters fell 1-2-3 with no base runners. For Swallows ninth we saw Tsustui. He dealt with the three batters he faced effectively and no one was able to reach base. Tigers victory.

A good result for the Tigers. Tsuru picked up the win this game and Tigers had kept up the momentum. They had had the assistance of the Swallows but the important thing is that they took advantage of the poor play by the Tokyo team. A two game winning streak is not normally anything to celebrate but given Tigers July this is worth celebrating. The batting had come through and it was good to see more extra base hits this game.