August 18th Messenger v Tateyama - The bunt that worked

The team was rather shell shocked by the Murton incident and it showed in a lacklusture performance though Tateyama was, it is true, on good form. Sekikawa coach talked about the incident and admitted he had been a bit intermperate in the way he expressed himself though according to him his comments did not include anything about Murton's lack of Japanese birth. Whilst he will remain in the second team for the time being Murton will not be fined by the Tigers who are not thinking of punishment. All in all the whole incident seems to have been handled reasonably sensibly. It does though leave a hole in the lineup. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Uemoto (Second)
2. Hirano (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Ryota Arai (Right)
5. Kanemoto (Left)
6. Takahiro Arai (First)
7. Saka (Third)
8. Komiyama (Catcher)
9. Messenger (PItcher)

Swallows
1. Milledge (Left)
2. Ueda (Centre)
3. Takeuchi (Right)
4. Hatakeyama (First)
5. Kawabata (Third)
6. Tanaka (Second)
7. Morioka (Short)
8. Kawamoto (Catcher)
9. Tateyama (Pitcher)

This was more like the Tateyama of old - something Tigers didn't want to see. Still the start was nervous with Uemoto hitting right. Hirano drew a walk and Tigers had runners on first and second. Toritani then screwed things up with a terrible choice of pitch to hit. His second pitch was dispatched to third for a double play. A run was still on though as Uemoto made third but Ryota Arai could only fly out to right. Messenger started in much more confident vein. Wada had retained Komiyama as starting catcher (wisely) in the hope he could work his magic with Messenger. The first innings seemed to indicate that he could with the Swallows failing to get on base. Kanemoto singled to lead off Tigers second but Takahiro Arai and Saka both struck out swinging. Tateyama was settling down. Komiyama hit to short and Kanemoto had been stranded on first. These first two innings generated half Tigers hits and they wouldn't hit again until the seventh. Messenger managed to work himself into a spot of bother in Swallows second. Hatakeyama led off with a single and then Kawabata picked up a dead ball. Runners on first and second with no outs. Swallows though proved strangely reluctant to exploit this opportunity. Tanaka hit a grounder to first and Morioka struck out swinging - two outs down. Even when Kawamoto walked to load the bases Swallows couldn't bring the runner home but to be fair the batter was Tateyama who struck out looking on a full count to end the innings. Messenger led off Tigers third hitting to Kawabata who messed it up and allowed the runner on base. The next three batters did nothing with Hirano forcing out Messenger but the innings finally finishing with Toritani flying out to right. Ueda walked with one out in Swallows third. He managed to steal second but Swallows batters couldn't move him round and that innings was scoreless. The game was being played at an incredibly slow pace and was taking a long time to not get very far.

Tigers fourth saw four, five and six go down in order. Tateyama was throwing a lot of balls but his strikes were counting and Tigers batters weren't able to counter him. In Swallows fourth Tanaka got on base with one out - a single to centre. He then took second on a wild pitch and even made third on Morioka's ground out but it was to no avail as Kawamoto struck out swinging. Tigers fifth and this time there was no error to help Messenger get on base - he was the final out grounding out to short. In Swallows fifth Milledge singled right with one out. Then Ueda also singled right - runners on first and second. Takeuchi hit into a useful double play to end the innings and the scores remained tied. Tigers sixth with the top of the order round again and once again no one getting on base. The game was rumbling on - one of those low excitement affairs which make you wish you were someplace else or something weird is happening in the crowd to take your mind off the tedium. Then something did happen in the Swallows sixth. Hatakeyama led off with a single. Kawabata bunted him to second and Tanaka singled to centre. This brought the runner home 1-0 Swallows, runner on first. Morioka flew out and then Kawamoto struck out - a sudden flash of interest and then back to tedium again. Still Swallows now had the lead.

They needed to hold as Tigers woke up and showed that they could hit Tateyama. Ryota Arai singled right and then so did Kanemoto - he was pinch run for by Shunsuke. Takahiro Arai hit a grounder to first forcing out his brother. Hiyama (pinch hitter) singled to centre to load the bases. It might have been worth trying for home here. Next was Imanari (pinch hitter and replacement catcher) in what was an unwise move. Imanari managed to pop out to short - what was he thinking? Waiting and hitting deep was what was needed. Next was Brazell (pinch hitter) who was never going to repeat the feat of yesterday and struck out swinging to end the innings. Cheng took over for Swallows seventh and didn't get on with Imanari. Two singles started the innings, one to Tateyama and one to Milledge - runners on first and second. Katoh quickly replaced him and Swallows messed up the bunt causing a double play which left a runner on second. Nice work by Imanari. Katoh was then replaced by Watanabe as Wada played musical pitchers. Fukuuchi (pinch hitter) walked but Hatakeyama flew out to left to end the innings. Tigers eighth saw Tateyama deal effectively with the top of Tigers order again - no base runners and the Swallows pitcher really had done very well. The ever unreliable Tsutsui took over for Swallows eighth and with one out gave up a single to Tanaka. He was bunted to second by Morioka and then Kawamoto walked. Fujimoto pinch hit for Tateyama and singled to centre. Tanaka went for home but was out at the plate suggesting that the decision not to do so in Tigers seventh had maybe been the correct one. Barnette closed out the game pitching Tigers ninth. Ryota Arai lined out but Sekimoto (pinch hitter) singled. He was pinch run for by Yamato and as Takahiro Arai struck out Yamato went for second. The throw by Nakamura (replacement catcher) was a good one and Yamato was tagged out to end the game. Swallows victory.

The narrowest of margins had finished Tigers. They had had their chances but Wada's strange use of pinch hitters had rather removed the chance. His use of pitchers in Swallows seventh had also been strange and it is clear that Tigers relief is not what it was. However, this is part of a general coaching malaise. Things are looking up though now Wada is using Komiyama more. Tigers can take the third game of the series and win their first series since July.