September 9th Iwamoto v Yamauchi - Notable developments

Two notable things happened this game. Firstly, a Tigers rookie pitcher won his first start in ichi gun and also did so in style controlling the opposition. It is the first time in 61 years that a Tigers high school draft signing has won his first start. Secondly, Tigers won a series at Nagoya Dome and also did so in style with Dragons scoring all of one run over the entire series. It's three years since the Tigers have won a series at Nagoya Dome. Iwamoto's debut was really impressive with Dragons batters only able to hit twice off him and work one walk. Tigers batters meanwhile steadily increased the score with an application of pressure that was relentless. Once again the rookie pitcher was paired with Komiyama and it worked handsomely. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Dragons
1. Ohshima (Centre)
2. Yanagida (Second)
3. Wada (Left)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Ibata (Short)
6. Morino (Third)
7. Takehiro Donue (Right)
8. Maeda (Catcher)
9. Yamauchi (Pitcher)

It didn't start well for Dragons at all. Yamauchi gave up a lead off single to Uemoto who had a good day. Yamato bunted him to second which was a waste of an out and then Toritani walked. Ryota Arai struck out looking in three and it began to seem as if Tigers would once again fail to do anything. However, Murton drove a loosish pitch into centre bringing in a run 1-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Brazell struck out swinging but Tigers had taken the lead which is unusual at Nagoya. They needed to hold it and with a nervous Iwamoto one thought that they would be in difficulties. Ohshima started the Dragons fightback with a single. He tried to steal second on Yanagida's strike out but was thrown out by a powerful accurate throw from Komiyama. Iwamoto then walked Wada on a full count but induced Blanco to ground out to second. The first innings was over and from now until the sixth Dragons would only generate one more base runner. Tigers second was quiet - it was the bottom of the order and Yamauchi was comfortable in dealing with them. Dragons second was led off by Ibata who singled left. Iwamoto kept the runner on first base as no one was able to give the support that Ibata needed. In fact the Dragons were totally at see facing a new pitcher and it's nice to see this happening to the opposition for a change. Tigers meanwhile capitalized nicely. Uemoto singled but Yamato's bunt didn't come off this time and he popped the ball up to Maeda. Uemoto stole second and then with Toritani out, Ryota Arai singled left to bring in the runner 2-0 Tigers, runner on first. Murton hit right to set up runners on first and third - Ryota Arai is not that fast around the bases. In fact, his elder brother is much faster. Brazell drove one left bringing in Ryota Arai 3-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Hirano was the last batter of the innings and he struck out swinging. Tigers were stretching ahead. Dragons third was quiet - Yamauchi struck out of course but then so did Ohshima and Yanagida hit his first pitch to first for the ground out. Iwamoto was now pitching cooly and as if he was a pro of several seasons.

Tigers fourth was quiet and included Uemoto's only failure of the evening. He was the third batter out, striking out swinging. Iwamoto channeled everyone to Toritani in Dragons fourth - all three batters grounded out to short. Tigers fifth produced another run; this time courtesy of Yamato's bat. He singled to lead off the innings and then stole second. Toritani's ground out took him to third and Ryota Arai supplied the single that brought the runner in 4-0 Tigers, runner on first. It was nice to see Ryota Arai driving in singles rather than hitting the ball out of the ground. It adds an extra dimension to his play. Murton singled to set up runners on first and second. This hit also brought a change of pitcher, Kobayashi taking over from the struggling Yamauchi. He struck out Brazell and then got Hirano to fly out but it looked very promising for Tigers. This promising feeling continued into Dragons fifth - once again Iwamoto retired the batters in order. Dragons could just not get any traction at all. Mutoh pitched Tigers sixth and having struck out Komiyama and Iwamoto gave up a single to Uemoto. Uemoto stole second yet again but this time Yamato hit high to centre where the catch was taken by Ohshima to end the innings. Iwamato was originally only scheduled to pitch five innings but because he was doing so well, Wada decided to give him another innings. This proved to be fully justified. Iwamoto retired the batters in order - a really impressive debut.

Kawai took over for Tigers seventh. He faced the clean up which had basically gone to sleep and they went down in order with Ryota Arai and Wada striking out swinging. Fukuhara took over for Tigers seventh. Here Dragons got their last hit and base runner of the night with a single to Wada. Fukuhara struck out Blanco and persuaded Ibata to ground out to second before being replaced by Katoh. He finished the innings off getting Morino to ground out to second. Tigers administed the coup de grace in their eighth. Brazell started it off by smashing his first pitch to right for a solo home run 5-0 Tigers. Hirano and Komiyama grounded out and then Sekimoto (pinch hitter) hit a grounder to Ibata who failed to make the throw and Tigers had a runner on first. Uemoto singled to centre to set up runners on first and third and then Yamato hit deep to left for a double. Both runners were home, Uemoto using his speed well and Yamato also took advantage of the situation and took third 7-0 Tigers. Finally, Toritani knocked the ball back to Kawai to end the innings. Enokida pitched Dragons eighth and like his previous outing was full of bustling confidence. He struck out Matsui (pinch hitter) looking and then got Maeda to fly out to centre. Finally, Tanishige (pinch hitter) struck out swinging. Tigers were very much in control. The Tigers ninth saw Yachi as pitcher. He retired his three batters in order striking out two of them. To finish off a demoralized Dragons, Tigers used Tsuru as the pitcher for their ninth. Tsuru also had an easy time of it. Ohshima did take a full count but popped up to short, swinging too early. The next two batters, Naohisa Donue and Wada lasted all of four pitches before succumbing. Tigers victory.

This was an impressive and emphatic victory with the Dragons being completely dominated. The only way to describe it from the Dragons viewpoint is embarrassing. Totally out played and victims of a superb debut performance from Iwamoto, Dragons had never really been in the game at all.