September 16th Akiyama v Miyaguni - A farewell to Tokyo Dome

The last game against the Giants for this season and with Saiuchi experiencing back trouble, Akiyama was brought up. One has to wonder why Saiuchi is experiencing back trouble though. He is supposedly a rookie pitcher and whilst it might be a case of these things happen one can't help suspecting that the incompetent coaching team is responsible. This would have been a great opportunity to bring up Iwamoto for his second start - after his dream debut and with a rubber game at stake,, it would have been worth a try. Instead Wada brought up Akiyama who only had one start on 30th June and paired with Fujii only just escaped with a win. So what did Wada do? An important game and a new policy of focusing on Komiyama as catcher, he used Fujii and it was a disaster. Akiyama lasted all of three innings and the Giants cruised to a series win. Before the game we also saw presentations from various Giants players to Kanemoto who was playing his final game against the Giants - he has entered the long goodbye stage of his career. As it was his final game against the Giants he started and was not impressive in the left field particularly near the wall. But with the bat we saw a flash of the Kanemoto of old. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers  0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 10 0
Giants  3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 X 4 12 0

Starting lineups

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

Giants
1. Chono (Right)
2. Fujimura (Second)
3. Sakamoto (Short
4. Abe (First)
5. Takahashi (Left)
6. Murata (Third)
7. Matsumoto (Centre)
8. Sanematsu (Catcher)
9. Miyaguni (Pitcher)

Tigers would start the game quietly. Uemoto and Yamato both grounded out to short and then Toritani hit his first pitch to centre where Matsumoto took the catch. Chono started Giants first striking out looking which was the last piece of good news that innings. Akiyama needed more than Fujii to walk him through the maelstrom that descended on him. Fujimura hit to second and was able to make first. Then Sakamoto hit left to set up runners on first and third. Abe was next and drove to right producing a timely double 1-0 Giants, runners on second and third. Takahashi struck out looking but this brought up Murata who hit right on a full count bringing home both runners 3-0 Giants, runner on first. Matsumoto singled to centre and a Tigers throwing error put runners on second and third. Sanematsu was deliberately walked to load the bases and get at Miyaguni who hit his first pitch to first to ground out and end the innings. Tigers second started brightly with Ryota Arai walking on a full count. Kanemoto manage to ground out to first and then Murton singled to centre to set up runners on first and second. This was as far as Tigers got - Takahiro Arai flew out to Sanematsu and Fujii hit his first pitch to Sakamoto who didn't make any mistake. Giants third was a quiet affair, Chono, Fujimuara and Sakamoto were unable to reach base. However, Tigers third was also quiet and the batters stayed off base. Abe then put the seal on the game. His first pitch in Giants fourth was blasted into the right stand for a solo home run 4-0 Giants. Takahashi grounded out but Murata singled to centre. Matsumoto hit straight to first and Murata was caught off base for the double play.

Toritani led off Tigers fourth with a single to short which Sakamoto was unable to throw on. Ryota Arai flew out to centre and Miyaguni faced Kanemoto. He got a bit careless and Kanemoto slammed the ball into the right stand for a two run home run 4-2 Giants. This was No. 475 and good for sole possession of tenth on the all time NPB home run list. Murton walked and then Takahiro Arai singled left - runners on first and second. Fujii though hit into a double play which ended the rally. Giants still held the lead. Tsuru took over for Giants fourth. This innings worked out quite well for Tigers - no one got on base but it was the bottom of the Giants order. Tigers fifth saw more struggles for Miyaguni. With one out Uemoto hit left. Yamato went to bunt but then singled and hit to short forcing out Uemoto but making first safely. Toritani singled left - runners on first and second. Ryota Arai hit a tame grounder to third to end the innings. Giants fifth saw two go down and then Abe hit a big two base to left. Kanemoto jumped but missed the take and the throw was weak. A perfect illustration of his struggles. Takahashi though could only ground out to first. Kanemoto led off Tigers sixth walking and with one out was forced out by Takahiro Arai. Fujii hit back to Miyaguni for the final out of the innings. Tsuru continued for Giants sixth. Two outs went down and then Matsumoto hit a high shot to left centre. Once again Kanemoto jumped and missed the ball which cannoned off the wall. Once again Giants next batter, this time Ogasawara (pinch hitter) failed to convert the runner, flying out to centre to end the innings.

Fukuda took over for Tigers seventh and was not on form. Hirano (pinch hitter) grounded out but Uemoto walked. Yamato hit to centre to set up runners on first and second. This brought a change of pitcher with Takagi taking over. He struck out Toritani looking but then walked Ryota Arai to load the bases. A chance for Kanemoto to go out in a blaze of glory but it wasn't to be and Kanemoto struck out swinging. Watanabe pitched Giants seventh and he and Fujii can be said to maintain a state of armed neutrality. They frequently don't communicate. This was one of those times. Chono hit to second where Uemoto made a complete mess of things allowing the ball to escape from his glove. This was one of those errors that get classified as hits. Then Fujimura singled to left to set up runners on first and third. Sakamoto went to bunt made a mess of it and ended up hitting to second for a ground out. It still had the same effect as a bunt taking the runners to second and third. This brought a pitching switch with the much improved Katoh taking over. He got Abe to fly out to second - not far enough for the sacrifice and then Takahashi flew out to right, hitting it straight down the throat of Hirano. Yamaguchi pitched Tigers eighth and this was their really big chance. Both Murton and Takahiro Arai punched the ball to right and Tigers had runners on first and second with no outs. They wasted the chance. Wada had Fujii bunt the runners to second and third. It's all very well if your batters are hitting but if they aren't it's a pointless waste of an out. Guess which situation applies to Tigers? Incidently Murton was pinch run for by Shunsuke and Takahiro Arai by Tagami. Asai (pinch hitter) was next and hit his first pitch straight at Murata. Murata fired to home and Sanematsu was perfectly placed to block and tag Shunsuke sliding in for the out. Uemoto then hit to centre where Matsumoto took a comfortable catch. Tigers had wasted a pressure situation through some stupid batting and bunting. Fukuhara pitched Giants eighth and started well enough with two outs. Then Sanematsu slammed a deep two base into left centre. Ishii (pinch hitter) was next and he walked. Chono though hit into foul ground where Asai (replacement right) ran round. The ball came down just inside the open ground stands and a fan went to take the ball. Asai calmly plucked the ball away for the catch and the end of the innings. Tigers ninth was pitched by Nishimura. He got Yamato to ground out to third but then Toritani singled to left. Next was Ryota Arai who hit feebly into a game ending double play. Giants victory.

Tigers had had runners on and I suppose had tried hard but lacked the batters to drive in runs when needed. This has been a the consistent story throughout the season and given that everyone is failing one must blame the management and coaches for allowing this situation to develop. Defence was reasonable but pairing Akiyama with Fujii was folly and cost Tigers any chance of the game.