October 3rd Itoh v Itoh - All the Itohs

Yes there were three Itohs in play this game with Tigers outfielder, Hayata Itoh making up the third Itoh on display. Kazuo Itoh made his debut for Tigers but didn't really shine. Junki Itoh for the Dragons wasn't much better and they were both replaced by more senior pitchers. Tigers in particular used this lineup to give several players a run out with Shimizu calling the shots behind the plate and Nohmi pitching out of relief. Tigers are apparently interested in Chris Resop (thanks Gen) as a possible replacement for Kyuji Fujikawa. For those of us with long memories Resop spent two seasons with Tigers back in 2008 and 2009. He was a starter in 2008 and showed some potential but never really got going. In 2009 he never made it to the top team and was released mid-season. One wonders if he has improved that much or he is just under consideration because someone remembers the name and he is cheap? Scores

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

Tigers
1. Uemoto (Second)
2. Yamato (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Ryota Arai (Third)
5. Morita (First)
6. Saka (Left)
7. Hayata Itoh (Right)
8. Shimizu (Catcher)
9. Kazuo Itoh (Pitcher)

Dragons
1. Ohshima (Centre)
2. Araki (Second)
3. Morino (Third)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Hirata (Right)
7. Tanishige (Catcher)
8. Naohisa Donue (Short)
9. Junki Itoh (Pitcher)

This was a strange isolated game played at Nagoya Dome - part of a series which was shortened due to the All Star break and shunted to the end of the season. Tigers would start well and then go to sleep and it was Kanemoto's last appearance at Nagoya Dome. Junki Itoh started nervously and walked first Uemoto and then released a wild pitch. This was a good one as it allowed Uemoto to reach third. Yamato walked and with no outs Toritani hit a sacrifice fly to centre 1-0 Tigers, runner on first. One felt, though, he could have done better given the Dragons propensity for fighting back and given the inexperienced battery Tigers were fielding. Ryota Arai grounded out taking Yamato to second and then Morita also grounded out. Dragons wasted no time at all in getting back into the game. Kazuo Itoh was undoubtedly nervous and Shimizu didn't help things. One would have thought that pairing the debut pitcher with Komiyama was the more logical choice. Ohshima led off with a single to centre and stole second. Araki drove a double to right and the scores were tied 1-1 with a runner on second. Morino walked and then Kazuo Itoh got his first out - Blanco popped up to second. Wada walked to load the bases and Kazuo Itoh was in trouble. Hirata hit a liner to third which helped and finally Tanishige grounded out to first. Not a good start. Junki Itoh faired better against the bottom of the order in Tigers second. He kept all three batters from reaching base. Naohisa Donue led Dragons second off with a single to second. He was bunted to second by Junki Itoh but couldn't advance any further as the next two batters failed to advance him. Tigers third was quiet - the batters didn't seem able to exploit Junki Itoh and in fact looked disinterested. Morino led off Dragons third with a single. Blanco walked and then Wada hit a grounder to second. Toritani went for the double play forcing out Blanco but a farcical throwing error allowed Morino to make home and put Wada on second 2-1 Dragons. Hirata flew out to right and then Tanishige struck out swinging to end the innings.

Here Dragons switched pitchers having seen enough and the veteran Yamamoto took over. His first innings didn't start auspiciously. Toritani hit a double to right. Then Ryota Arai and Morita walked to load the bases with no outs - it was a great chance for Tigers. Kanemoto (pinch hitter) managed to pop up to short, swinging too soon and demonstrating once again that retirement is the right option. Hayata Itoh struck out swinging and Shimizu flew out to right. Tigers had blown a very good chance. Dragons then showed how it should be done. Naohisa Donue led the Dragons fourth off with a single. Yamamoto failed on his three bunt attempts and Ohshima singled to put runners on first and third. Ohshima then stole second again suggesting that Shimizu needs more work on his throwing. Araki singled right bringing in a run 3-1 Dragons, runners on first and third. Morino hit a sacrifice fly to right 4-1 Dragons, runner on first. Finally, Blanco popped up to short to end the innings. Dragons were now comfortably established in front. Nakatani (pinch hitter) led Tigers fifth off by striking out and then both Uemoto and Yamato could only ground out. Nohmi pitched Dragons fifth pitching in relief for the first time in a long time. He quietened things down retiring the Dragons batters in order. Tigers clean up did nothing in the sixth - Yamamoto was enjoying himself. With two out in Dragons sixth Ohshima walked. He stole second for the third time in the game but Araki could only strike out swinging this time.

Ohno took over the mound duties for Tigers seventh and struck out Nohara (replacement third) to start the innings off. It then went downhill from there with Hayata Itoh flying out to right off his first pitch and Shimizu grounding out to third. Tsuru pitched the Dragons seventh and retired the batters in order. Tigers eighth saw the first two outs fall but then Yamato walked. He stole second but Toritani managed to strike out looking and nothing came of his enterprise. Watanabe pitched Dragons eighth and was quickly in trouble with Yamasaki (pinch hitter) singling off the first pitch of the innings. Tanishige flew out to right and Takahiro Donue (pinch hitter) grounded out to second forcing out Iwasaki (pinch running for Yamasaki) but making first safely himself. Takahashi (pinch hitter) bounced one off Watanabe for a single, setting up runners on first and second and bringing the replacement of Watanabe by Katoh. Katoh then got Ohshima to ground out and put the innings to rest. Tigers ninth was pitched by Iwase of course and he gave up a lead off single to Ryota Arai. Nothing would come of this, about the only time Tigers were able to seriously shake Iwase was when Yano led a charge but even then Dragons held on. Morita flew out to right, Nohara lined out to first and then Hayata Itoh grounded out to first to end the game. Dragons victory.

It had all ended very much as it had started at Nagoya with the Dragons dominant. Kazuo Itoh hadn't really done well and Shimizu's throwing out of the glove had been terrible. Apart from that Tigers hadn't really looked that interested and the younger players hadn't looked like they were well prepared. One contrasts the situation with that faced by Okada when he was able to call on Kanoh and Sakurai late in the season.