May 6th Nohmi v Miyaguni - Nohmi does it all

It was nice to see the Giants punished for wearing their hideous orange shirts (the shirt is orange with white sleeves and looks truly repulsive). However, was it necessary to have Nohmi pitch an entire game? Like Messenger before Nohmi went on into two unnecessary innings when the ideal point to rest him would have been the end of the seventh. The season is still young and one wants to preserve the pitchers arms for future games not burn them out by constant overuse especially if the race for the pennant hots up. Part of the issue was Fujii's insistence on trying to get Nohmi to throw straights across the outside front corner to left handers. Nohmi couldn't do it but Fujii kept on calling these wasteful pitches which led to a run and were ignored by Giants batters. Calling to the pitcher's abilities not to a fixed pattern should be the guide here. One very good point of this match was that Tigers only laid down one bunt. This undoubtedly led to more runs. Fujii despite his failings behind the plate was also very good with the bat and on the bases actually stealing second successfully as well. Scores

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

Starting Lineups

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

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

Tokyo Dome was full for this clash and Giants fans were treated to a display of poor pitching as their team rebelled against having to wear the terrible orange jerseys. Miyaguni would start and continue poorly. He got Nishioka to ground out and then Yamato singled nicely to centre. Next was Toritani who was to play the baselines very nicely this game. He doubled right along the first baseline to set up runners on second and third. A really hot start and one that needed some sensible batting. This didn't come though, Murton left one and struck out looking. Then Ryota managed to ground out to second. The first innings was scoreless. Nohmi's start was just as poor with Yano leading off with a double to right centre. Terauchi singled to set up runners on first and third. Sakamoto made a mess of his first pitch and flew out in foul ground with Nishioka taking the catch. Next was Abe and Fujii called for a pitch across the zone. At this time Nohmi couldn't keep these up and it was folly to try them. He would be able to keep them up later but still miss the zone. This one bounced in front of Fujii who lost it and Yano scampered home. Fujii tried to throw to Nohmi at home but the throw was poor and Yano was safe 1-0 Giants, runner on third, Terauchi having taken advantage of a previous wild pitch to reach second. Abe then walked but things switched back Tigers way with Lopez lining out to short. Murata then grounded out to short to end the innings. Tigers second saw Arai and Itoh quickly disposed off and then Fujii hit just past Miyaguni for a single. Nohmi though grounded out to end the innings. Things got worse for Tigers in Giants second. The first batter was Chono whose fourth pitch was in exactly the same place as the third and he was ready for it. Chono drilled the ball into the backscreen for a solo home run 2-0 Giants. For some reason Matsumoto thought the appropriate shot was to bunt and did so getting thrown out as a matter of course. A really stupid at bat. Miyaguni struck out as did Yano but the Giants looked to be on their way. Credit to the Tigers they didn't give up and Miyaguni by now was really pitching poorly. Nishioka led off with a single. Yamato struck out looking - in fact he struck out in three and looked totally detached from his at bat. Toritani doubled along the left baseline to set up runners on second and third - a repeat of the first innings. This time was different though. Murton worked a walk to load the bases. Then Ryota hit deep to right. Nishioka tagged up and slid in nicely for the run 2-1 Tigers. Wada looked dissatisfied though this may have been at the fact that neither Toritani nor Murton tagged up either. This was poor base running as the Giants attention was clearly focused on the home plate. Arai hit to second to end the innings. Nohmi needed to hold the gain and did so; the nature of the game having changed. Terauchi struck out swinging. Then Sakamoto flew out to right - two down. Finally Abe after a struggle grounded out to end the innings. Tigers were one down with all the time in the world to draw level.

Miyaguni wasn't doing well and faced Itoh to lead off Tigers fourth. Itoh singled off his seventh pitch which brought up Fujii. Last game we had the absurdity of Fujii bunting with an average of .280 but this game there was no such stupidity. Fujii watched two balls and then started fouling and working the balls. One of these was really wide and Abe had to stretch to his left to reach it. Fujii checked his swing and Itoh set off for second. The irony was that the stretch put Abe in a perfect position to throw and Itoh was tagged out by a mile. Fujii walked which brought up Nohmi. He shaped to bunt but his second pitch was a ball down the centre. This was well taken by Abe who was possibly distracted by first coming in for the bunt. Anyway Fujii set off and successfully stole second. A real shock to the Giants and to the watching fans. One would have bet on Fujii failing and Itoh succeeding in stealing a base. Then Nohmi singled bisecting second and first neatly to put runners on the corners. Miyaguni was by now a bag of nerves and it was a simple matter for Nishioka to hit deep to centre for the sacrifice fly 2-2 scores tied, runner on first.Yamato singled nicely into left to put runners on first and second which brought a pitching change though not an improvement. Kasahara took over and he got Toritani to ground out. Kasahara's turn would come later. Nohmi started the Giants fourth well getting Lopez to ground out and striking out Murata looking - a very accomplished pitch. Chono then struck out swinging - it had been a valuable innings by the Tigers ace. Kasahara got Murton to fly out and Ryota to strike out and faced Arai. He got hold of a high pitch and blasted it high into the left stand for a solo home run 3-2 Tigers and a great turnaround. Itoh struck out swinging but the momentum was all with Tigers now. Matsumoto was the lead off for Giants fifth and instead of bunting he hit very nicely to left. Next was Kasahara who was instructed to bunt. For some reason this caused him a great deal of distress and the sweat was visibly pouring off him and soaking his horrible orange top. He did bunt but Nohmi in a superb piece of defense seized the ball and threw to second for the force out - runner on first. That seemed to break the Giants resistance and Yano hit into a straightforward double play to end the innings. Tigers sixth saw Fujii's only batting failure - he struck out looking. This brought up Nohmi who got a high straight for his fourth pitch. Nohmi latched onto it and hit it hard and high into the stand for a solo home run 4-2 Tigers. Everyone was stunned - pitchers don't do this sort of thing especially Nohmi who has never hit a home run in his entire career. It was really embarrassing for Kasahara. Nishioka managed to fly out to centre but Yamato worked a walk. He stole second and then Toritani walked as well. Yamato then took third as the pitch which walked Toritani bounced low and difficultly. This brought a change in pitcher Ichioka taking the mound. He persuaded Murton to fly out for the final out. Giants sixth was another vital innings. Once again Nohmi held and consolidated Tigers position keeping the batters off base. It was as if the first two innings had never happened. Sure he was wayward if asked to throw across the front of the zone but in the zone he was devastating.

Ryota walked to lead off the seventh. Arai struck out swinging but Itoh singled again and set up runners on first and second. Next was Fujii who cracked a slider into right to bring home the Ryota 5-2 Tigers, runner on third. What had happened was the Fujii had seen a chance to go for second as the throw came into Abe. Abe was alive to that and threw to second where Fujii was caught and sandwiched for the second out. It wasn't very clever play but Fujii's contribution to the victory with the bat had been significant. The final batter was Nohmi who grounded out to short. Lopez and Murata both flew out but then Nohmi walked Chono. Matsumoto though grounded out to second to end the innings. It was all over rather quickly but you felt that Nohmi was finished for the night. Ichioka was more successful in Tigers eighth than the previous innings retiring the batters in order. The surprise was that Nohmi returned for the Giants eighth and one must only assume that the recent struggles of the relief were a factor. It does indicate a paucity of ideas and ability in Tigers management team - they should be able to use their relief with confidence. Otherwise it is just gratuitous over- pitching for no reason. Giants went down in order but made Nohmi work - surely that would be his last innings. Takagi pitched Tigers ninth and Murton woke up leading off with a single. Ryota flew out keeping the runner on first and then Arai hit into a double play to end the innings. There only remained Giants ninth and once again Nohmi was called on to pitch it. Sakamoto flew out to centre. Then Abe grounded out to Nishioka. The ato hitori call started to resound around Tokyo Dome which made one recall Uehara's remarks about how the Korean baseball fans in the WBC were nothing compared to the Tigers fans at Tokyo Dome. Lopez popped up to second and that was the end of the game. Tigers victory.

Tigers hadn't been able to cut loose - it had just been the steady application of pressure. Giants pitchers had struggled though bleeding runs regularly from the third to the seventh. Tigers had shown great determination and whilst I do think that Nohmi should have been rested after the seventh his work had been good. Fujii had shone with the bat and on the bases but catching wise whilst improved had still been unsatisfactory. Tigers though had won a psychological victory as well crushing the Giants spirit very effectively. Still that is what you get for those horrible orange uniforms.