May 8th Enokida v Sawamura - Last gasp victory

Tigers had to fight hard for this victory and it is very much to their credit that they did. They had seized a seemingly decisive lead in the eighth after a surprisingly accomplished performance from the Giants pitcher. Then the relief proceeded to squander it which also calls into question the use of Hidaka with the relief. Neither Fujii nor Hidaka have worked well with the relief pitchers but one also has to add a further question mark over Kubo as closer. He relies too much on his catcher and doesn't seem to have the ability to punch through a batters resistance in the same way Fujikawa did. His closing is passive rather than active and the batter is able to establish the psychological advantage rather than the pitcher. Giants though didn't really seem to have the ability to take the lead, they were hesitant and seemed to be unsure of what to do faced with the Tigers aggressive display. This took one back to the opening series at Koshien when Giants basically defeated themselves. Long may it continue, Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E
Tigers  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  0  0  1 3 6 0
Giants  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  0  0  0 2 8 1

Starting Lineups

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

Giants
1. Chono (Right)
2. Matsumoto (Right)
3. Sakamoto (Short)
4. Abe (Catcher)
5. Lopez (First)
6. Murata (Third)
7. Nakai (Left)
8. Wakiya (Second)
9. Sawamura (Pitcher)

The placing of Hidaka in the seventh spot in the lineup was strange to say the least. Itoh is the hotter batter and whilst a case could be made for batting Fujii seventh there is no case for putting Hidaka there. Sawamura started very effectively and would prove to be very difficult for the Tigers to hit. It would eventually be Hara's over pitching of his pitcher that provided the Tigers with their first opening. This was a long way in the distance though as Tigers started their first by doing nothing. All three batters were out in what was a standard innings. Chono hit deep to lead off the Giants first and Yamato had to take the catch right by the fence for the out. Matsumoto singled to centre but Sakamoto flew out. Then Abe flew out to right to end the innings. Enokida would struggle with control all session but would show great character in over-coming the problem. Tigers second was similar to the first - batters flying out, grounding out and striking out but no one getting on base. Lopez led off Giants second singling to centre. Then Murata singled into right - Giants had runners on first and second with no outs; Enokida's first big challenge. Nakai hit straight to Ryota for a double play with Lopez making third safely. Enokida then walked Wakiya - it was the first of seven walks he would issue during the evening. Luckily the next batter was Sawamura and he struck out swinging to end the innings. The first challenge had been successfully negotiated. Hidaka led off Tigers third by grounding out. Itoh did the same but to second instead of short. Enokida hit deep but Matsumoto took a comfortable catch to end the innings. Sawamura was controlling the game very nicely. The same could not be said for Enokida who walked Chono to start the Giants third. One can't say that Hidaka was doing particularly well with his calling either. Hara came to the rescue though having Matsumoto bunt - this one went to third. Sakamoto struck out swinging as Enokida lifted his game. This left Abe who walked - runners on first and second. But once again the Giants would come up short - Lopez hit to right where Itoh took a nice catch to end the innings.

The Tigers fourth was an exact repeat of the first. Nishioka grounded out, Yamato struck out and Toritani flew out. They needn't have bothered with the innings at all. Nakai picked up a one out walk in Giants fourth with Enokida for some reason thinking that throwing under the zone was the right approach. It wasn't. Wakiya grounded out taking Nakai to second but next was Sawamura and he struck out swinging to end the innings. Finally, in Tigers fifth the first hit came. It was a bit lucky. Murton hit towards Wakiya who fumbled and dropped the ball. This is normally classified as an error but at Tokyo Dome becomes a hit. However, Ryota hit his second pitch straight into a double play.This was dubious as Ryota looked to have beaten the throw on the replay. Arai hit to Sakamoto who managed to stop the ball but then threw weakly to first. Arai easily made first. Next was Hidaka who hit to short as well and ended the innings. Still Tigers could be a bit more confident - they had managed to get runners on base. Enokida though was still wayward and Giants fifth started with Chono walking. Matsumoto grounded out to short which took Chono to second. Sakamoto swung stupidly at his first pitch and popped up to Nishioka for the second out. However, Enokida then walked Abe. Next was Lopez who took a dead ball on his foot. Enokida curved the ball in and down and it bounced off Lopez's foot. Sometimes dead balls are absurd - bases loaded two outs. Murata then went after a high ball and managed to ground out to Toritani to end the big chance. Once again Giants hadn't been able to convert their advantage. Tigers sixth started with Itoh swinging nicely to left but the fielder was well positioned and he was out. Enokida struck out looking and then Nishioka walked. Sawamura was tiring. Nishioka set out to steal second but was spotted and easily thrown out to end that chance. Nakai flew out to start Giants sixth and then Wakiya bounced one to Nishioka for the second out. Sawamura struck out and the Giants sixth was over.

Tigers seventh was a quiet affair. Yamato was the one who swung stupidly this time and flew out in foul ground to Lopez. Tigers were still struggling to make any impression on Sawamura. Chono started Giants seventh by lining out straight to Nishioka. Matsumoto flew out but then Sakamoto walked. Enokida's issue has always been the final out and this game demonstrated that clearly. Abe swung and the ball was taken by Arai who threw to Enokida running in to step on the sack and end the innings. Sawamura began to tire in Tigers eighth. He got the first two outs nicely but then as his energy drained away he walked Hidaka. Next was Itoh who's fourth pitch was a high slider. Itoh pounced on it and turned it high to right where it just made it over the wall for a two run home run 2-0 Tigers. Sawamura was stunned. Enokida had been warming up - for some reason Wada had been considering him for the eighth innings. One shudders to think what disaster would have resulted if that had happened. He had already thrown 119 pitches with 7 walks, a dead ball and three hits. He was pinch hit for by Imanari who hit to left - runner on first. Next was Nishioka who hit weakly into the infield. Sawamura fielded and then dropped the ball more through tiredness than anything else - runners on first and second. Yamato though hit to second to ground out and end the innings. With Enokida out of the picture now Fukuhara took the mound and pitched to Hidaka. One would have thought that Wada would bring on Fujii but this wasn't a prospect which appealed and so Hidaka stayed on. Lopez popped up to start the Giants eighth, Nishioka taking the catch. Next was Murata who got a rather middling pitch and why this was called is a mystery. He hit that over the wall into the Tigers fans for a solo home run 2-1 Tigers. Things were suddenly close and a Tigers relief pitcher had failed again. Hashimoto (replacement left) struck out looking and then Wakiya flew out to end the innings. Tigers still held the lead and could still win the game in nine. Their ninth was pitched by Yamaguchi. He faced the Tigers clean up who quickly made it clear that Tigers weren't going to add anymore runs in that innings. It was one of the most inept batting displays one has seen from this trio. Kubo pitched Giants ninth and raised more question marks over his closing ability. Of course he was pitching to Hidaka who like Fujii was out of his depth but really he was colourless and it showed. Ishii (pinch hitter) led off with a single and was pinch run for by Suzuki. Ishii is enormous and the bat looks like a toothpick in his hands. Chono bunted him to second in the usual foolish move that happens in these situations. What happened here was that Kubo fielded and threw to second for the force out. Toritani threw to first but was a bit high with the throw and Chono was safe on first. Then Matsumoto bunted Chono to second - Hara seemed determined to lose the match or had run out of ideas. Next was Sakamoto - the Giants great white hope. He almost fell to a foul fly out - the ball just landing beyond Itoh's dive. The next incident was more serious for Tigers. Kubo threw a fork which half squirted under Hidaka who stood up and looked around wildly for the ball which was sitting just behind the plate. By the time he discovered where it was Chono had taken third. Then Kubo sent down a straight in the middle of the zone - is there anything between those ears? Sakamoto hit this far to right - Itoh raced round but ran out of space and hit the wall. The ball hit the wall beyond his glove for a triple 2-2 scores tied - runner on third. One has to say it was a really inept piece of pitching and calling. Abe was deliberately walked - no one wanted to face him in this situation and this brought up Lopez. Lopez hit high and deep to left where Shunsuke took an excellent jumping catch near the wall to get the third out. Superb fielding had prevented the Giants from claiming victory.

Extra innings started with Nishimura pitching to Arai. Then Hidaka singled - a fly to left. Itoh once again swung nicely to left but once again found the glove of left. Then Sekimoto (pinch hitter) walked - Tigers had runners on first and second and things were looking good. Nishioka though managed to spoil it all hitting into a double play to end the innings. Giants tenth was pitched by Katoh. He was pitching to Fujii as Hidaka had been pinch run for by Tagami (replacement right) who would figure significantly later on. Murata led off singling left; hardly an auspicious start. Hashimoto bunted him to second. It is nice to note that no bunt succeeded this night. Wakiya struck out swinging and then Suzuki (replacement centre) flew out to right. Tigers eleventh saw the same pitcher and he got Yamato to pop out to first. Toritani struck out looking - embarrassing and then Shunsuke grounded out. Shunsuke shouldn't be batting No. 4 at all but his presence as a replacement for Murton was vital and his catch in the ninth was instrumental in setting up Tigers victory. Andoh pitched Giants eleventh and didn't really do that well. He was never a reliable relief pitcher and coupled with Fujii it was a dangerous situation especially as the Giants were pushing for the win. Chono walked and thankfully was bunted to second by Terauchi (pinch hitter and replacement second). Sakamoto was next and there was to be no repeat of his ninth innings heroics - he grounded out tamely to Toritani. Abe was deliberately walked for the second time to get at Lopez. He struck out swinging spectacularly and the innings was over. So to the Tigers twelfth and their last chance. The pitcher was Mathieson and he got Fujii to fly out to centre - one out. Next was Arai who tried for a home run but flew out to left - two outs. Here Mathieson slipped up and tried to go outside to Tagami. Tagami wasn't biting and worked a walk - runner on first. Wada sent Hiyama (pinch hitter) to the plate. Hiyama hit his fourth pitch along the first base line bouncing it over first's outstretched glove and putting the ball in the corner - a double!. Tagami is fast and sped round the bases to slide into home safely - good running 3-2 Tigers, runner on second. Sekimoto (replacement third) was next and grounded out to end the innings. Giants twelfth was pitched by Tsutsui who should have been Tigers closer. Wada and co though have gone for 'experience' not ability. But because of Kubo's failure in the ninth he was getting a chance. It didn't start well as Murata singled again to lead the innings off. Hashimoto struck out failing with two bunt attempts and then striking out swinging. Yano (pinch hitter) followed and hit into a game ending double play. Tigers victory.

A superb sweep of a very strong side at their home stadium. Tigers had humiliated the Giants restricting them to just two runs. Tigers had struggled to score but Hiyama had shown why he is Tigers best pinch hitter. He now has 99 pinch hit RBIs. Tigers had relied more on superb fielding and sheer guts. Enokida had pitched poorly but had fought hard and never given up. He didn't get the win which went to Andoh. Question marks remain over using Andoh and Kubo in the relief and closer roles and Fukuhara seems to have difficulty working with both Hidaka and Fujii (though with the latter the relationship is mostly effective enough). Tigers are now 2.5 games behind the Giants and can if they can maintain this level of performance take the lead.