June 2nd Fujinami v Padilla - That man again

Fujinami still needs to become comfortable pitching away from home. This wasn't his best performance even though there were some good periods especially the way he got out of the mess in the second. However, he couldn't continue that form and eventually gave up runs. It was nice to see Shimizu get to call the endgame as well though this wasn't any comment on Fujii's calling rather the latter's batting which is going through a slump at the moment. He was replaced by Hiyama - a move which fully justified itself. This result also put Tigers ahead of the Giants at the top of the Central League which was another welcome outcome. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers  0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 4 10 0
Hawks   0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 3  9 1

Starting Lineups

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

Starting pitcher was Fujinami

Hawks
1. Nakamura (Right)
2. Honda (Second)
3. Uchikawa (DH)
4. Matsuda (Third)
5. Hasegawa (Left)
6. LaHair (First)
7. Yanagita (Centre)
8. Imamiya (Short)
9. Yamazaki (Catcher)

Starting pitcher was Padilla

This was a poorly umpired game and I haven't seen such a bad set of umpires (which is saying a lot) for a long time. Poor and inattentive decisions could well have ruined the game but fortunately didn't. Nishioka hasn't really enjoyed being a DH and this start was no exception - he struck out. Toritani did double but Murton struck out to end the innings. Fujinami started well retiring the batters in order and finishing with a nice strike out of Uchikawa. Tigers second saw them struggle against Padilla who seemed to have a nice control of things. Fujinami, though, lacked control and gave up a lead off single to Matsuda. Then we saw Hasegawa single as well putting runners on first and second with no outs. Fujinami responded nicely and lifted his game striking out LaHair and Yanagita. Hawks attempted a double steal with two pitches thrown to Imamiya. It was a success - Fujii's throw was up to his usual useless standards. Imamiya was lured into a half swing a bit too far for the final out but to be honest it did look a harsh call. Still Tigers had survived. This was good as they were still struggling to get runners on. Nishioka walked with two out in the third but then Yamato flew out. One of those outs was Shibata who struck out looking leaving an inside pitch. However, there was an overhead camera which showed the ball missing the zone by a considerable amount. It was an appalling piece of umpiring. Nakamura cracked a line drive to left in Hawks third and then Honda singled - runners on first and second. Uchikawa was next and he struck out. As he did Nakamura tried to steal third. The throw from Fujii was really terrible making Ryota jump up to take the ball but the umpire gave the out. This didn't look convincing though possibly another poor decision.

Tigers fourth saw the clean up go down in order. By now the commentators were waxing lyrical about Padilla's pitching particularly the trouble the right handed batters were having with him. Hawks though despite getting runners on hadn't been able to break the game open either. Their fourth was no different. The batters went down in order. Tigers fifth followed the same pattern - for Tigers Fujii's loss of batting form is an issue. He was quite useful lower down the order no matter that his catching skills were lacking. Finally, Hawks were able to make progress in their fifth. Matsuda worked a lead off walk. Imamiya bunted him to second and Yamazaki's ground out took the runner to third. It all seemed like Fujinami would get out of things without trouble but he was too predictable to Nakamura who singled left beating the field. The runner ambled home 1-0 Hawks, runner on first. Honda singled to centre in another one two punch - runners on first and second; but Uchikawa grounded out to end the innings. Tigers sixth started with Shibata striking out looking - this one looked legitimate. Nishioka grounded out and then Yamato tried a bunt. He raced to first and in a head sliding dive which looked spectacular made first safely. The throw was wayward and Yamato took second. Tigers couldn't make anything of this gift though and Toritani grounded out to end the innings. Striking out Matsuda to start the Hawks sixth Fujinami was in trouble again when Hasegawa singled. LaHair went for his shot and doubled to right centre - a very big hit which just died before it reached the fence. Hasegawa rounded the bases for home 2-0 Hawks, runner on second. This was the end of Fujinami who had thrown 103 pitches and probably wouldn't have had the gas to get out of this one without further damage. Tsutsui took over the mound duties. Yanagita grounded out taking Kaneko (pinch running for LaHair) to third. Imamiya flew out in foul ground to end the innings and Tigers whilst down were still not out.

Tigers response was exemplary. Murton led off their seventh with a single off Padilla who was still around. Next was Arai who singled to put himself on first and Murton on second with no outs. Wada being Wada had Saka bunt the runners to second and third which did set up the sacrifice fly though. It was a limited philosophy of a limited mind and the batter chosen to provide the impetus was Imanari (pinch hitter). He did so hitting deep enough to left for Murton to make home 2-1 Hawks. Runs were still needed and here Wada was on sounder ground with his decision to put Hiyama into bat. Hiyama took his third pitch deep to right centre for a very good double 2-2 scores tied, runner on second. Shibata followed and singled right - Hiyama had been pinch run for by Araki who had no trouble making home 3-2 Tigers, runner on first. This was the end of Padilla who after a bright start had faded quite badly. He was replaced by Yanase who got Nishioka to ground out to end the innings. Tigers had turned the game round but only by a slender margin and needed to consolidate quickly. Shimizu took over the catching duties and looked a bit wooden in his calling at first but rapidly eased up. With one out Tsutsui walked Nakamura. Honda flew out keeping the runner on first and then Uchikawa did the same to left. Tigers were still in the lead. Morifuku pitched Tigers eighth and proved to be the wrong choice. Yamato led the innings off with a single to centre. Toritani hit right - this one landing uncomfortably in front of right who could only catch it on the bounce. Toritani stopped on first but Yamato motored round to third. With no outs Tigers had all sorts of options and to try to reduce them Hawks switched pitchers with Igarashi coming to the mound. Murton chose to hit deep to right putting the ball into the corner. It was caught by Nakamura of course but he had no chance of cutting off the run 4-2 Tigers, runner on first. Toritani tried to steal second and was thrown out - a poor option as Arai doubled very neatly. Here patience would have reaped dividends. Saka walked to everyone's surprise but Shimizu flew out to right to end the innings. Watanabe pitched Hawks eighth and made a mess of things. Shimizu called for a low pitch with the count at 3-2. Instead Watanabe ignored him and went high. The lead off batter, Matsuda emphatically got hold of it and propelled the ball high into the left stand 4-3 Tigers. This brought a rapid change of pitcher - Watanbe was banished from the mound and Katoh took over. He restored order retiring the next three batters to end the innings. Senga pitched Tigers ninth and with one out gave up a single to Shibata. Nishioka struck out and Yamato grounded out. Tigers were going to have to win by the thinnest of margins. Andoh was the pitcher chosen to close out the game. It all went rather smoothly with the batters falling in order. Tigers victory.

Both sides had wasted their chances and had their fair amount of luck. Tigers had made more though especially of the sacrifice and even though the winning run was hit by Murton (sacrifice fly) the hero interview went to Saka. Hiyama once again showed his worth with his 101st pinch hit RBI. It was also nice to see Shimizu in action - one hopes this continues.