July 2nd Nohmi v Sugano - No endgame

Koshien now only fills up at weekends - the crowd at Koshien for this game was about 8,000 off full capacity. For a Tigers Giants clash with the pennant at stake this is a big problem. Tigers fans are not turning out in the numbers they used to and this is an indicator of a certain indifference to the team. The team itself is mostly good but with poor catching and amateur management. It is placed second in the league and has the ability though not the capacity to challenge for first. It seems that people just don't want to watch a team managed by another non manager. Once again Tigers tactics were poor and Fujii's incompetence in the eleventh (walking Sakamoto) was painful to behold. Still it was better to have him behind the plate than Hidaka. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R  H E
Giants  0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0  0  1 3 14 1
Tigers  0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  0  0 2  8 0

Starting Lineups

Giants
1. Tani (Left)
2. Nakai (First)
3. Sakamoto (Short)
4. Abe (Catcher)
5. Murata (Third)
6. Chono (Centre)
7. Kamei (Right)
8. Terauchi (Second)
9. Sugano (Pitcher)

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

We started with an out - Tani flying out to Ryota in foul ground. Then Nakai singled left. Abe would single left as well with another out down and Giants had runners on first and second. Murata then struck out looking. After this bright start Giants would seem to go to sleep for a while and Nohmi would have a few innings of easy riding. Sugano started just as poorly giving up consecutive singles to Toritani and Murton and putting runners on first and third. Arai was too keen to swing at his first pitch though and flew out to first - rather a waste. Chono was able to lead off Giants second with a single to centre. Nohmi responded well and Chono stayed on first as the next three batters did nothing. Sugano would not do so well and watching him pitch one did wonder why the Giants made all that fuss about having him. He wasn't that good. Ryota drew a one out walk and made second when Fujii grounded out to third. Next was Nohmi who hit very smoothly into the gap between right and centre for a timely double 1-0 Tigers, runner on second. Nishioka singled right taking Nohmi to third. Nohmi being fragile he was not expected to go for home but held up when he reached the sack. Yamato could only pop up but the Tigers held the lead. Giants had recycled their order and so Nohmi faced Tani again leading off the third. He didn't do anything for the second time. Nakai got on base again, this time via a walk but didn't get any support and the next two outs went down to end the innings. Sugano was really having difficulties by now and walked Toritani to lead off Tigers third. Toritani stole second - a useful move as Murton hit to Nakai who fumbled the ball. This put runners on first and third with Arai next. He hasn't been hitting well of late but didn't mess up his chance this time driving his second pitch into left for a timely single 2-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Tigers were well poised with no one out and runners on but they blew the chance. To be fair Sugano did work hard but Tigers made it easy for him. Imanari hit to first who threw to third getting Murton out as he slid in - runners on first and second. Then Ryota struck out swinging - not an intelligent shot and Fujii's was even worse; swinging at a high pitch best left alone. Tigers had a nice lead but really needed more runs to feel safe.

Murata led off Giants fourth hitting to centre. Getting runs was not easy in this game but Giants applied themselves better than the Tigers in this respect. However, there wouldn't be any runs this innings. With one out Kamei hit to second but Tigers couldn't turn the double play though Murata was forced out. Terauchi just grounded out to third. Nishioka singled right with one out in Tigers fourth. Yamato hit to first forcing out Nishioka but taking base safely. He then went for the steal and just succeeded in what was a very good call by the second base umpire. Toritani flew out though - popping up to short and wasting the good work. Things went a bit wrong in Giants fifth. Two outs down and Nakai who was a thorn in Tigers flesh all night singled to centre surprising the Tigers field. Next was Sakamoto who took a swing and got a lucky impact blooping the ball into right. It came down near the base line and Imanari ran over from right sliding in to take the catch. Unfortunately, he missed the ball bouncing off the ball of his hand and landing safe. Imanari being a bit of a fool lay there lamenting his chance for a moment before getting up to pick the ball up and throw. Perhaps he thought he ball had landed foul though it is difficult to see why he would form that impression. Giants carried on as if it was fair with Nakai racing round to score 2-1 Tigers, runner on second. Wada came out of his burrow to argue that point but this had been another example of good umpiring as the ball had landed fair and would have done so if Imanari had left it. Imanari would pay for this folly by being replaced by Shunsuke the next innings. The take hadn't been easy but players practice for these. It had really been Imanari's reaction that was the problem - he needed to be quicker. Takahashi (replacement right) was next and he grounded out to short to end the innings. Murton led off Tigers sixth with a single and then was able to take second on Arai's ground out to third. Imanari grounded out and Ryota walked - runners on first and second. Unfortunately Fujii grounded out to third to end the innings. Murata generated another lead off single in Giants sixth. Kamei hit to short where Toritani dived and pulled off a very good stop. He tossed the ball up to Nishioka standing on second. Nishioka took it in his ungloved hand and dropped the ball. He recovered and picked the ball up on the bounce as Murata slid in. The replay showed Murata to be clearly out but the second base umpire called him safe - a mistake. Giants had runners on first and second and the next batter Sanematsu (replacement catcher) hit a low liner to Toritani who took it nicely and fired the ball to second. This time there was no mistake and Murata was caught out of his ground for the final out. It was very nice fielding. Sugano started Tigers sixth and was really laboured in his pitching. Nohmi was out but Nishioka singled. Wada in a display of standard stupidity had Yamato bunt which he did so straight into the glove of Kamei (moved over to first). Wada in a display of standard stupidity had Yamato bunt which he did so straight into the glove of Kamei (moved over to first). Nishioka was able to step on first safely but this was enough for Sugano and he was replaced by Aoki. Nishioka was able to steal second but Aoki did very well striking out Toritani to end the innings.

Nohmi continued to pitch which given his count and performance was the right choice. Two Giants went down and then Nakai got hold of a poor pitch and doubled to left centre. Next was Sakamoto and he turned his fifth pitch into the left corner for a timely double 2-2 scores tied. Takahashi struck out swinging to end the Giants seventh. They had applied themselves and were now level. Tigers were left to rue the squandered chances in the third. Mathieson pitched Tigers seventh struck out Murton and Arai in the three batters he dismissed. With two out in Giants eighth Kamei singled right but the next batter Sanematsu flew out to end the innings. Mathieson walked Fujii in Tigers eighth with one out and Wada chose to use a pinch hitter. A sensible decision but he chose the ineffective Saka - not so sensible. Saka struck out swinging in a display that can only be called inept and then Nishioka grounded out. Tigers didn't add the run. Andoh took over the pitching for the Giants ninth. He was safe and retired the batters in order. Yamaguchi pitched Tigers ninth and with one out walked Toritani. This was Tigers chance for a sayonara and they blew it. Murton swung too soon and flew out in foul ground. Then Toritani tried to steal second and was out to end the innings.

Tigers were now on the rack - the Giants are a strong side in extra innings and this is one of Fujii's weak points (among others). Fukuhara pitched the Giants tenth and immediately gave up a hit to Sakamoto. Sakamoto chanced Fujii's arm with the inevitable result of a successful steal (actually this is a little unfair, Fujii does occasionally throw out a batter). Takahashi walked - runners on first and second and then Hara had Murata bunt the runners to second and third. One could relax as a score wasn't likely to result. Chono struck out swinging and Wada switched pitchers bringing on Katoh for the final out. This was Kamei who struck out swinging as well. Giants had wasted that chance very cleverly. Arai led off Tigers tenth with a single to left - another even better chance beckoned. Then of course Wada had to bunt - Shunsuke moving the batter round to second. With one run all that was needed this was more justified but not by much. Takayama (pinch hitter) was deliberately walked which seemed a strange decision as he certainly isn't a better batter than Ryota. Fujii grounded out to second forcing out Takayama and taking Araki (pinch running for Arai - one doesn't see this as a necessary move) to third. Sekimoto (pinch hitter) followed but on a full count he flew out to centre to end the innings. Tsutsui pitched Giants eleventh and started with a lead off hit to Sanematsu. Yano (pinch bunter) bunted him to second as Hara also went for the knee jerk reaction. Ishii (pinch hitter) struck out swinging and it looked as if Tigers would get out of this innings safely. Instead Wada made a disastrous decision to change pitchers and brought Watanabe to the mound. Now Watanabe is usually a reliable pitcher but there was no need to change at all. Things were under control and Tsutsui wasn't under pressure. The bunt had been a mistake and Tigers were likely to get out of the innings safely. Instead Watanabe was hopeless. - his first pitch to Nakai was hit left putting runners on first and third. Then Fujii made the stupid call to walk Sakamoto - this loaded the bases and made Watanabe even more nervous than he already was. Tateoka (pinch runner and replacement second) was next and stayed cool not swinging at the diet of pitches below the zone he was fed. The result was never in doubt - the fifth pitch was low, inside and not in the zone - oshidashi 3-2 Giants, bases loaded. Finally Murata grounded out to third but Giants held the lead. Nishimura pitched Tigers eleventh. He got Nishioka to ground out to short and then struck out Yamato. Toritani worked a walk and one feels that he should be opening the batting. He gets too many walks for a number three. Once again it was all down to Murton who selected his shot and grounded out to Sakamoto to end the game. Giants victory.

Tigers had blown a lead and then showed very poor tactical management in the extra innings. Giants had played a waiting game and unfortunately had looked very impressive. They had overcome some excellent pitching by Nohmi and taken advantage of the opportunities they were handed. Sadly Tigers were comprehensively outplayed by a superior team this game. It might not look like this from the scoreline and they had their chances but they had been pegged back and then neatly dissected by a team playing a longer game. The eleventh saw both catching and management mistakes which one has come to expect and it is no surprise that Koshien is not full on weekdays.