September 21st Fujinami v Kiya - Tied up in knots

Swallows almost forgot the script. They are not meant to win any games this series as it would automatically hand victory to the Giants. Beating the Tigers would mean that the Swallows really had abandoned all standards. Once again Wada shuffled his lineup with no real idea of what this was supposed to accomplish but the hope that it would accomplish something. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R  H E
Swallows  0 1 0 5 1 0 0 0 0  0  0  0 7 13 1
Tigers    2 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 0  0  0  0 7 11 1

Starting Lineups

Swallows
1. Ueda (Centre)
2. Miwa (Right)
3. Kawabata (Third)
4. Balentien (Left)
5. Yuichi (First)
6. Aikawa (Catcher)
7. Morioka (Short)
8. Yamada (Second)
9. Kiya (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Nishioka (Second)
2. Saka (Third)
3. Murton (Left)
4. Toritani (Short)
5. Takahiro Arai (First)
6. Fukudome (Right)
7. Itoh (Centre)
8. Shimizu (Catcher)
9. Fujinami (Pitcher)

Fujinami and Shimizu didn't communicate this game and so Tigers good start was squandered. In fact Fujinami started poorly walking Ueda. Miwa struck out swinging but Fujinami walked Kawabata - runners on first and second. Balentien struck out looking and then Yuichi grounded out to second. Tigers started with a one out walk to Saka. Murton hit to right centre putting runners on second and third. Next was Toritani who belying his poor form drove into centre to bring home both runners 2-0 Tigers, runner on second. Neither Arai nor Fukudome did anything and the innings was over but with a nice lead. Fujinami proceeded to blow it. He just needed to hold the lead but with one out in Swallows second Morioka tripled to centre with some stunningly poor fielding by Itoh. Yamada grounded out to short giving Morioka time to make home 2-1 Tigers. Kiya struck out looking but the margin had halved. Kiya handled Itoh and Shimizu effectively in Tigers second but then walked Fujinami. Nishioka made a mess of this chance though and grounded out to second. Two outs went down in Swallows third before Kawabata singled - the two out runner on format seemed to be popular. Balentien struck out swinging to end the innings. Saka led Tigers third off with a walk and then Murton singled. Runners on first and second with no outs. Toritani hit to second for a 4-6-3 double play which took Saka to third. It needed Arai to do something but he struck out looking - Arai was very annoyed by himself and so he should have been. It had been extremely poor batting.

Fujinami fell apart in the Swallows fourth and this leads one to question his temperament. It started with a Nishioka error - he failed to gather a Yuichi grounder and allowed the runner on. Aikawa took advantage and hit his first pitch - a loose straight to centre putting runners on first and third with no outs. Morioka hit right to bring in the runner on third 2-2 scores tied, runners on first and second. Then the chagrined Fujinami walked Yamada in four to load the bases. This was bad pitching but worse was to come. Having failed to keep the ball up he did exactly the same with Kiya and walked him in four oshidashi 3-2 Swallows, bases loaded. It had been petulant and immature pitching and worse was to follow. Ueda was next and hit a cutball that was too high to right. This brought in two more runs 5-2 Swallows. Finally the outs started to come. Miwa grounded out to second with Nishioka making no mistake this time but the force out at second was all Tigers could manage - runners on first and third. Kawabata bounced one high and Nishioka fielded again but this time could only get Kawabata going for first. Miwa was on second and the runner on third home 6-2 Swallows. It had been a disaster for Fujinami and threatened to be an even bigger one as Balentien hit to third. Saka was able to field but Swallows had runners on first and third. Finally, Yuichi flew out to centre to end the innings. Swallows were in a commanding position. Kiya hadn't necessarily been better than Fujinami but had managed to keep the runners from getting home apart from the first. He did so again with the Tigers fourth. Fukudome doubled bouncing the ball off the fence to lead off the innings. Itoh struck out and then Hidaka (pinch hitter and replacement catcher) flew out to right. Shibata (pinch hitter and replacement centre) flew out to second. Iwata took over the pitching duties and whilst Hidaka wasn't quite the disaster he usually is he wasn't far off it failing to bond with his pitcher. With one out in Swallows fifth Morioka walked. Yamada swung and got a marginal impact which bobbled to the pitcher but allowed Morioka to reach second. Then Kiya walked again - Tigers pitching to Kiya had been ridiculous - runners on first and second. Ueda singled left which brought in a run 7-2 Swallows, runners on first and second. Finally, Miwa grounded out to short to end the innings. Tigers really needed to do something and finally got to Kiya in their fifth. Saka walked with one out and then Murton also walked - runners on first and second. Toritani drove into right and put runners on first and third bringing in a run 7-3 Swallows. Then Arai hit a sacrifice fly to right which brought home Murton 7-4 Swallows, runner on first. Finally, Fukudome tried to hit over the top but flew out to centre to end the innings. Boyer took over from Iwata for Swallows sixth and was better holding the Swallows nicely and allowing no one on base. Swallows also decided to change their pitcher and brought Matsuoka on to relieve Kiya who had reached his limit. Note Wada - Swallows don't try and push a tired pitcher that extra innings. Still the change didn't help at all. With two out Shibata worked a walk. Nishioka hit to right where Miwa fumbled allowing the runners to reach second and third. Saka hit a line drive to right bringing in both runners 7-6 Swallows, runner on first. The game had suddenly become close and Swallows had seen their margin eaten up. Matsuoka was hurriedly pulled and replaced by Barnette who induced Murton to fly out to centre.

Kubota pitched Swallows seventh and with Hidaka calling gave up a single to Morioka. He was bunted to second by Yamada and one could relax. Kubota handled the situation well and retired the next two batters to end the innings. One of these batters was an old Tigers star, Fujimoto who had transfered to Swallows and was retiring. He flew out to centre for the second out. Kyuko pitched Tigers seventh and had no problems keeping the runners off base. Swallows still held the lead. Katoh took over for Swallows eighth and once again the lead off batter got a hit - this being Iihara (pinch hitter and replacement right). He was bunted to second by Kawabata which sums up the paucity of the Swallows management philosophy. Balentien walked to put runners first and second and then Yuichi hit into a double play to end the innings. Yamamoto pitched Tigers eighth and with two out gave up a little single to Shibata. Next was Nishioka who has difficulties with runners on. However, this time he hit to right centre and raced round to second jumping over second who had snagged the ball and lying on the ground tried to apply the tag as Nishioka ran past. Nishioka jumped over the attempt and touched second safely with Shibata home 7-7 scores tied. Saka was next but struck out swinging to end the innings. Amazingly Wada used Fukuhara for Swallows ninth. This worked exactly as it should have with Fukuhara retiring the three Swallows batters he faced in order. Ishiyama pitched Tigers ninth and also justified his use. Murton singled to centre but Toritani struck out looking. Then Ishiyama walked Arai - runners on first and second. Things looked good for Tigers but Fukudome flew out and then Hiyama (pinch hitter) flew out to right to end the innings.

The game went into extra innings and Kubo pitched the Swallows tenth which with Hidaka calling was hardly a welcome prospect. It was shaky most of the time especially with Miyamoto (pinch hitter) leading off with a single. Ueda grounded out to third taking Kawashima (pinch running for Miyamoto) to second. Iihara struck out and then Kawabata was deliberately walked to get at Kawasaki (who had replaced Balentien). Kawasaki struck out to end the innings. One would have thought given the mediocrity of Swallows pitchers that Tigers batters would have at some time during the extra innings scored the extra run. They didn't and the fact that they didn't indicates that they weren't trying and that they should have played better. Roman pitched Tigers tenth and he had no problems retiring the batters in order. Kubo also pitched Swallows eleventh and managed quite well retiring the batters in order without allowing a base runner. Unfortunately for Tigers the story was the same in their eleventh. Even their strength in extra innings had deserted them. Matsuda took over for Swallows twelveth and almost suffered a Hidaka disaster. It was good to see him back up after his punishment trip to the second team but he was nervous. With one out Kawashima singled left. Then so did Ueda - runners on first and third. Ueda stole second and then Ueda walked to load the bases with one out. Tanaka (pinch hitter) grounded out to third with Saka throwing to home for the force out - bases loaded but scores still tied. Then Kawasaki also hit a grounder to third for the final out. Tigers couldn't lose the game now. Matsuda pitched Tigers twelveth and with two out walked Sekimoto (pinch hitter). Hidaka singled left and was pinch run for by Komiyama (who should have been behind the plate after Shimizu) but the final batter was Shibata who flew out to right to end the game. Tied game.

Despite their failure to win Tigers could be happier with the result. Swallows had gotten to Tigers young star and taken a five run lead which they squandered. As a result of the tie and the loss by the Giants to the Carp Tigers still have an outside chance of the pennant but realistically they have no chance and the Giants will win sometime this weekend. Tigers aren't playing well enough to hold on and their management is not competent enough to change the situation or even hold it.