May 14th Shimoyanagi v Ohtake - Shimoyanagi wins again

Shimoyanagi had slipped in his recent games but still had to participate in a loss. Even the games where he didn't record a win were both Tigers victories. Yesterday he was tight and in control with a pitch count of 71 for his six innings. No walks and only one run given up were also encouraging but two dead balls added a slight tarnish to the result. The game also saw Hiyama's first start of the season at right. Okada is worried about the lack of production from right field, Katsuragi is not producing at the required level and neither Ford or Sakurai have shone in ni-gun so the veteran got another chance. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Arai (First)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Hiyama (Right)
6. Toritani (Short)
7. Yano (Catcher)
8. Sekimoto (Third)
9. Shimoyanagi (Pitcher)

Carp
1. Akamatsu (Centre)
2. Amaya (Left)
3. Alex (Right)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. Seabol (Third)
6. Kokubo (Second)
7. Soyogi (Short)
8. Kura (Catcher)
9. Ohtake (Pitcher)

The Tigers first was enlivened only by a Hirano walk. The Carp first started with an Akamatsu hit. Then Shimoyanagi dead balled Amaya. Runners on first and second with no outs. Hardly an auspicious start but the next batter Alex very kindly grounded into a double play. This of course put a runner on third but left only one out to get and Kurihara duly obliged by flying out to Toritani. Ohtake was good in the Tigers second and retired the side without any trouble. Shimoyanagi not so good. He started brightly with a Seabol strike out but then gave up hits to Kokubo and Soyogi in succession. Runners on first and third with one out. The next batter grounded out to second but Hirano made a mess of it Kokubo was home 1-0 Carp runners on first and second. Shimoyanagi didn't let this get to him and got the next two batters to end the innings. The Tigers third involved everyone, Sekimoto, Shimoyanagi and Akahoshi grounding out to short. A busy innings for Soyogi.

In the third Kurihara had a two base hit with two outs. Seabol hit to Toritani who picked off the runner going for home to end the innings. Up till now Ohtake had been excellent with only one walk and no hits. This started to unravel in the Tigers fourth. Kanemoto hit and then Hiyama walked to set up runners on first and second with two out. Toritani though couldn't do anything with this but you felt that the Tigers were beginning to turn up the pressure. In the Carp fourth we had Shimoyanagi's second dead ball, this time Kokubo and this time it was Soyogi's turn to ground into a double play. The final batter Kura struck out swinging. The Tigers fifth started with a Yano hit and then Ohtake dead balled Sekimoto - runners on first and second with no outs and a fading Ohtake. He got Shimoyanagi to ground out but then Akahoshi hit to load the bases with one out. Hirano has been unreliable with bases loaded and continued that way grounding into a double play to get Ohtake out of the bind he was in. Shimoyanagi was in a grove now and smoothly retired the Carp striking out two on the way.

The Tigers sixth was significant - Kanemoto had his second hit of the game a two base. Next up Hiyama who also hammered a two base hit 1-1 Scores level. Toritani struck out and Ohtake unleashed a wild pitch which took Fujimoto (pinch running for Hiyama) to third but Yano couldn't convert. By this time Shimoyanagi was cruising and the Carp sixth presented him with no worries.The batters meanwhile geared up for the 'lucky seventh'. Sekimoto made second on an error with a fly ball to left. Shimoyanagi who was due to pitch the seventh bunted and Ohtake tried to throw out Sekimoto but failed and the Tigers had runners on first and third with no outs. Akahoshi failed to do anything but then Hirano grounded out and Sekimoto charged home 2-1 Tigers. Shimoyanagi on third. Arai was next - he hasn't been batting well against his old side but this innings was different. He got hold of his second pitch and put it over the fence for a two run home run 4-1 Tigers. At this point Brown decided that Ohtake should go and Kozlowski was summoned for the final out. He duly got Kanemoto to ground out to end the innings. This was probably an innings too far for Ohtake. He had survived scares in the fifth and sixth but hadn't been able to handle the seventh.

For Carp's seventh Okada changed his mind and rather than Shimoyanagi went to JFK. Pitching first was Kubota. He continued in his usual vein. He walked the first batter he faced, Kokubo and then got the next two outs. He then gave up two hits in a row to score Kokubo 4-2 Tigers and put runners on first and third with two outs. Finally he got the third out but it wasn't a good innings. Tigers eighth saw a Yano hit but nothing came of it. Williams pitching the Carp eighth walked Alex but got everyone else and Tigers ninth was likewise quiet. Of course the Carp ninth was pitched by Fujikawa. He got the first two outs safely enough but then gave up a hit to Maeda. A second hit to Akamatsu followed and Carp had runners on first and second. Fujikawa kept his cool and got Amaya to ground out to him for the final out. Tigers victory.

This was a well worked victory. Shimoyanagi's record is now 5-0 and Fujikawa got his 14th save. One hopes that Arai has shaken off his worries about his old side with the home run and will be able to hit more often.