May 29th Andoh v Shimizu - Lin is back

Firstly Hirano, he has a strain of his right calf and is under instructions to rest three days. Then he will start rehabilitation and should return in June. The surprise of this match was the return of to the top team of Lin Wei-Tsu. Obviously, it was felt that he was ready and he did well. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Marines
1. Nishioka (Short)
2. Nemoto (Second)
3. Satozaki (Catcher)
4. Saburo (Right)
5. Ohmatsu (Left)
6. Imae (Third)
7. Ortiz (First)
8. Hayakawa (Centre)
9. Shimizu (Pitcher)

Andoh would not start well and would not pitch well but would walk away with the victory as Shimizu would be worse. His first innings was unimpressive to say the least, after getting Nishioka to line out he walked Nemoto and then gave up a hit to Satozaki. Runners on first and third with one out so the next batter Saburo hit a sacrifice fly 1-0 Marines. The next batter Ohmatsu walked and then Imae had a two base hit 2-0 Marines, runners on second and third with two outs.Ortiz also walked to load the bases. This brought up Hayakawa who lined out to Toritani to end the innings. Tigers were retired in order in their first. The Marines second was better, true Nemoto did have a two base hit but this was with two outs and Andoh was able to persuade Satozaki to fly out to end the innings. In the Tigers second Kanemoto flew out but Katsuragi was able to reach first on a missed swinging strike out - the general standard of Marines fielding was not good this match. Toritani though hit into a double play and the innings ended.

For the Marines third Andoh retired the side in order. The Tigers third started quietly, Yano grounded out and then Baldris hit. He was bunted to second by Andoh which brought up Akahoshi. Here we had the first indication that Shimizu would have problems. He walked Akahoshi but looked distinctly shaky. Sekimoto hit and the bases were loaded. Here you had the distinct impression that Baldris should not have hesitated but gone for home (this would prove to be academic). Arai was next and took the first two balls as strikes. He then played around until he could find a ball to hit which he placed into right field. Baldris was home, Akahoshi was home scores level 2-2. The ball was with Nemoto and Marines had caught Arai off base. As they tried to tag him out Sekimoto (on third) went for home. Nemoto threw to Satozaki - the throw was good and Satozaki was able to resist Sekimoto's charge and tag him out for the final out. The Marines fourth started with an Ortiz hit followed by a double play and that chance was lost. Shimizu struck out to end the innings. The Tigers fourth was also quiet but the Marines fifth was a bit more lively. Andoh ran into trouble after two outs. He gave up a hit to Satozaki and then a two base hit to Saburo - things looked dangerous with runners on second and third. Ohmatsu was next and after a strike and two balls took a swing at a high slider. This flew into foul ground and Arai was there to take the catch and end the innings.

The Tigers fifth was riddled with Marines errors. Firstly Yano hit towards Nishioka. This was a simple take but Nishioka elected to spread his legs and drop his glove on the ball. This technique does involve the risk of looking very foolish if you miss and Nishioka duly did this. Yano was safe. Next batter, Baldris who hit into a double play - maybe the Marines would escape without damage after all the next batter was Andoh. He hit to right. Akahoshi collected his second walk of the night and Sekimoto hit again, bases loaded. Arai hit towards Nemoto who had a straightforward collect and throw. Arai is fast but not that fast. The throw though was abysmal and Ortiz on first couldn't take it. Arai was safe and Andoh and Akahoshi were home 4-2 Tigers and a costly error. A mound conference followed and it was decided to walk Kanemoto to get at Katsuragi. He took a strike and a ball before hitting into the gap between centre and right for a bases clearing two base hit 7-2 Tigers. At this point Shimizu was replaced by Nemoto. He hadn't looked comfortable and towards the end of his spell had struggled. Toritani was next and was easily induced to fly out.

Andoh returned for the Marines sixth and you thought that this was an innings too far. He started by giving up a hit to Imae, then Ortiz. He just didn't have the strength to get the final strike. Hayakawa grounded out moving Imae to third and then Andoh walked Benny to load the bases. Okada decided enough was enough and of all people called on Egusa. He had two outs to get to end the innings and preserve Tigers lead. He started badly by giving up a left 2 run timely hit to Nishioka 7-4 Tigers. Nemoto flew out and then Okada went to Watanabe for the final out. He got Saburo to ground out with a marvellous piece of fielding by Baldris to end the innings. The Tiger's sixth started with a two base hit by Yano. Actually with most other batters it would have been a three base as it was in the gap between right and centre but Yano has slowed considerably and does not have the speed anymore. Baldris was next but he struck out. The following batter would be a pinch hitter and the crowd errupted when they saw it was Lin in his first at bat since surgery. He jumped on his first pitch and drove it fiercely along the first baseline and through Ortiz for a two base timely hit 8-4 Tigers.What a return. The final two batters failed to convert Lin though and the innings ended. The Marines seventh signalled the introduction of JFK with Kubota starting. He got the outs as groundouts. Tigers seventh also saw the side retired in order.

Williams made his first appearance in a few matches and gave up a two base to Ortiz. He then struck out the next three batters - getting them all to swing at pitches which weren't there to hit.In the Tigers eighth Toritani hit but then was extinguished when Yano hit into a double play. The final Tiger's batter of the evening was Baldris who flew out. Fujikawa had a straightforward innings and retired his three batters in order for the victory.

A good win for the Tigers. Okada had tried to pitch Andoh too far but this time hadn't blown it. To some extent Marines had sunk themselves with their errors but Tigers had taken their chances well. Encouragingly , Dragons lost opening the Tigers lead at the top another game to 5.5 games.