June 7th Nohmi v Sugiuchi - Oh overpitches Sugiuchi

A sayonara hit gave Tigers victory over a tired Sugiuchi. He threw 149 pitches in 10 innings. Presumably Oh wanted to avoid the risk of using his relief against Tigers but really this was too much. Of course Tigers welcomed the situation and worked their way back into a game before the winning hit. Hawks reverted to their away uniforms which actually looked boring when compared to the retro uniforms of yesterday. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Hawks
1. Honda (Second)
2. Kawasaki (Short)
3. Matsunaka (Third)
4. Kokubo (First)
5. Shibahara (Right)
6. Matsuda (Third)
7. Hasegawa (Centre)
8. Matoyama (Catcher)
9. Sugiuchi (Pitcher)

The big surprise was the appearance of Nohmi as the starter for Tigers. He has started before but you felt that this was a bit risky. Events would demonstrate that these fears were not unfounded and he would not rise above the level of mediocre. His first innings did not impress. Honda grounded out and then Kawasaki hit. He tried to steal second but was thrown out. However, the next batter, Matsunaka also hit and then Nohmi walked Kokubo. The next batter Shibahara flew out to end the innings. In their first Tigers went down in order. Next innings and Matsuda led off with a two base hit. Then Hasegawa hit - runners on first and third with no outs. Matoyama hit and it was 1-0 Hawks - runners on first and second with no outs. Sugiuchi grounded out and then Honda hit to load the bases. Kawasaki hit a sacrifice fly to right 2-0 Hawks though one felt Hawks might have had more. The final batter Matsunaka messed up a 138km straight ball and flew out to Yano. Tigers response was immediate. Kanemoto hit a two base but Ford struck out looking. Toritani hit and Tigers had runners on first and third with one out. Then Yano hit and Kanemoto was home 2-1 Hawks - runners on first and second. Baldris grounded out which moved Toritani round to third but Takahashi (pinch hitting for Nohmi) flew out to centre and Hawks retained their lead.

Nohmi had lasted only two innings and this time Okada had pulled him quickly before he did too much damage. The replacement pitcher for the Hawks third was Egusa (who I normally don't have much time for) and this proved to be an inspired choice. He retired the Hawks in order using eight pitches and striking out Matsuda to end the innings. Sugiuchi also retired the batters in order in the Tigers third getting everyone with ground outs. The Hawks fourth once again saw the best of Egusa and only ten pitches were needed to dispatch the Hawks. If only he could pitch like this all the time as he stabilized the Tigers and cut off Hawks momentum at a very important juncture. Sugiuchi ran into trouble in the Tigers fourth - Kanemoto hit and then Ford grounded out to second. Honda, though, messed it up and Ford was safe on first with Kanemoto on second and no outs. Sugiuchi stayed calm and the next three batters fell without converting the runners. Egusa also ran into trouble in the Hawks fifth. He got the first two outs and then walked Matsunaka and Kokubo in succession. Shibahara hit but with Matsunaka as leading runner this only loaded the bases. This brought up Matsuda who mistimed his hit and flew out to Sekimoto to end the threat. A lucky escape.

Tigers fifth saw Lin (pinch hitting for Egusa) lead off but he struck out and even though Sekimoto hit nothing came of it. Watanabe took the Hawks sixth and had no problems striking out two. Sugiuchi also kept the Tigers off base and scoreless in the Tigers version. The Hawks seventh saw Kawasaki hit but Watanabe had no problems getting the three outs. The Tigers seventh started with Yano as leadoff. He hit and was bunted to second by Baldris. Next was Asai (pinch hitting for Watanabe). He slammed a three base hit to right centre 2-2 scores level. Akahoshi tried to get Asai home with a left hit but flew out and Asai was caught going for home and was out. Williams was next. He struck out Shibahara, then got Matsuda to fly out and finally struck out Tsuji (replacement centre). Sugiuchi also had no problems in the Tigers eighth. Williams re-appeared in the Hawks ninth and gave up a hit to the leadoff Matoyama. Matoyama then stood and watched as Williams calmly dispatched the next three batters including Sugiuchi - you did think why he was going to continue pitching. The Tigers ninth started with a Ford hit. This rare occurence was extinguished as Toritani hit into a double play. Yano then lined out to second to end the innings.

Fujikawa took the mound and immediatley dead balled Matsunaka. Once again a Hawks batter was a helpless spectator as one of Tigers elite relievers dispatched his colleagues. Kokubo struck out, Shibahara flew out and then Matsuda struck out. Sugiuchi returned for the Tigers 10th and you did wonder why he was in the game so long. Baldris grounded out and then Katsuragi (pinch hitter) hit. He was pinch run for by Shuta. Akahoshi hit and Tigers had runners on first and second. They needed to get a runner to third for a sacrifice and next up was Sekimoto. He took two straights and a slider - all balls. The next was a strike but the following slider was a ball - Sekimoto walked! Bases loaded - one out and the sacrifice was on. Oh still persisted with Sugiuchi who faced Arai. The Tigers No. 3 guided the second pitch he faced neatly between third and short for a sayonara hit 3-2 Tigers victory.

A very tight game which was won by a very strong Tigers side. Sugiuchi had been asked to pitch far too long and even though Oh might have been trying to avoid exposing his relief it was very irresponsible management. Tigers took full advantage and used both their pitching and their batting wisely. Good management of the pitchers by Okada saw a valuable victory which kept the Dragons at 6.5 games away. The win went to Fujikawa.