July 3rd Kanemura v Asakura - Tigers sweep the Dragons

This is the first of the catch up reports I will write to fill in the gaps. Kanemura made an assured debut for Tigers but didn't record the victory. I had expected the Dragons to take this one and was very pleased that Tigers were just too strong for the Dragons. Line scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Dragons 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  6 2
Tigers  1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 X 4 11 1

Starting lineups

1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Sekimoto (Third)
3. Arai (First)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Lin (Right)
6. Toritani (Short)
7. Noguchi (Catcher)
8. Fujimoto (Second)

Dragons

1. Araki (Second)
2. Koike (Centre)
3. Nakamura (Third)
4. Woods (First)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Lee (Right)
7. Delarosa (Short)
8. Tanishige (Catcher)
9. Asakura (Pitcher)

Kanemura started very well and the Dragons were retired in order. Asakura's start was a bit more difficult. Akahoshi hit and was bunted to second by Sekimoto. Then Arai hit and it was 1-0 Tigers. Kanemoto flew out but an error by Araki allowed Lin to reach first and Arai to make third. Toritani though grounded out and the innings was over. In the Dragons second Wada hit but nothing came of this as Kanemura was in control. In the Tigers second Fujimoto hit and was bunted to second by Kanemura. Akahoshi flew out and the chance failed to be converted. Dragons struck back in the third. The first two batters fell but then Araki hit. He stole second and then third on an error. Koike hit and Araki was home 1-1 scores level. The final batter, Nakamura grounded out and the innings was over. Tigers third saw Kanemoto and Lin hit and they had runners on first and second with two outs. However, Toritani couldn't convert them and the innings ended scoreless. Asakura would in fact pitch very well.

Dragons fourth saw the side fall in order but with one out in the Tigers fourth Fujimoto hit again. Kanemura was out with three failed bunts but Akahoshi hit to put runners on first and second. Sekimoto though grounded out and the innings was over. In Dragons fifth Kanemura walked Tanishige who was bunted to second by Asakura. The final batter was Araki who flew out and the chance was extinguished. Tigers fifth was quiet with the side being retired in order. Surprisingly Asakura would retire at the end of this innings - maybe he was not 100% but his performance had been good. Kanemura continued into the sixth and had no problems retiring the Dragons in order. Takahashi took the Tigers sixth and retired the three batters he faced with ease. Dragons seventh was Kubota. He gave up a leadoff hit to Wada but then kept him anchored on first, striking out both Delarosa and Tanishige to end the innings. For Tigers seventh Yoshimi replaced Takahashi. He wasn't so smooth giving up a hit to Sekimoto but with two outs was able to get the final batter, Arai, to fly out.

Dragons eighth was Watanabe who had no problems retiring the side in order. So to Tigers eighth were Dragons ran into trouble. Chen was the pitcher and he struck out Kanemoto. Next batter Lin hit and then Toritani slammed a two base - runners on second and third with one out. Yano was the next batter and you would have expected a sacrifice fly. Yano though hit a two run timely to left 3-1 Tigers. Fujimoto bunted towards Chen who messed up and the Tigers had runners on first and second. Chen exited to be replaced by Shimizu. He got Hiyama (pinch hitter) to fly out without the sacrifice fly coming off but then walked Akahoshi to load the bases. He then balked 4-1 Tigers. Sekimoto grounded out and the innings finished with a comfortable Tigers lead. Fujikawa took the Dragons ninth of course. He struck out Nakamura and then Woods but Wada hit. Next batter Lee also hit and Dragons had runners on first and third. Fujikawa was superb striking out Delarosa looking to end the innings. Tigers victory and a sweep.

Tigers had completely dominated the Dragons this series. Kanemura's debut had been assured and whilst he hadn't recorded the victory (this went to Watanabe) he had done enough. Fujikawa recorded his 26th save and had confronted his demons successfully.