July 21st Iwata v Kisanuki - Iwata has problems

Iwata has now been deactivated as Tigers bring up Chris Resop their new signing and hopefully successful closer. Recently the former has been having troubles with the middle of his spell and so needs further work. Kisanuki took a well worked victory for the Giants ironically saying that his motivation was that another bad performance would see him dropped down to the Giants farm team. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Giants
1. Suzuki (Centre)
2. Kimura (Second)
3. Ogasawara (First)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Tani (Right)
6. Nioka (Third)
7. Sakamoto (Short)
8. Tsuruoka (Catcher)
9. Kisanuki (Pitcher)

The game started quietly with both sides falling in order in the first innings. In fact the first signs of life appeared in the Giants second. Tani hit, this was followed by a Nioka hit. Tani advanced to third on a ground out but Nioka was out. The double play didn't come off and Sakamoto was safe on first. He stole second and then Iwata struck out Tsuruoka to end the innings. Tigers second was quiet with no life visible. Giants third and Suzuki hit. He then stole second - more proof that Yano's arm is not what it was. Ogasawara hit a two base to left and Giants were on the scoreboard 1-0 Giants. The final batter, Ramirez, struck out to strand Ogasawara on second. Tigers third saw the first signs of life - a Baldris hit followed by an Iwata bunt. Baldris on second with two outs but the topor returned and Akahoshi flew out to end the innings. Giants fourth and Iwata got the first two batters. He then gave up a hit to Sakamoto and faced Tsuruoka who he had struck out before. Surely, no problem actually a big problem. Tsuruoka made nice contact with the ball and drove it into the left stand for a two run home run 3-0 Giants. Kisanuki was next and he struck out to end the innings. Tigers did respond with a bit more life in the bottom of the innings. Hirano led off with a hit. Two outs later Sekimoto also hit and Tigers had runners on first and second. Unfortunately, Katsuragi grounded out and the innings went nowhere.

The Giants fifth was quiet and the Tigers fifth saw a Yano hit but that was all. Iwata, though, ran into trouble again in the sixth. He struck out Ramirez but then gave up a hit to Tani. Nioka walked and the Giants had runners on first and second with one out. Sakamoto struck out but then Tsuruoka walked and the bases were loaded. Luckily the last batter was Kisanuki and he grounded out to end the danger. Tigers sixth was another quiet innings withe the side being retired in order. Giants seventh was pitched by Egusa. Iwata had pitched six undistinguished innings and hadn't been able to impose any sort of control on the game. Egusa gave up a hit to Kimura who advanced to second on a wild pitch. Ogasawara walked and Giants had runners on first and second with one out. Ramirez was next and he grounded into a double play and the end of the innings.

Tigers seventh saw the end of Kisanuki. He gave up a one out hit to Katsuragi. With two outs he walked Baldris but seemed to have the situation under control. However, Takahashi hit to left driving in Katsuragi 3-1 Giants. Kisanuki departed, the replacement pitcher being Yamaguchi who got Akahoshi to ground out and end the innings. For Giants eighth Okada turned to Kubota. Two outs fell easily enough but then Kubota decided to go wobbly and walked Sakamoto and then Tsuruoka. Fortunately Sakamoto decided to steal third but Yano's throw was surprisingly good and Sakamoto was out to end the innings. Tigers eighth saw Toritani make a one out hit and advance to second on a wild pitch. Sekimoto walked but the final batter Katsuragi struck out. Kubota continued the ninth (maybe he needed the practice) and retired the Giants in order. Kroon of course pitched the Tigers ninth. He was not going to let anything like the previous debacle happen again and struck out all three batters he faced for the victory.

Tigers had been controlled and not allowed to develop anything. Of course, Iwata's poor pitching didn't help but tight pitching had seen the Giants maintain control and hand Tigers their second defeat in a row. The magic number was still waiting to be activated.