August 19th Andoh v Miyazaki - Tigers win!

Faced with some abysmal Carp pitching - in addition to the 15 hits they gave up the Carp pitchers walked 14 batters - Tigers snapped their losing streak in dramatic fashion. Even though Andoh was not at his best the run support he received guaranteed he was in no danger of losing. It remains to be seen whether Tigers can build on this but the team feels better and their next goal should be to take the series against the Carp. They remain seven games ahead of the Giants but with no magic number. The really good news is that Fukuhara is due back around the 28th. Line scores

       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E
Tigers 1 5 0 0 0 7 0 1 0 14 15 0
Carp   0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 1  5 13 0

Starting lineups

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

Carp
1. Higashide (Second)
2. Amaya (Centre)
3. Alex (Right)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. Shima (Left)
6. Ishihara (Catcher)
7. Kida (Third)
8. Kokubo (Short)
9. Miyazaki (Pitcher)

Tigers would shoot out of the blocks straight from the first innings. Akahoshi walked - the first of many and moved to second on a Hirano ground out. Toritani hit 1-0 Tigers. One out later Tortani tried to advance too far on a wild pitch and was caught out - end of innings. Andoh started well and got the first three outs without trouble. Miyazaki's pitching deteriorated even further in the Tigers second. Lin led off with a solo home run, his first of the season 2-0 Tigers. Katsuragi hit and one out later so did Noguchi. With runners on first and second Andoh grounded out but then Miyazaki walked Akahoshi for the second time - bases loaded. Next batter Hirano who also walked 3-0 Tigers. Toritani hit to right driving in 2 runs 5-0 Tigers and knocking out Miyazaki. He hadn't lasted two innings. The new pitcher was Makino who faced runners on first and third with Kanemoto at the plate. Kanemoto hit and another run was scored 6-0 Tigers. Lin stepped up for his second bat of the innings but struck out and the innings was over. Carp's second innings saw their first hit - a one out two base by Shima but the next two batters did nothing and the innings ended scoreless. Makino returned for the Tigers third and started by walking Katsuragi. He was out in a Sekimoto double play but then Makino walked Noguchi. Luckily for the Carp, the next batter was Andoh and he duly struck out. Kokubo lead off the Carp third with a hit but then was thrown out trying to steal second. The next two batters were easily out and the Tigers were comfortable.

Makino continued his walking ways in the Tigers fourth. Akahoshi collected his third walk of the evening. He was bunted to second by Hirano and then Toritani walked - the next two batters did nothing and Carp escaped the innings without damage. Poor pitching to be sure but so far the score hadn't increased. Andoh though ran into trouble in the Carp fourth - he was feeling a bit too relaxed. Amaya led off with a hit and one out later Kurihara hit to put runners on first and third. Shima was next and he slammed his 7th home run 6-3 Tigers. The next two batters were out easily and the lead had been trimmed. With Tigers fifth Noguchi collected another walk but went to far on an Andoh hit and was caught out to end the innings. In the Carp fifth Andoh dead balled Soyogi (replacement short) with one out. Higashide hit to drive him to second and then Amaya hit to drive him in 6-4 Tigers and the Carp were getting close. Alex and Kurihara were next but Andoh had enough to deal with their threats and the Tigers lead remained.

Makino had been replaced at the end of the fifth by Kishimoto who would prove to be dreadful. He started the innings striking out Akahoshi. Then he walked Hirano who advanced to second on a wild pitch. Toritani joined him on base with another walk and then Kanemoto walked - bases loaded. Exit Kishimoto to be replaced by Ueno. He gave up a timely hit to Lin 7-4 Tigers. Then he faced Katsuragi - another timely hit 8-4 Tigers bases still loaded. Next was Sekimoto who hammered his second grand slam of the season to left. 12-4 Tigers. Sekimoto later said he thought it was a fluke but it put the game way out of the Carp's reach. Noguchi hit and then reached second on a wild pitch. Sakurai (pinch hitter) struck out but Akahoshi hit driving in Noguchi 13-4 Tigers. Hirano had a two base putting himself on second and Akahoshi on third. Toritani walked to load the bases again but Kanemoto grounded out to short and the Carp could breath a sigh of relief.

Kubota pitched the Carp sixth and was still not at his best. Morikasa (replacement left) led off with a hit and made second on a wild pitch. He was joined on base by Akamatsu (replacement centre) who walked (Tigers first walk of the evening) and they advenced to second and third on a Kokubo ground out. Soyogi though struck out trying to hit a pitch that wasn't there to hit and the innings was over. Shinoda pitched the Tigers seventh and managed a rare feat - he retired the batters in order. Egusa took the Carp's seventh and gave up a hit to Kimura (replacement short). He then walked Kurihara to put runners on first and second with two outs. The final batter was Morikasa who grounded out to Hirano to end the innings. Tigers eighth started with Noguchi collecting another walk - he moved to second on an Akahoshi walk and then Hirano also walked. Toritani hit again and Noguchi was home 14-4 Tigers. Kanemoto grounded out with runners on first and third and the innings was over. The Carp eighth was nearly as exciting with Hashimoto pitching. He gave up a hit to Uemura (replacement catcher) who moved to second on a wild pitch and third on a Kokubo hit. Hashimoto held his nerve and got the final out. In Tigers ninth Lin hit again but nothing came of this and so to the final innings which was pitched by Abe. The first two outs fell easily enough but then Alex hit a two base. Kurihara followed with a hit and Alex was home 14-5 Tigers. The final batter was Morikasa who flew out to end the game. Tigers victory

A welcome and convincing victory. Tigers pitching had been better and this had made the difference. The Carp pitchers walked too many batters and made too many loose pitches. Whilst Carp were able to hit they didn't get so many opportunites. They need to build on this victory and use the momentum from it to generate a few more victories.