April 17th Andoh v Miura - An efficient performance

BaySars sent Miura to the mound but he was strangely subdued for the first two innings which was all Tigers needed to build an unassailable lead. The weather may have played a part, a sudden drop of 7 degrees from the day before and rain (that light feathery rain which gets everywhere) made the playing conditions very unpleasant. Tigers, though, stuck to the task in hand and added a useful victory. Kanoh returned as catcher and Katsuragi took right field. Box scores

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

Starting lineups

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

BayStars
1. Ishikawa (Short)
2. Yamasaki (Third)
3. Uchikawa (Left)
4. Yoshimura (Right)
5. Saeki (First)
6. Kinjoh (Centre)
7. Fujita (Second)
8. Noguchi (Catcher)
9. Miura (Pitcher)

Miura would start with an Akahoshi hit. This turned into Akahoshi on second as the Tigers centre stole his usual base. Hirano flew out in foul ground but Toritani walked and Tigers had runners on first and second with Kanemoto next. He worked the count full and then guided a loose pitch nicely over the right stand wall for a home run 3-0 Tigers. Arai walked but the next two batters were unable to convert him. BayStars first was quiet with the batters falling in order. Tigers second started with a Kanoh hit. He made second on a nice bunt by Andoh and third on an Akahoshi ground out. Next batter was Hirano who got the ball on the top of his bat and launched it into left field where Uchikawa waited. This looked like the third out but Uchikawa let the ball spill from his glove for an error. Kanoh was home 4-0 Tigers and Hirano was on second. Toritani flew out and the innings ended. In BayStars second Andoh struck Saeki out looking with a fine inside pitch and he was furious. He clearly thought the ball was out of the zone. Immediately after, Kinjoh managed a hit and Fujita walked (he walked in four which was surprising as he is a lightweight batter and was shown a bit too much respect). Noguchi had his first at bat against his old side and Andoh struck him out to end the innings. Miura settled down in the Tigers third and retired the Tigers batters in order. With two out in the BayStars third, Andoh faced a similar situation to that of the second and gave up a walk followed by a hit to set up runners on first and second again. Once again the BayStars could not convert and Yoshimura flew out to Kanemoto who made sure of the catch.

Kanoh had a two base hit in the Tigers fourth with one out but stayed on second. In the bottom it was Saeki's turn, he led off with a two base and Andoh was looking more and more shakey. A centre fly from Kinjoh took him to third and then a sacrifice fly to right brought him home 4-1 Tigers but one did think that the BayStars should have made more of the opportunity. Tigers fifth was quiet with Miura having re-established his control. Andoh tends to be shakey in the fifth innings and so it was the case this time. With one out he gave up a hit to Ishikawa, next was Yamasaki who hit to short. Toritani went for the runner going to second but the throw was just too late and BayStars had runners on first and second. Uchikawa flew out to right and Ishikawa went to third but once again Yoshimura failed to make anything of it and grounded out to a nice piece of fielding by Arai. He ran in and picked up nicely to throw Yoshimura out. The sixth was quiet with both pitchers in control, dispatching the batters comfortably.

Tigers seventh started with a ground out. Andoh was next and he took a swing at a pitch which flew along the third baseline for a hit. Normally, this would have been a two base hit but Andoh just ambled to first, no doubt surprised to have hit the ball at all. Next batter Akahoshi grounded out to short with Ishikawa going to second. Andoh who was once again ambling along was out but Akahoshi was safe, two outs. Hirano was next and in a masterly piece of batting battled Miura before stroking a hit to centre. Runners on first and third. Toritani followed and hit an infield grounder which just drifted out, if it had stayed in Tigers would have had another run as Toritani beat the field to first. His next shot was a straightforward ground out and the innings was over. Miura retired at the end of this innings. He had thrown 130 pitches and hadn't really been able to dominate. By the end of his session he was clearly tired. Andoh returned for the BayStars seventh. This was straightforward and no runner troubled him. He then retired having thrown 97 pitches with 5 hits and two walks. Nice economical pitching and he had had enough to maintain control. Tigers eighth was pitched by Nasuno. He gave up a lead off to Kanemoto and was immediatley replaced by Yokoyama. He induced Arai to hit into a double play and then struck out Sekimoto to end the innings. Atchison took the BayStars eighth and got the first batter. Uchikawa was next and had a lucky escape, a swing at his third strike was adjudged a checked swing. He then hit and made third on Yoshimura's ground out. Here Mayumi made an incomprehensible decision, he replaced Atchison with Williams. He was probably worried about the right/left issue but with a closer of Atchison's quality this is irrelevant. Anyway Williams got Saeki to ground out and the innings was over. Takasaki took the mound for Tigers ninth and started with a two base hit to Katsuragi. He advanced to third on a wild hit and then home on a Hiyama (pinch hitter) sacrifice fly 5-1 Tigers. BayStars ninth saw Egusa (as it wasn't a save situation). He was dominant and in a fine display of pitching struck out all the batters he faced swinging. Tigers victory.

Not a spectacular victory but a well worked one nonetheless. Tigers had been efficient and used their chances well. BayStars had mostly lacked people who could drive in runs. Kanemoto now has 24 RBIs and 8 home runs. Andoh picked up his second victory on a good display of pitching. Mayumi was better last night but still showed that he is learning with his switching of Williams for Atchison just over the left/right issue.