April 18th Nohmi v Glynn - Nohmi's first win

This match saw Nohmi pick up his first victory and from the scoreline one might think that he had done so with the help of his batters and had wobbled. Actually, the wobbles had come from the relief and Nohmi himself had pitched very well for the most part, giving up no runs on 3 hits and four walks with a truely awesome patch of pitching from the second to fourth innings. Mayumi juggled his lineup once again bringing in Sakurai, Mench and Fujimoto as starters. He still exhibited an inability to manage his pitching though and this almost cost Nohmi his victory which would have been a shame. Box scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers   0 0 0 1 2 1 1 4 0 9 15 0
BayStars 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 4 10 1

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Sakurai (Centre)
2. Fujimoto (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Arai (Third)
6. Sekimoto (First)
7. Mench (Right)
8. Kanoh (Catcher)
9. Nohmi (Pitcher)

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

Mastny was replaced by Ohnishi before the match started.

Glynn would start well but fade. Nohmi would struggle but improve. In the Tigers first Glynn had no problems, the batters fell 1-2-3. Nohmi got the first two outs and then gave up a two base hit to Uchikawa. Here he got into trouble walking Yoshimura and Saeki to load the bases (excepting the seventh the BayStars had great difficulty converting runners). Ohnishi though grounded out and the innings ended. Kanemoto led off Tigers second with a hit but Glynn did well striking out the next three batters. So to BayStars second and the start of Nohmi's run. Nishi struck out swinging in four to a fork, Noguchi looking in four to a straight ball and Glynn in three looking at a straight ball. Tigers third saw Kanoh lead off with a hit and he made second on Nohmi's bunt. However, nothing came of this chance as the next two batters fell to Glynn. BayStars third and Ishikawa was the first victim swinging at his fifth pitch, a slider. Yamasaki followed also in five looking at his fourth straightball in a row. Uchikawa was next and he flew out (the only BayStar to escape Nohmi's run).

Tigers opened the scoring in the fourth. With two out Arai hammered a straight ball into the left stand 1-0 Tigers. Sekimoto walked and Mench had a two base setting up runners on second and third. Kanoh was walked to get at Nohmi and load the bases. Nohmi duly flew out in foul ground. He then continued his progress in the bottom of the fourth. It took six pitches to get Yoshimura who swung at a changeup. Next came Saeki also swinging but this time at a fork, his fifth pitch. Finally, Ohnishi who swung at his fifth, also a fork - end of innings. Nohmi had almost struck out the entire BayStars in succession (only Uchikawa escaped), a truely impressive piece of pitching. Tigers then took advantage as Glynn began to falter in the fifth. With one out Fujimoto hit, he was followed by Toritani whose hit took Fujimoto to third. Kanemoto flew out and Arai walked to load the bases. Sekimoto was next and he hit to right driving in two runs 3-0 Tigers runners on second and third as the fielding messed up the return. Mench though flew out and the innings was over. BayStars tried to fight back but once again couldn't convert. Nishi hit, followed by Noguchi. The next two batters fell and then Yamasaki walked to load the bases. Nohmi then induced a fly out to Sakurai to end the innings. Kanoh led off the Tigers sixth with a hit. Nohmi again bunted him to second but this time he was joined on base by Sakurai who walked. At this point Glynn was replaced by Nasuno who faced Imaoka (pinch hitter). Sakurai and Kanoh engineered a double steal, runners on second and third. Imaoka struck out bringing up Toritani. Nasuno unleashed a wild changeup and Kanoh was home 4-0 Tigers - runner on third. However, Toritani failed to convert him and grounded out. Nohmi returned for the BayStars sixth. Apart from walking Saeki, he was untroubled and would retire at the end of the innings.

With one out in Tigers seventh Nasuno was replaced by Kosuke. He gave up a two base hit to Sekimoto, next batter Mench. Mench hit to left for a timely hit 5-0 Tigers runner on first. Mench then stole second but Kanoh struck out to end the innings. So at the start of BayStars seventh and everything was looking good. A solid lead and the relief pitching to come - what could go wrong? Quite a lot actually, Mayumi selected Watanabe to start. He walked Noguchi but struck out Morikasa (pinch hitter). Ishikawa hit setting up runners on first and second and here Mayumi summoned Atchison. He could have left Watanabe on the mound as it was not such a serious situation but the conclusion must be Mayumi panicked. That being said the choice of Atchison was not a bad one. However, Atchison was not on form. He gave up a hit to Kinjoh (pinch hitter) to load the bases. Next up Uchikawa who drove the ball nicely to centre for two runs 5-2 Tigers, runners on first and second. Now would have been a good time to switch Atchison but Mayumi persisted. Yoshimura grounded out to short but avoided the double play and Kinjoh was round to third. Once again a good time to switch Atchison to get the final out. Once again the opportunity passed over. Atchison walked Saeki to load the bases and then Ohnishi had a two base hit to right driving in two more runs 5-4 Tigers runners on second and third and it was getting tight. Finally Atchison struck out Nishi to end the innings and preserve Nohmi's victory but this was poor handling of the relief by Mayumi yet again (one has to admit Okada was better). Tigers then set about making sure that Nohmi's first win of the season wasn't thrown away. The victim was Yokoyama. Katsuragi (pinch hitter) got a lead off walk. Sakurai grounded out but Hirano (replacement second - why replace the on form Hirano with Fujimoto in the first place?) hit. He was followed by Toritani to load the bases. Kanemoto hit to centre driving in two runs 7-4 Tigers, runners on second and third. Arai hit to third and Toritani went for home 8-4 Tigers, Kanemoto to third and Arai safe on first. Next batter Sekimoto who hit to centre driving in Kanemoto 9-4 runners on first and second and Tigers were back in control. Hiyama (pinch hitter) flew out which took Arai to third but then Kanoh also flew out and the innings was over. BayStars eighth was pitched by Williams who gave up a one out hit to Hosoyamada (pinch hitter) but had no problems getting the next two outs. Takasaki took the Tigers ninth and gave up a two base hit to Sakurai once again without result. For BayStars ninth Mayumi went to Egusa again. He started by getting the first out, Uchikawa grounding out to Arai but then walked Yoshimura. A hit followed from the otherwise ineffective Saeki followed by a hit from Fujita (replacement third) to load the bases. Nishi was next and he obligingly hit into a double play to end the game - Tigers victory.

A comfortable victory despite a strong fight by the BayStars. Their inability to convert and their slack fielding had cost them. Nohmi picked up his first win and had pitched very well. Maybe there is hope for him after all. His pitching of the second to fourth innings was devastating and gave the Tigers momentum. Atchison almost threw things away and here once again, Mayumi's management of the pitching must be questioned. He seems to have trouble managing the seventh and the relief and this is something he needs to give more thought to. Kanemoto added another RBI to his tally and Mayumi picked up his first away series win.