April 21st Shimoyanagi v Asakura - The rematch

When Shimoyanagi pitched against Asakura at Koshien he was over-pitched and melted down spectacularly. He was much better this game (though still loose) but Asakura was excellent. Tigers batters could not hit him at all and struggled. In a seperate item Sakai owner indicated that the start by Mayumi as a coach hadn't really been satisfactory. There had been too many errors and this situation needed to change. On to the match and the box scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Dragons
1. Araki (Second)
2. Ibata (Short)
3. Morino (Third)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Yamai (Right)
7. Fujii (Centre)
8. Oyama (Catcher)
9. Asakura (Pitcher)

Yamai was replaced by Hidenori before the match started.

This is the second time that a Tigers opponent put a pitcher in the starting lineup to conceal a fielder (the first was the BayStars) this season. Like last season I wonder if this has any effect or influence still it seems to keep some people happy. The match would be low scoring and would start with a Tigers run. Akahoshi led of Tigers first with a hit. He then stole second. Hirano flew out which took Akahoshi round to third and then Toritani grounded out to short which took Akahoshi home 1-0 Tigers. Kanemoto also grounded out and the innings was over. Shimoyanagi was shakey in Dragons first. He walked Araki who was then extinguished by a Ibata double play. A piece of luck which was almost wasted by Shimoyanagi walking Morino but Blanco grounded out and the innings was over. Asakura had been unlucky in the first but in the Tigers second he would generate his own luck. With one out Sekimoto walked but the innings was ended by a Mench double play. With two out in Dragons second, Shimoyanagi walked Fujii. Next batter was Oyama who hit to set up runners on first and third but with the final batter being Asakura the out was guaranteed and Shimoyanagi escaped to pitch another innings. Tigers third was quiet as Asakura was in complete control. Dragons third was the opposite. Araki led off with a hit which was followed immediatley by a Ibata hit, runners on first and third with no outs. Morino lined out to Sekimoto which also caught Ibata off base for a double play, two outs. Shimoyanagi though walked Blanco to set up runners on first and third again. Then he gave up a two base hit to Wada. Blanco showed good speed around the bases to make home as well 2-1 Dragons, runner on second. Hidenori was next but he flew out to centre and the innings was over.

Asakura then set about protecting his lead. He walked Hirano to lead off Tigers fourth but Toritani hit into a double play and Kanemoto struck out and that was that. Shimoyanagi surprisingly was also in control in the fourth. All three Dragons batters fell easily. Tigers fifth was quiet with nothing of note happening. In the bottom Araki led off with a two base hit and was bunted to third by Ibata. This was as far as he got and that threat petered out. Tigers sixth saw Kanoh hit. Shimoyanagi messed up his three bunts and was out. Akahoshi then bunted Kanoh to second and Asakura walked Hirano to set up runners on first and second. Maybe he was going to meltdown as he often does. Not so, he got Toritani to ground out to second and that chance was finished. Dragons sixth was quiet with the batters falling in order. Shimoyanagi retired at the end of the sixth. It looked like he hadn't done too badly walking four and giving up five hits. But he had clustered his walks and hits getting into some serious situations where only the Dragons inability to execute had saved him.

Asakura's seventh was straightforward, no one got on base. Watanabe replaced Shimoyanagi and managed to deadball Oyama but nothing came of this. Asakura was ruled out for interference. Tigers eighth was also quiet as Asakura disposed of Tigers pinch hitters (Katsuragi and Sakurai). Asakura retired at the end of this innings. He had pitched an absolute gem, throwing 101 pitches in his eight innings and giving up only one run on two hits and three walks. He had only really been challenged in the sixth and had responded well to it. Egusa took Dragons eighth and walked Blanco but had no problems getting out of the innings. Tigers ninth was pitched by Iwase started with Akahoshi who reached first on an error from Morino. He was bunted to second by Hirano but then Toritani and Kanemoto did nothing as Iwase was in complete control. Dragons victory.

A tight match with few hits and fewer runs. Shimoyanagi had needed to hold a tight lead but had failed. Possibly he needs more practice and another pitcher should replace him, he is old and hasn't been convincing at all so far. Asakura had been magnificent and had kept the Tigers under wraps. This had been surprising and bodes well for the Dragons. No real pluses from the game for the Tigers, the fielding had been good and the pitching had been reasonable but it needed to be of a higher level.