April 25th Fukuhara v Hasegawa - Almost another shutout

A fine victory built on good batting and fine pitching by Fukuhara. He just missed out on a complete game shutout due to an umpiring error but still had enough to pick up his first win. Carp were abject though, fielding and pitching were not up to the required standard and they need to show a lot more if they are to reach the playoffs. Tigers got to Hasegawa in the first innings and never looked back in an awesome display of discipline and control. The six/seven combination of Katsuragi and Sakurai worked well and I would be surprised to see Mench back in the first team at all. Yamato also made his first appearance and once again Kanoh was magnificent. Box scores

       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E
Tigers 4 0 1 2 0 1 4 0 0 12 16 0
Carp   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1  6 2

Starting lineups

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

Carp
1. Higashide (Second)
2. Akamatsu (Centre)
3. Amaya (Right)
4. Seabol (Third)
5. Shima (Left)
6. Kida (First)
7. Ishii (Short)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Hasegawa (Pitcher)

Hasegawa ran into trouble with his first batter, Hirano. With two strikes Hirano swung at a wild pitch and missed. Unfortunately so did Ishihara and of course Hirano was entitled to run which he duly did reaching first safely. He got to second on another wild pitch and then third on a Sekimoto bunt. Toritani walked but Kanemoto flew out. Next batter Arai who hit a nice two base to left putting both runners home 2-0 Tigers, runner on second. Katsuragi then blasted his first home run of the season and two more runs were scored 4-0 Tigers and the Carp were reeling. Hasegawa then walked Sakurai and Kanoh setting up runners on first and second but it did mean he could get at Fukuhara who duly struck out to end the innings. Fukuhara started Carp's first with a walk, his only walk of the game. The next two batters, Akamatsu and Amaya fell quickly and then Higashide tried to steal second. A super throw from Kanoh picked him off and the innings was over. Hasegawa's second had an element of luck in it as he got into trouble again. Hirano grounded out but then Sekimoto hit. Toritani followed with a two base hit and Kanemoto walked to load the bases. However, this time Arai hit into a double play and no runs resulted. Carp's second was quiet as Fukuhara retired the batters in order. Tigers third started with Katsuragi two base hit (he would miss out on a cycle by not hitting a three base). Kanoh hit and Tigers had runners on first and third with one out. Fukuhara couldn't engineer a fly and so it was left to Hirano who hit to centre driving in a run 5-0 Tigers, runners on first and third. Sekimoto flew out but that was the end of Hasegawa who had been totally useless. Ishihara hit to short and one out later Higashide hit to set up runners on first and second. This was all that happened as Fukuhara got Akamatsu to ground out.

Takahiro Aoki took the mound for Tigers fourth and proved just as ineffective as Hasegawa. He started with a hit to Toritani. Two outs later Katsuragi hit again and then Sakurai drove a three base hit to right with both runners home 7-0 Tigers, runner on third and the game basically over as a contest. Kanoh flew out and the innings was over. Carp fourth was quiet with Fukuhara staying in control. Fukuhara led off Tigers fifth and struck out looking. Next batter, Hirano, who grounded out to second. Higashide, who had a dreadful game at second messed up the pick up and Hirano was safe on first. Sekimoto hit and Tigers had runners on first and second. Toritani hit to second and a certain double play but once again Higashide messed up and was only able to get second with Hirano moving round to third. Kanemoto though also grounded out to second and this time Higashide made no mistake, end of innings. Carp's fifth was quiet as well. Tigers sixth started with Arai walking. Katsuragi grounded out which took him to second and then Sakurai hit to short. Ishii decided to try and get Arai going for third but the throw was just too late. Both Seabol and Ishii were incredulous but replays showed that Arai was just safe, runners on first and third. Kanoh grounded out to second which brought home Arai 8-0 Tigers, runner on second and finally Fukuhara grounded out to Ishii to end the innings. Higashide hit in the Carp's sixth but nothing came of this and he didn't move beyond first.

Tigers seventh was eventful. Brown brought Dohmann to the mound but unlike the night before he was dismal. He lacked control and what was puzzling was why Brown left him in so long. He walked Hirano who was then pinch run for by Yamato who made his Tigers first team debut. Yamato made second on a wild pitch as Sekimoto walked. Dohmann unleashed another wild pitch to take Yamato to third and then Toritani walked to load the bases. Next batter was Kanemoto who got a dead ball on his thigh, oshidashi run 9-0 Tigers bases loaded, no outs. Arai followed and he hit to short. Ishii fired the ball to second but the runner was safe 10-0 Tigers, bases loaded no outs exit Dohmann. Hayashi followed and gave up a hit to Katsuragi, another runner home 11-0 Tigers bases loaded, no outs. Finally an out, Sakurai flew out and no run was scored. Kanoh was next and he hit to centre driving in a run 12-0 bases loaded one out. Fukuhara was next and he struck out looking and finally Yamato got his first first team at bat and grounded out to end the innings. Carp's seventh was an anticlimax, the batters were retired in order. Hayashi was replaced by Aizawa who gave up a hit to Toritani but otherwise retired the batters in order. Fukuhara returned for the Carp eighth, Mayumi was going to give him the chance for a complete game shutout but it was not to be. He faced Ishii who swung along the first baseline. This should have been called foul as the ball landed in foul ground immediately after it bounced over first but was ruled a hit - a two base with no outs. The next batter was Uemura (replacement catcher) who hit to centre bringing Ishii home 12-1 Tigers, runner on first. Fukuhara got the next three batters striking out two of them and was philosophical about his failure to get the shutout. Mayumi and the whole coaching team congratulated him on his win after the end of eighth. Schultz pitched Tigers ninth and with two out gave up a three base hit to Kanoh who ran well but Baldris (pinch hitter) grounded out to end the innings. Tsutsui was the pitcher for the Carp ninth. He got Amaya to ground out but then Seabol had a two base hit which just dropped short of the home run rail. Hirose (pinch hitter) flew out and then Kida struck out to end the game. Tigers victory.

Carp had been completely outplayed. Their pitching hadn't been up to standard by a long way and Tigers had had an easy ride. Fukuhara had been excellent throwing 116 pitches and giving up one run on five hits and one walk. Arai and Katsuragi each drove in three runs, Sakurai and Kanoh two runs apiece with Kanemoto and Hirano responsible for the others. This had been an all round dominating performance.