May 3rd Cheng v Gonzalez - Tigers batting fails

The big news is the de-registering of Fujikawa. This is officially due to pain in his right elbow but also read an element of readjustment being needed. He will be out for 10 days. Tigers batting failed miserably in this game, it wasn't that Gonzalez was a great pitcher (though he certainly wasn't mediocre)it was that non of the batters really showed the necessary application to hit him and swung too early at outside balls. Luck was also with the Giants, particularly with Ogasawara's hit. Cheng wasn't wonderful either but can consider himself not to have had the rub of the green with certain umpiring calls. Once again Mayumi made some questionable decisions, was it really appropriate to use Hirano as a pinch hitter? Was Tsutsui the best pitcher for the sixth innings? Neither decision can be answered in the affirmative. On a more cheerful note, Kanemoto recorded his 1500th straight game and received a nice presentation. Box scores

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

Starting lineups

Giants
1. Matsumoto (Centre)
2. Wakiya (Second)
3. Ogasawara (Third)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Kamei (Right)
6. Lee (First)
7. Abe (Catcher)
8. Sakamoto (Short)
9. Gonzalez (Pitcher)

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

Cheng would start well and would pitch the Giants first very nicely. Matsumoto grounded out and then Cheng struck out Wakiya and Ogasawara in succession. Gonzalez would also start well but with a bit of luck. Sekimoto though typified the Tigers batters approach and insisted on swinging at low outside balls which were clearly visible as such. Toritani hit and then Kanemoto tried to steer one into left field only to line out to Ogasawara at third. This also symbolised Tigers luck, an intelligent well executed shot that should have brought better reward. In Giants second Ramirez led off with a hit. Two outs later Cheng faced Abe. The pitching was good and several of the so called balls were in fact strikes that the home plate umpire didn't give. This was frustrating as Abe finally walked, runners on first and second - very poor umpiring especially as similar or worse pitches from Gonzalez were called strikes. With the next batter being Sakamoto (who is hot) Cheng needed to be careful but wasn't. Sakamoto hits very nicely to left and so it is a good idea to avoid giving him opportunities and Cheng didn't. Sakamoto duly hit to left and one runner was home 1-0 Giants, runners on first and second. The final batter was Gonzalez who flew out to end the innings. Tigers second saw Arai lead off with a hit but then Katsuragi flew out and Fujimoto hit into a double play. One has to question why Fujimoto is included in the side (well its because Mayumi likes him) as his batting is not of the required standard. In Giants third Cheng gave up a hit to Wakiya but didn't advance beyond third. Tigers third saw Akahoshi hit with two out and then steal second but once again Sekimoto swung at one he should have left and this time grounded out to Gonzalez to end the chance.

Giants fourth was quiet but it needed a great catch by Akahoshi to ensure that this was the case. Lee hit to centre a deep knock that fell just below the home run line. Akahoshi had to go back and time his jump to perfection to snatch the ball out of the air. Cheng was suitably grateful. Nothing happened in the Tigers fourth except that the batters swung too soon and at pitches they should have left. Certainly Arai would have been well advised leaving his final pitch alone. Giants fifth started with another fine piece of fielding this time from Kanemoto. Sakamoto led off and as is his style hit to left. Kanemoto ran round and took the ball just before he hit the fence. Gonzalez though hit to left, one which included an element of luck but also Cheng's pitching wasn't wonderful. Matsumoto hit to right and Gonzalez headed for third where he was tagged out by Arai - only the umpire ruled him safe. Another poor decision by the umpiring team and if the umpire had made the correct call the innings would have been different. Wakiya flew out but Ogasawara swung at a pitch that was a little wide and managed to get enough bat on it to hit into right field. It could have gone anywhere but landed safely and too more runners were home 3-0 Giants runner on first. Ramirez though flew out to centre - an easier catch for Akahoshi and the innings was over. Tigers fifth was also quiet as the batters were retired in order. Cheng returned for the Giants sixth and started with a two base hit to Kamei. This decided Mayumi was enough and he summoned Tsutsui to replace him. Cheng had thrown 77 pitches and even though he had some bad luck hadn't really done that well. The question remains, why Tsutsui? Why not Egusa who is pitching very well. Tsutsui got Lee to fly out and then dead balled Abe on his thigh. This looked deliberate and if so was very stupid and unnecessary. Tsutsui would pay for it with the very next at bat which was Sakamoto again. Once again the Giants shortstop hit nicely to left driving in another run 4-0 Giants. Gonzalez bunted to first setting up runners on second and third but the final batter, Matsumoto struck out. In Tigers sixth Sekimoto hit to centre, this time he ignored the outside ball and waited for an easier one to hit but Toritani grounded out to end the innings.

For Giants seventh Mayumi went with Watanabe but also changed the catcher to try and shake things up. Okazaki is no longer on the top team and his replacement is Shimizu who is also a good catcher. Watanabe was still shaky but better than before. He got two outs before giving up a hit to Ramirez (pinch run for by Suzuki). Suzuki stole second and then Watanbe walked Kamei setting up runners on first and second but Lee grounded out to Sekimoto and the innings was over. Tigers seventh was quiet with the batters retiring in order. Giants eighth was pitched by Abe who showed some fine pitching and retired the batters in order. Gonzalez retired at the end of the seventh and had pitched well though being helped by some ill considered batting by the Tigers batters. He had certainly earned his victory but it would be put in jepordy by the next Giants pitcher. This was Toyoda who pitched the Tigers eighth. Firstly Fujimoto hit to short but Sakamoto fluffed the take and he was safe on first. Then one out later Hiyama (pinch hitter) hit to centre and Akahoshi walked to load the bases. Things looked promising for the Tigers. Sekimoto though struck out. Hara switched pitchers bringing in Yamaguchi to get the final out Toritani who flew out to left and the Tigers best chance was wasted. For Giants ninth Mayumi used Daiyu Kanemura (not the ex Nippon Ham pitcher) another interesting choice. His control was not good. He walked Matsumoto and then Ogasawara to set up runners on first and second with one out. A wild pitch took the batters to second and third but the final out was Kamei who struck out looking. A lucky debut for Kanemura. Tigers ninth saw Kanemoto fly out and then Ochi replaced Yamaguchi for the final two outs. These were obtained in three pitches as Tigers batters surrendered meekly. Giants victory.

Tigers still haven't beaten the Giants this season and haven't looked capable of doing so, so far. Mayumi does need to beat the Giants as for a lot of Tigers fans this is the most important duty of the Tigers manager. Their batting and application was very poor and they should have done more to try and make Gonzalez work harder. Instead they surrendered weakly and really seemed without direction. Northing Mayumi tried came off and all in all we can only say that this was a poor performance by the Tigers at all levels of the team.